A handful of state-owned coal heavyweights would shoulder the bulk of the financial hit from Paris-aligned climate policies, with more than $1.9 trillion in stranded power plant value at risk under a 1.5C pathway, according to new research.

Global methane output in 2023 was 15% higher than levels reported to the UNFCCC, according to a new high-resolution satellite analysis that identifies widespread under-estimation across national inventories and finds that oil and gas emissions alone exceed country submissions by almost a third.

Weaknesses in a voluntary carbon market methodology to finance the early retirement of coal-fired power plants risk undermining its environmental credentials, according to a new report.

India's flue gas value - Organic Recycling Systems received India's first CCU grant under the DBT-BIRAC BioE3 programme to build a pilot-scale BIO-CCU platform converting vented CO2 from compressed biogas plants into high-value products. The INR 18.7 mln ($208,000) project with IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur will convert purified CO2 currently flared at CBG facilities into bio-alcohols, specialty chemicals, nutritional supplements, and industrial additives through algal cultivation and photocatalytic conversion. The 24-month initiative targets India's goal of 45% carbon intensity reduction by 2030, creating new revenue streams for biogas operators while advancing industrial decarbonisation.

EDFI guarantee - Brussels-based EDFI Management Company has issued a guarantee under the EU-funded EDFI Carbon Sinks programme to support Proparco’s investment in AXA IM Alts’ Natural Capital & Impact strategy, it said Dec. 8. The backing aims to de-risk the strategy’s equity exposure in large-scale nature-based carbon sink projects in emerging markets and attract further public and private capital. The strategy finances companies and land-based projects that generate high-integrity carbon credits alongside biodiversity and livelihood benefits.

Korea disputes emissions cost - A corporate carbon allowance purchase cost of KRW 26.9 trillion (€18.8 bln) projected by the Korea Economic Association’s K-GX Conversion Finance Activation report is likely overstated, South Korea’s environment ministry said last week. The figure assumes flat emissions from ETS-covered companies despite a 3.4% annual decline between 2021 and 2024, and expects allowance prices to jump from KRW 10,000 to KRW 40,000 from 2026. The ministry also noted over 100 mln of surplus allowances are expected to carry into Phase 4 and said it will release transition finance and K-GX support guidelines by mid-2026.

A voluntary carbon standard has opened a public consultation on a proposed revision to its sustainable grasslands carbon crediting methodology, marking a significant update from previous approaches, it said Friday.

UN agency ICAO has published an updated Sectoral Growth Factor (SGF) figure for 2024 aviation emissions,  which signals that as many as 55 million eligible carbon credits may be needed by airlines to offset their climate impact that year, marginally lower than its initial calculation.

Verra is requesting the replacement of over 4 million voluntary credits issued to four Chinese forestry projects after a review could not determine that they had been approved by government authorities, with the carbon standards body also launching an investigation into a further 45 activities based in the country due to similar concerns.

Growing investor demand for timberland assets is driving significant price increases, threatening to squeeze returns for buyers, amid hopes that nature-based credits can help fill the gap, an asset manager told Carbon Pulse.

The connection between economic growth and rising carbon emissions is breaking, according to a study released this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

Logistics of moving biomass from scattered farms to centralised pyrolysis units remains the biggest challenge to scaling production in India’s increasingly crowded biochar space, a project developer told Carbon Pulse.

If global temperatures rise 2C by 2050, spending on adaptation would need to hit $1.2 trillion annually to maintain protection at developed-economy standards - over six times today's spend of $190 billion, according to a global consultancy.

Governments have urged the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to align its Corporate Net-Zero Standard more closely with emerging principles on the use of high-integrity carbon credits, arguing that voluntary carbon markets can play a larger role in accelerating global emissions reductions as the world falls behind its climate goals.

China's national emissions market over the past week saw permits change hands below the RMB 60 ($8.50) mark despite an approaching compliance deadline, but analysts said emerging demand from the industrial sector might help support market sentiment in the coming weeks.

India fund bet - MOL PLUS, the corporate venture capital arm of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, has announced its first investment in an Indian venture capital fund, committing capital to Theia Ventures Fund 1. The fund focuses on startups in energy transition, deep tech, materials science, and advanced manufacturing, areas the MOL Group considers strategically aligned with its expansion beyond shipping, it said. The company said the move will accelerate business creation in India, following the establishment of its India Desk in 2024, while strengthening the India-Japan corridor.

Doubling it - Japan’s Sumitomo Corp will double its planned investment in India's renewable energy landscape to about JPY 200 bln ($1.28 bln), expanding a joint venture with startup Ampin Energy Transition, Nikkei reported. The partners aim to build over 2 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2027. Power will be sold directly to Japanese manufacturers and other corporate clients in India, with nearly 10 firms having signed PPAs, the report added. Sumitomo expects India’s corporate renewable market to surge to 100 GW by 2030, up from 12 GW in 2023.

The Australian government has released an exposure draft outlining amendments to expand its Guarantee of Origin (GO) Scheme to allow certification of additional products.

Wait and see - China's next five-year plan (2026-30), due to be published in March, will set the timing and the level of its emissions peak, as well as whether emissions will be allowed to rebound in the short term, Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), wrote in an analysis. Several issues are worth further observation, including whether the plan will put China back on track for its 2030 Paris pledge or upgrade clean-energy targets, according to Myllyvirta. Observers are also keen to know whether the plan will set an absolute cap on coal consumption or limit coal-power and chemical industry growth. China's clean power expansion is on track to keep the country's CO2 emissions flat this year, but CREA has warned that vague targets could mean an emissions rebound in the coming years.      

Allocation- There has been a 7% decrease from the 2024 Electricity Allocation Floor (EAF), as part of the New Zealand ETS's annual industrial allocation update, the Ministry for Environment announced.  This is due to long periods of low average wholesale electricity prices during the 2024-25 financial year, the ministry said. Baseline updates are part of the calculation used to determine how many NZUs each company gets each year, with the EAF being one component used for the calculation. Around 80 New Zealand companies have emission-intensive and trade-exposed activities and receive industrial allocation. The updated allocative baselines will come into force from Jan. 1, 2026.

A European satellite analytics company this week partnered with a conservation group in Indonesia to deploy “hyperspectral imaging” and AI to track the country’s mangrove and seagrass ecosystems.

Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) Net Zero Commission (NZC) has called for tougher regulations that “strongly limit” the use of carbon offsets to cut coal mine emissions in line with the state’s climate targets.

Limited crediting periods, additionality rules, and costly auditing requirements have all been cited as barriers to participating in the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, according to a New South Wales government report exploring how to reduce emissions in primary industries.

An Australian hydrogen and graphite technology developer on Friday signed a pact with a commodity supplier to help decarbonise South Australia’s Whyalla steelworks.

Cotton credits - The Better Cotton Initiative and climate-tech startup Planboo have announced a pilot project in India that will train at least 75 cotton farmers to convert agricultural waste from the Jan. 2026 cotton harvest into biochar. The work aims to improve soil health, store long-term carbon, and evaluate the model’s scalability. Beginning in February in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, three kilns will process about 375 tonnes of crop residues to produce 60-70 tonnes of biochar, with Planboo’s digital MRV system tracking waste inputs, biochar output, and verified carbon removals to enable potential new income streams for farmers. The project will run through the end of 2026, after which the initiative will share findings on impacts to yields, water retention, emissions reductions, and carbon removal. The initiative and Planboo announced their partnership in September.

Authority established - Papua New Guinea's Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) has signed an MoU with the Western Highlands Provincial Administration to establish a Provincial Climate Change Committee in Mt. Hagen, it announced in a LinkedIn post.
This partnership aims to strengthen sub-national climate action by aligning local planning, reporting, and project implementation with PNG's national climate policies and priorities. The agreement also enhances data sharing, capacity building, and technical support to improve resilience, access to funding, and community preparedness for climate impacts, CCDA said.

A new peer-reviewed study has concluded that thermally catalysed oxidation of low-concentration methane from livestock manure stores can achieve net-negative emissions under the right conditions, potentially positioning the technology as a future source of carbon removal credits if market frameworks evolve to accommodate methane-to-CO2 conversion approaches.

The head of a carbon project developer with one of the biggest outstanding carbon abatement contracts (CACs) volumes has welcomed the new permanent exit arrangements announced by the Australian government last week.