There is no evidence that the use of voluntary carbon market (VCM) credits drives stronger corporate climate ambition, according to a study published Tuesday, that challenged a narrative promoted by market participants.

Funding gaps – Renewable energy companies in Germany are complaining of a €6 bln funding gap in the draft federal budget for 2026, reported trade publication Tagesspiegel Background Energie & Klima on Monday. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) says transmission grid operators are using flawed assumptions in their forecasting and therefore underestimating the support – and by extension, subsidies – renewables will require in the medium term. In parallel, the same publication reported that plans for almost a third (31%) of the €37.4 bln in the national Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) for 2026 will actually slow down rather than accelerate climate action. (Tagesspiegel Background on renewables and climate funds)

Verra released on Monday the final allocated deforestation risk maps for Peru, clearing the way for project developers in the country to request activity data needed to register REDD+ projects under its VM0048 methodology and associated VM0055 module.

The European Commission on Friday adopted stricter conflict-of-interest and oversight rules for third parties accredited to verify carbon removals (CDR) certified in the European Union, but otherwise largely stuck to an earlier draft released in June, experts said.

Turkish ETS shape - Turkiye's upcoming ETS framework places particular emphasis on the iron and steel industry, as one of the core sectors in the pilot phase and a major source of verified emissions, Steel Orbis reported. The details came out in the environment ministry's new report on MRV in 2024. Installations are grouped into three categories by annual emissions, according to the MRV report. The 107 iron and steel installations had a combined 33.3 MtCO2e, or around 12% of Turkiye's verified emissions. The TR ETS will come in two stages – a pilot, from 2026-27, covering installations that emit over 50,000 MtCO2e a year, followed by full implementation from 2028-35.

European carbon prices straddled a key psychological and technical level on Monday before bouncing off supports, as the market withstood significant downward pressure from natural gas and power, with energy traders responding to the continuing efforts to craft a peace agreement for Ukraine and weakening demand fundamentals in Europe.

Japan-Ukraine soil pact – Japan-based agri-tech firm Sagri has signed an MoU with Ukrainian grain producer Grain Alliance to develop digital MRV and soil carbon quantification across 57,000 hectares. The partnership aims to scale carbon farming and improve sustainability in Ukraine’s agriculture sector.

German H2 and carbon capture – Germany-based manufacturer Busch Group has unveiled a suite of vacuum and overpressure technologies to support industrial hydrogen and carbon capture applications, including CO2 separation and fuel cell optimisation. Under its Busch Vacuum Solutions and Pfeiffer Vacuum brands, the firm is offering oil-free blowers for hydrogen recirculation, leak detection tools for fuel cell and pipeline integrity, and claw vacuum pumps for efficient CO2 extraction.

An aviation group is concerned about meeting the EU's mandate for synthetic aviation fuels (e-fuels), warning that airlines could face €8 billion of costs in 2030 alone if no supply materialises by then, a conference heard in London.

Nearly 600,000 integrity-tagged cookstove carbon credits are to be issued by the end of the year, in addition to almost 200,000 units recently approved for use in CORSIA, to the same developer, it was announced Monday.

G20 leaders have promised to intensify their efforts to reach net zero emissions around mid-century, in a declaration that acknowledges the need to adapt to climate change, overhaul sustainable finance, and distribute clean cooking – but omits any mention of fossil fuels.

Prices were little moved last week amid what some saw as a disappointing COP30 in Belem, which also failed to give a strong signal to the voluntary market, while CORSIA fundamentals remain hazy despite the release of bullish demand-side data.

The increasing use of sustainable aviation fuels will cause air fares to rise 10-15% over the long-term, provided the right policy framework is in place, an airline executive told an aviation conference Monday.

Only around one-fifth of climate disaster losses were covered by insurance in Asia and Latin America over the past decade, as rapid urbanisation in high-risk areas and more frequent extreme weather events widen the protection gap, a Spanish economic research group said in a report launched at COP30.

A marketplace focused on carbon removals has launched a new call for expressions of interest for a government-backed bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project, it said Monday.

Go with the flow - Onnu, a UK-based pyrolysis company, has launched CarboFlow, its proprietary technology to convert agricultural waste into verified carbon credits. Developed in-house, CarboFlow is designed to make biomass projects viable, scalable, and profitable, at a cost and speed that were previously out of reach, the company said. In a new partnership with Agrotech Bioenergy in Malaysia, CarboFlow is now also being deployed at plantations in Sabah, converting previously underutilised agricultural residues and biomass into renewable energy, biochar, and carbon credits.

The COP30 UN climate summit wrapped up last week with a record $9.5 billion pledged for forests – yet nature at large took a back seat in the negotiation rooms, according to observers.

A carbon removals registry has made updates to its biochar methodologies, as well as announcing new production modules for biochar developers, it announced on Monday. 

A Canadian industrial hemp firm has last week unveiled plans to raise up to C$2 million ($1.4 mln) through a non-brokered private placement and a share consolidation.

Analysts have raised their CORSIA demand forecasts in light of an October announcement by ICAO that signalled that the aviation sector had grown by more than expected in 2024.

The new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) is no longer just a theoretical part of Article 6 markets, according to an executive at a major project developer, but it will take time to fully assess the investment viability of different types of activities.

A UN-supported clean cooking body has published a new version of its cookstoves carbon methodology that can now be use as part of international trading under Article 6.2 and adopted by voluntary standards.

A Zambian organisation has secured €1 million in funding from a Nordic-backed facility to expand access to clean electric cooking solutions, it announced last week.

The European Commission is exploring electrification as a key tool to decarbonise industry, with clear candidates including the food and beverage sector, the paper industry, and some non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, which can adjust their consumption to match fluctuations in renewable power generation.

A total €2 million has been awarded to fund research into how to best finance carbon removal (CDR) technology in the Nordic region, it was announced last week.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched a digital carbon credit registry to support the implementation of Article 6 and strengthen oversight of its environmental assets, its environmental ministry announced on Nov. 20 at COP30 in Belem.

The UN has opened public consultation on the first global methodology for savanna fire management (SFM) under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.