Phase-out of commitment – New Zealand’s government has backtracked from its previous commitment to push for a global phase-out of fossil fuels, Newsroom reported on Wednesday, in a significant shift in position. The country did not sign on to a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels at COP30, with Climate Change Minister Simon Watts telling RNZ this was because New Zealand had already committed to transition away from them at COP28 in Dubai – and that this is the language the country supports. Newsroom noted that the minister’s comments contradict his previous statements to the outlet in support of a global phase-out. The lack of consensus in Belem on the roadmap is further reason why the government did not back it, Watts told the outlet, but instead continued to support the COP28 nuanced-language to transition away from fossil fuels.

A regional development bank has updated its energy policy, with revisions opening the door to financial support for nuclear power and methane management, as well as a broader remit on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) and critical minerals.

A global financial services group has taken a minority stake in a New Zealand-based agricultural technology company, it announced on Wednesday.

The attempted reopening of Article 6 rules at COP30 surprised an already-skittish private sector, which needs regulatory stability and time to begin investing, according to a carbon-specialised banker speaking on a post-COP webinar Tuesday.

A UN body is seeking to procure up to over 83,000 voluntary carbon credits through a tender that closes in early December.

Blue carbon in Australia – Bentley’s Environmental Foundation, a subsidiary of Bentley Motors, announced funding today for a blue-carbon project to restore locally extinct crayweed forests off Sydney’s South Bondi Reef. The initiative, delivered with Seatrees, Operation Crayweed and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, will restore two sites totalling about 12,000 sq ft by transplanting healthy adult crayweed onto deforested reef using biodegradable mesh mats. Bentley frames the effort as part of its Beyond100+ sustainability strategy launched in 2023, while Seatrees calls the expansion a significant step in scaling global coastal-ecosystem restoration.

Carbon removal (CDR) is no longer a fallback but a central pillar of climate strategy, though major barriers to scale persist, with biochar emerging as the most viable near-term pathway, according to a wide-ranging publication that examined how CDR could deliver nearly 10 billion tonnes of CO2 annually by 2050.

Corporates are planning to boost carbon credit spending this decade, but long-term investment in the voluntary sector is being hampered by regulatory uncertainty, a survey has found.

An investment fund is investing in an agtech firm in India after securing $375 million to date from institutional investors, it announced Tuesday.

Swiss Art. 6 deals - Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved the country's bilateral climate agreements with Zambia, Mongolia, and Uganda, enabling the country to count resulting emission cuts toward its 2030 target, the government said in a statement. Switzerland signed the world’s first such treaty under Article 6 with Peru in 2020, followed by agreements with Ghana, Senegal, Georgia, Vanuatu, Dominica, Thailand, Ukraine, Morocco, Malawi, Uruguay, Chile, Kenya and Tunisia. All deals include safeguards to prevent double counting and uphold environmental and human rights standards.

A US-based climate consultancy has proposed a new format for reporting electricity emissions under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, arguing that current market-based Scope 2 methods no longer reflect actual impact or support decision-making.

2026 will be a crunch year for implementing UN carbon markets, after Article 6 decisions at COP30 cleared up key administrative uncertainties such as funding shortages and the closure of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and affirmed previous agreements on crediting standards and trading rules, according to experts. 

Biodiesel and renewable diesel produced from vegetable oils can deliver little or no net greenhouse gas benefit compared to fossil diesel in some instances, and in some cases perform worse, an expert said during a webinar on Friday.

China's new coal power approvals for 2025 are on track to fall to a four-year low, indicating a potential shift in the country's coal-permitting cycle, according to a new report published on Tuesday.

Asian losses from climate hazards – Climate hazards, such as rising heat and extreme rain, are already costing Asia’s 11 major energy utilities $6.3 bln each year, according to research published by the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and MSCI Institute. The companies with the worst annual average losses are India’s NTPC, Malaysia’s Tenaga and Indonesia’s PLN. Estimated costs will rise 33% to exceed $8.4 bln by 2050unless global emissions fall and adaptation measures are taken, the paper showed.

Green H2 pilot in South Australia – Japanese trading house Marubeni has completed a demonstration project for the production of low-cost green hydrogen in South Australia, it announced Tuesday. The project demonstrated both the effectiveness of metal hydrides as a hydrogen transportation method and the feasibility of building a supply chain, the company said. Marubeni said it has entered into a hydrogen sales agreement with Iberdrola Australia, and will continue to supply low-cost hydrogen produced from surplus renewable power as a co-firing fuel for gas turbines.

One of New Zealand’s big four energy generator and retailer has released its renewable energy strategy for the next five years, aiming to expand its portfolio of geothermal, battery storage, solar, and wind generation assets.

Fill the gaps – Fiji’s government is reviewing the country’s Electricity Act to ensure the legislation can accelerate the energy transition, FBC News reported on Tuesday. This follows a ministry study of the bill which found there were gaps, including a lack of definitions of indigenous sources and renewable energy, nor does it reference Fiji’s international commitments or national targets. The Pacific Island nation’s latest NDC eyed Article 6.2 deals to support the build out of large-scale renewables. The government will be establishing an energy investment advisory committee to support the acceleration of a just transition, the outlet said.

VCS credits for SA-le – WeAct will be auctioning VCS credits from its South African grasslands management project (VCS2710) next month, the developer said in a press release. The sale of the nearly 0.7 mln high-integrity units will take place from Dec. 8-10 on Xpansiv CBL’s platform and feature a $12/t floor price, with the credits eligible for compliance with the South African CO2 tax as well as voluntary use. The auction will be a closed, single-round, pay-as-bid format, with the minimum bid size set at 10,000 units. Australia-based WeAct added that higher priced bids will receive the most recent vintages, and buyers need to hold both a Verra and CBL account. The deadline to register for the auction is 1500 UTC on Dec. 3.

Not so slick – Executives from the oil and gas industry were given privileged and confidential access to draft legislation to repeal New Zealand’s ban on new offshore exploration, RNZ reported Tuesday, following the release of papers under an Official Information Act request. The briefing papers also showed how the companies lobbied for the government to weaken rules on the clean up of ageing oil fields, and that the government incorporated several requests from the companies into the legislative proposal, which passed at the end of July. Officials also warned the government about the climate impact of reversing the ban, warning that emissions could rise by 14.2 MtCO2e.

On the grid – Energy intelligence platform Kaluza has expanded its presence in Japan, it announced on Tuesday, working with car manufacturers, retailers, and energy providers. Working with Mitsubishi Corp, the project is using EVs to stabilise the power grid, allowing the batteries to absorb and release energy as needed – the first such V2X capability to be deployed in Japan. Kaluza said its software will enable the integration of more renewables into grids, lowering the cost of electrification.

A handful of countries are still keeping out of the race to trade carbon credits through Article 6 – although the number is dwindling, as even the most ideologically opposed see pragmatic business opportunities.

Household chocolate products may be marketed as ‘sustainable’ despite risks of containing cocoa linked to the destruction of Liberia’s Upper Guinean Rainforest, an NGO report said ahead of a key vote on the EU's contested anti-deforestation law.