New wave of cash – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed a $10-mln policy-based grant to Kiribati, to bolster ocean conservation, sustainable growth, and financial inclusion of women, it said in a press release on Tuesday. Reforms include a landmark policy on fisheries and ocean management that will help the Pacific Island nation to conserve and use its marine resources sustainably. Parallel co-financing is being provided by the EU, New Zealand, Australia, and the World Bank, added ADB.

Carbon markets face a critical choice over how aggressively to adopt digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) and other advanced tools, as methodologies have evolved under Article 6 and the voluntary carbon market (VCM), said experts on a panel on Tuesday. 

Cash call – The cross-sector Transition Advisory Group has called on New Zealand’s government to provide NZ$359 mln ($206 mln) to support the transition of 100,000 ha of land in Tai Rawhiti, in the east of the North Island, back to permanent bush to avoid future landslips. RNZ reported the region loses 55 mln tonnes of topsoil per year and that, absent intervention, the cost of cumulative storm damages over the next 30 years could exceed NZ$1 bln. In addition to the Crown money, funding is also coming from regional, private, and philanthropic avenues, said Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann, adding that for every $1 spent, $4 of recovery cost is avoided. The group is comprised of forestry owners, Maori landowners, farmers, and representatives from Gisborne District Council and Ministry for Primary Industries.

Countries could reduce reporting burdens and strengthen the transparency and accuracy of land-sector data by aligning national forest assessments with Paris Agreement transparency requirements, suggested a new report.

Two major calls for stakeholder input have been launched by the Supervisory Body for the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 crediting mechanism, concerning corresponding adjustments and proposed new crediting approaches, as experts ramp up technical work in a methodology meeting running this week.

The UK on Tuesday opened a public consultation aimed at informing a common framework  for identifying sustainability criteria for biomass.

Article 6 may now be the only way of truly connecting international carbon markets, according to a veteran analyst, with the EU credit demand signal a make-or-break moment for scaling Paris-era trading.

A model of an Africa-focused fund could redirect billions of dollars in pensions into nature-based projects through sustainable forestry, with future potential for biodiversity credits, a financial executive told Carbon Pulse.

A US platform for buying sustainable products is adding a tool to enable customers to claw back tax on credit purchases, by teaming up with a non-profit investor in the carbon removal (CDR) sector.

One of Japan's largest securities groups has teamed up with an international NGO to explore carbon credit projects under the bilateral Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Mineral precipitation occurred within hours of alkalinity addition in a series of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) experiments in the North Atlantic, in some cases removing more alkalinity than was initially added and potentially rendering the approach counterproductive, a new study has found.

Wake up call - Indonesia is fast-tracking its forest and land rehabilitation after severe floods across Sumatra exposed extensive degradation, Ecobiz Asia reported last week, citing a senior forestry official. President Prabowo had ordered the restoration of 12.3 mln ha of critical land, giving new annual targets and priority areas. Funding will mainly come from state budgets, but the ministry is also turning to voluntary carbon markets, allowing private concession holders to generate carbon revenue from rehabilitation work, the official said. The floods have so far displaced more than a million people and killed over 600, according to the Guardian.

Talks underway - Indonesia’s carbon exchange, IDX Carbon, is in talks with international platforms, including Singapore’s CIX, to enable cross-market trading of the Southeast Asian country's carbon credits, Ecobiz Asia reported. International buyers are already entering through multiple channels, and interoperability agreements could further widen access, an IDX official said. Indonesia last month signed an MoU with ICVCM, under which it pledged to align its forestry credits with the body’s quality benchmark. It also plans an international roadshow to showcase its forestry credits to potential investors and buyers before the end of the year to operationalise the export of the country's offsets.

A European bank has formed a partnership with a New Zealand forestry company to help forest owners develop voluntary carbon market projects, it announced on Monday.

Canada could increase its GDP by C$16 billion ($11.5 bln) by 2050 with more research and investment in the nascent marine CDR (mCDR) industry, said a report.

Consultation on the improved native forest management method (INFM) is set to be launched by the Australian integrity body in a matter of days, however questions are arising about its potential additionality in New South Wales.

A UN-managed climate fund announced on Thursday that it will begin partnering with project developers, in addition to investment fund managers and advisors, to support the scale-up of nature-based investments.

A Latin American country has received its first payment from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) for verified REDD+ emission reductions.