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.

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.

Two international oil companies launched on Friday what they called the largest-ever project to calculate carbon stocks in Brazil, planning to investing R$100 million ($18.4 mln) into the initiative.

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.

The second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa will take place in Nairobi in 2026 and will aim to accelerate access to modern cooking fuels for 1 billion people across the continent, the event’s host, the International Energy Agency (IEA), said Thursday.

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.

A ratings agency and a platform for buying and selling carbon credits have announced a joint partnership.

Liberia and France have launched a €9 million conservation initiative aimed at protecting the Wonegizi–Wologizi forest landscape in northern Lofa County, marking the start of a five-year programme to strengthen forest governance and support local communities.

Airline credits - Business flyers using Etihad Airways can now redeem their Etihad for Business credits for carbon credits through the Etihad for Business platform, the UAE airline announced Thursday. These credits are added to other corporate offerings, including upgrades, priority services, lounge access, and excess baggage, and are available in partnership with CarbonClick, which calculates flight emissions using the Travel Impact Model. (Business Travel News Europe)

Biochar production in Argentina has been given by a boost after a carbon removal financier agreed to pre-purchase 165,000 tonnes from a new venture.

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.

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.

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.

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.