Electric powerhouses - Vietnamese EV company VinFast opened up a production facility in Indonesia this week, strengthening the green economic transformation and cooperation between the two ASEAN economies, Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, said in a statement. VinFast has invested IDR 3.8 trillion ($228 mln) in the facility which has an installed capacity of 50,000 units per year. The ministry said VinFast's second phase of development would boost production capacity to 350,000 units per year, including the development of an e-scooter factory. Indonesia and Vietnam have a combined GDP of nearly $2 trillion as of 2024, and are consistently increasing bilateral trade, the ministry said.

Northern neighbours – New England is increasingly looking to Canada for offshore wind power as US projects stall under the Trump administration, with Nova Scotia positioning itself as a potential export hub through its proposed 'Wind West' initiative, E&E News reported. The province plans to open coastal waters to large-scale wind development, potentially producing tens of GWs of electricity and sending excess power to New England via existing or new cross-border transmission lines. Political leaders in Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, and other Northeastern states have held talks on energy cooperation, citing shared clean energy goals, rising electricity demand, and a long history of cross-border power trade, particularly with Hydro-Quebec. While supporters argue Nova Scotia’s strong winter wind resources and shallow waters could support cost-effective development over the next decade, critics warn that offshore wind remains expensive and dependent on unbuilt transmission, regulatory approvals, and federal support.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Board of Directors elected new officers to serve in its executive, finance, and audit committees.

Colombia's green hydrogen –  Colombia’s state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol, has begun producing green hydrogen with a purity of 99.99% in Bogota, marking a regional first for passenger mobility applications, it announced last week. The project uses a 165 kW PEM electrolyser with an annual production capacity of 23 t. Separately, Ecopetrol said on Sunday via X that progress continues at its Cartagena refinery, the largest in the country, where the 5 MW Coral project – set to enter operation in the first half of 2026 – is expected to become Latin America’s largest PEM electrolyser, producing up to 800 t of green hydrogen per year.

Forest friends – Two of New Zealand’s largest forestry management companies have merged, they announced last week. The merger of PF Olsen and Forest360 creates the largest independent forest manager in Australasia, they said, with around 480,000 ha and 1,000 clients. Sydney-based private equity firm Adamantem Capital is joining as an investment partner, alongside existing PF Olsen shareholder, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s investment arm Quayside Holdings. The merger is expected to be complete by Feb. 2026.

Maryland has put in place a funding agreement to carry out a comprehensive study assessing the economic costs of climate change and extreme weather impacts on the state, including whether major fossil fuel companies will be required to compensate for climate damages.

An exposure draft for Australia’s integrated farm land management (IFLM) method could be released as soon as this week, after the government handed over a draft to the market’s integrity body Friday.

Massachusetts’ power sector Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) December auction for current and future vintages trumped the record set by the September sale, according to results published Friday.

An engineering study used circulating air to evaporate a solution that crystalises when in contact with carbon, capturing CO2 in crystals, for passive direct air capture (DAC), according to a recently published paper.

New Zealand’s parliament has passed amendments to the country’s climate change law under urgency, codifying two previously-announced policy changes and officially ending the country’s bipartisanship on climate change.

Beyond the burn - Canada should adopt a standardised national approach to assessing wildfire impacts that captures social as well as physical impacts, according to research released Monday by the Conference Board of Canada with the Canadian Red Cross, which said current practices limit governments’ ability to allocate resources and support recovery. The research said existing assessments focus mainly on land burned and structures destroyed, overlooking impacts on health, livelihoods, housing, and psychosocial wellbeing. It proposed a Canadian Wildfire Impact Assessment Framework with a place-based approach, national indicators, consistent measurement procedures, and a centralised database. The study pointed to Australia’s more structured approach as a contrast, arguing more comprehensive data would support a national framework reflecting the full impacts of wildfires.

Power hungry - AI is driving the largest surge in US electricity demand in decades, according to a new report released Monday, yet only 13% of surveyed sustainability leaders say environmental impact is a major consideration in their companies’ responsible AI strategies. An additional 31% said sustainability is secondary to ethics, bias, and security concerns. While more than 60% of respondents said they are using AI for environmental objectives, use is heavily concentrated in disclosure and reporting (34%), with far fewer applying the technology to operational uses such as energy optimisation, even as concerns grow over data-centre energy use, emissions, and water demand.

Better incentives - Researchers have found that a tiered, performance-based incentive sensitive to oil prices and the cost of acquiring CO2 would offer better environmental outcomes from CCUS with enhanced oil recovery project developers, according to a report by Texas Geosciences, at the University of Texas at Austin. The study explored economic and environmental outcomes through a simplified equation integrating a reservoir simulation, lifecycle emissions analysis, and economic model. It also found that increasing the 45Q incentive from $60/tCO2 to $75/tCo2 results in a 74% increase in net CO2 storage and 54% decrease in net CO2 emissions.

ZEVs in trouble - Registrations for new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) were down by about 40% in Q3 2025, compared to Q3 2024, according to new data by Statistics Canada. New ZEV registrations dropped across most provinces, including Quebec (-45.7%), New Brunswick (-39.9%), Prince Edward Island (-36.9%), British Columbia (-35.6%), Ontario (-33.7%), Manitoba (-22.1%), Saskatchewan (-21.5%), and Nova Scotia (-16.2%) when compared with the previous year. The federal data hub said the stats continue the downward trend observed earlier this year. Canadians registered roughly 45,400 new ZEVs in Q3 2025, making up 9.4% of all new motor vehicle registrations.

Coming up short - A New York state board is expected to finalise a blueprint for the state’s energy planning this week, E&E News reported. However, the blueprint falls short of meeting the state’s mandated emission reductions, which was established in a 2019 law. Rather, the plan emphasizes making incremental progress in renewable energy additions, while transitioning homes and vehicles off fossil fuels.

Charting biochar development - US forestry company Robinson Carbon announced a biochar reactor pilot in Indiana. The reactor is expected to produce 1,000 tonnes of biochar next year from hardwood chips, generating up to 2,000 carbon credits, the company said. Commissioning for the trial reactor will begin immediately after the holidays, serving as an operational proof point for the company ahead of larger scale deployment.

Ce-meant to be - Carbon capture developer 44.01 and construction company Holcim announced a pilot project capturing emissions at a cement plant in the UAE. The technology will capture 5 tonnes of CO2 daily from cement production and permanently store it underground, where the CO2 will mineralise – the developers called the effort the first to combine in-situ mineralisation with carbon capture in this hard-to-abate sector. The project will be located in Fujairah, UAE, with the support from the government organisation Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation.

US oil and gas exporters are urging the European Commission to make certain adjustments to the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR), claiming that the rule is impossible to comply with and jeopardises the EU’s energy security.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Allowance (RGA) futures tumbled below the Q4 auction clearing price on Friday as traders assessed warmer weather ahead, while unusual inversion trading between Dec-25 and Dec-26 contracts on Monday sparked discussion over short positioning.

Canada’s environment ministry will begin development of a new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) offset protocol early next year.

A financing agreement details how payments worth up to $180 million will be received, managed, and disbursed for a jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programme in the Brazilian Amazon.

Washington’s final quarterly auction of 2025 triggered an Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) sale set for February 2026, according to a government notice published Friday.

Rollback ruckus - Recent environmental rollbacks proposed by the Trump administration are emerging as early tests of the Supreme Court’s 2024 Loper Bright ruling, which abolished Chevron deference and sharply limited agencies’ ability to defend their regulatory interpretations in court. According to E&E News, over recent weeks the EPA and the Interior Department have proposed reversals of federal water protections, threatened-species safeguards, and climate-related rules. These shifts represent major departures from prior policy and now must be justified as the “single, best” readings of federal statutes rather than as reasonable interpretations entitled to deference. The administration has in several cases argued that Loper Bright requires it to rescind existing rules. A White House directive has instructed agencies to rapidly unwind regulations deemed inconsistent with recent Supreme Court jurisprudence, potentially using the Administrative Procedure Act’s good-cause exemption to bypass notice and comment. Environmental lawyers counter that Loper Bright does not exempt agencies from standard APA procedures, a point reinforced by prior court rulings that halted Trump-era rollbacks on procedural grounds. The new proposals signal a major shift in legal strategy: rather than relying on Chevron, agencies are foregrounding statutory arguments to demonstrate that their interpretations best reflect congressional intent. Examples include Interior’s bid to eliminate automatic protections for threatened species, and EPA/Army Corps’ revised definition of “waters of the United States” following the Sackett ruling. Legal experts warn that some proposals, such as the new vehicle efficiency standard, may be vulnerable for straying from statutory text. In at least one case - a proposal to narrow the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act - the administration has relied almost exclusively on Loper Bright to justify overriding the Supreme Court’s 1995 Sweet Home decision, which upheld the broader definition under Chevron. Scholars argue this misreads Loper Bright, noting the ruling explicitly preserves earlier judicial holdings that upheld agency actions even if they relied on Chevron. A significant legal confrontation is anticipated as environmental groups prepare to challenge the administration’s interpretation.

Revisions to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will impose significantly higher carbon costs on importers across steel, aluminium, cement, and fertilisers, according to new research from a US investment bank.

Carbon credits insured against the risk of double counting have for the first time been tagged as eligible for the CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme.

Wrapped up - A marketplace focused on carbon removals has facilitated over 1.5 million tonnes of trade this year, it announced on Monday. Reviewing the last 12 months, Carbonfuture, which is based out of Freiburg in Germany, noted successes which include closing a new funding round. Carbonfuture closed a Series A funding round, led by existing investor SIX, and the operator of the Swiss Financial Market Infrastructure. The company also drew attention to its role facilitating a large biochar agreement, it said. Carbonfuture helped to put together the deal - a 10-year commitment to remove at least 1.24 mln tonnes of CO2 - via its partnership with Microsoft and Exomad Green.

Time to deliver - UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has appointed a new Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission, it was announced Monday. The new body, made up of energy experts from industry and academia, will focus on the delivery of the government's clean power plans over the next three years. The Commission will try to ensure UK energy consumers benefit from clean sources of power without compromising their energy bill costs, and the group are also tasked with helping the clean energy industry to grow. Cathy McClay will become the new Flexibility Commissioner, a statement published on Monday said.

See the life - WTW’s defined contribution master trust LifeSight is committing £400 mln to seed a new global carbon transition credit fund, one of the largest pension-backed investments of its kind, reports IPE. The fund will invest in carbon transition credits intended to support emissions reductions and the shift to a lower-carbon economy, while also delivering long-term financial returns. LifeSight, which manages assets for a large international membership, views the allocation as part of its wider sustainable investment strategy, alongside existing investments in climate transition and infrastructure. The move reflects increasing pension fund interest in combining climate impact with fiduciary objectives, according to the reporting.

On my mind - Georgia’s government has proposed new greenhouse gas emissions regulations to align national climate policy with EU standards. The draft law would amend Georgia’s Law on Environmental Protection to establish a monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for emissions and introduce greenhouse gas permits from 2026. The proposal reflects commitments under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and the Energy Community Treaty, drawing on principles similar to the EU ETS and broader EU climate rules. The reforms aim to improve transparency, strengthen climate governance, support emissions reduction efforts, and further harmonise Georgia’s environmental legislation with European regulatory frameworks. (Georgia Today)

The Dec-25 European carbon futures contract settled at the highest level for a front-December contract in more than two years on the day it expired, as participants closed outstanding positions and shifted their attention to the incoming Dec-26 contract, where the end of the 2025 auction programme and the looming tightness in supply also boosted prices to their highest settlement since Nov. 2023.

A Europe-headquartered carbon removal developer has raised €7 million to advance its ocean-based solution, the company announced.

The usual December retirement rush has yet to appear amid another lacklustre week as prices drifted lower, despite the EU confirming it will allow international carbon credits for its 2040 goal.

Target ditched - Neste, a major producer of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and renewable diesel, has ditched its 2035 net zero target. Instead, the revised goal is based on cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 80% by 2040. In a press release released Monday, the Finnish company said that its "current financial position" meant that it was unable to deliver the "significant investments" the original target required.

Verra has released a revised version of its ozone-depleting substances and hydrofluorocarbons methodology, which incorporates major revisions to its previous approaches, the standard announced Monday.

A voluntary carbon rating agency has reported losses of £18 million in its latest annual financial statement, while also doubling revenue, due to continued investment in technology, infrastructure, and new markets.

The Scottish government published a peatland plan on Monday, setting out actions to conserve and restore the country’s carbon-rich wetlands.

Once promoted as a breakthrough for mobilising large-scale climate finance in coal-dependent economies, the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) schemes are now under scrutiny amid shifting donor politics, existing financing gaps, and evidence that implementation is falling behind the pace required to keep national transition plans on track.

The Council of EU member states reached partial agreement Monday on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF III), aiming to channel future EU funding into cross-border energy and transport infrastructure seen as critical for decarbonising the bloc’s economy and integrating higher shares of renewables.

Several carbon policy, regulatory, project, or finance sagas, which have run across 2025 in Latin American countries, tied up loose ends last week as the end of the year fast approaches.

Screening tool - Social Carbon has launched a new pre-feasibility tool for project-developers. The tool will assess projects' suitability for inclusion into Social Carbon's methodologies and provide conservative estimates on carbon removal potential, it said Monday.

Steel links - Russian Steel giant Severstal and the St Petersburg State University of Economics have signed a cooperation agreement on the implementation of climate goals. In a release published last week, the steel company said the two now plan to implement projects and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.  

This far and no further - Germany should implement future EU energy and climate rules without exceeding the required ambition and scale back existing measures to align strictly with the bloc's requirements, said a report commissioned by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). The report - carried out by the organisation Global Energy Solutions - also proposed postponing Germany’s 2045 climate neutrality target and aligning it with the 2050 target of the European Union, arguing the earlier national target would lead to significant extra costs. (Clean Energy Wire)

Extension - The Swiss Federal Council has extended the consultation period for the amendment of the Climate Protection Ordinance (Klimaschutz-Verordnung, KIV), with the deadline for submissions now Mar. 19, 2026. This consultation invites comments on the implementation provisions that will shape how the KIV concretises Switzerland’s climate goals and assigns responsibilities for reducing emissions across the Swiss federal administration, cantons, and public enterprises. It is anticipated that the revised KIV will support the use of negative emission technologies to meet Swiss climate goals.

Granted - The Swedish mining giant Boliden has been granted SEK 117 mln ($12 mln) in support by the Swedish Energy Agency through the Industrial Leap initiative. The grant is supporting a product - made from iron-rich residual materials from Boliden's own production - which partially replaces quicklime in the cement production process. Estimates show that - using this product - the company can reduce CO2 emissions in the value chain by approximately 600,000 tonnes per year.

UK power generator Drax will cut half of its global carbon capture and storage (CCS) workforce, according to reports in the British press. 

Money for Sao Tome and Principe - The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has agreed to provide another $18 mln of grant funding to the small Central African island nation, through three new agreements to support energy, climate-smart agriculture, and integrated water-energy-food security, the AfDB announced on Monday. The new funding, agreed at the Sao Tome and Principe Investment Forum in Brussels, brings the total AfDB funding through its partnership with the government to $20 mln. Funding for the energy transition will help to speed up the shift to renewables, improve governance of the national utility, and adjust tariffs for cost recovery. Funding for agriculture and fisheries, which comes from the AfDB and the Global Environment Fund, is instead aimed at strengthening the value chains and spreading climate-resilient technologies.

Carbon revenues accounted for around 25% of income across the clean cooking sector in 2022, with developers increasingly looking to access higher-value credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, according to a report published last week.

A US firm has launched a pyrolysis-based platform to help anaerobic digestion (AD) sites convert waste into biochar that may be eligible for carbon credits, it said last week.

Carbon market potential - Timberland is increasingly viewed as a natural climate solution with growing potential to generate returns through carbon markets, according to JP Morgan’s Alternative Investments Outlook 2026. While compliance markets currently offer limited upside for forestry projects, the firm said voluntary markets are gaining traction, with demand for high-quality, verifiable credits expected to support long-term income. It warned, however, that volatility and low liquidity continue to pose risks.

A US-based firm will launch a commercial-scale carbon capture project in Canada that aims to capture 60,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations, it announced Monday.

A UK-based project developer has secured a loan for $270,000 backed by biodiversity and carbon credits, it said on Monday, making it the second loan for nature credits worldwide in less than a week.

Companies in major emerging economies are beginning to adapt their strategies in response to border carbon policies, with early movers seeking to turn compliance into a competitive advantage as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) enters its definitive phase in 2026.

While the final text of the EU’s 2040 target is yet to be published, a draft version seen by Carbon Pulse suggests a strict regime will be applied to international credits delivered under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

South African projects and businesses supporting the country’s net zero transition can now apply to an accelerator, backed by the UK government, to receive capacity building support.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has this year seen new countries build carbon regulatory infrastructure, with further Article 6 news, compliance developments, and a maturing voluntary market expected for 2026.

A developer affected by Verra's investigation into Chinese forestry projects has shared its grievances, calling for a more "evidence-based" approach from the voluntary carbon standard.

Pakistan-UK Green Compact - Pakistan and the UK have signed a £35 mln Green Compact aimed at strengthening cooperation on climate action. The agreement focuses on mobilising climate finance, expanding solar and wind energy, advancing nature-based solutions such as mangrove restoration, supporting young climate entrepreneurs, and improving adaptation and disaster resilience for vulnerable communities.

ADB financing - The Asian Development Bank has approved two financing packages totalling $540 mln for Pakistan, channeling funds towards state-owned enterprise reform and climate resilience in Sindh province. The support includes a $140 mln concessional loan for the Sindh Coastal Resilience Sector Project to protect vulnerable coastal districts through upgraded drainage, flood protection systems, and forest restoration. The coastal project, co-financed by the Green Climate Fund, aims to benefit more than 500,000 people, safeguard farmland, and restore forests, with at least 25% of resources allocated to women-led initiatives.

Sabah funding - The state government of Sabah in Malaysia has allocated MYR195.5 mln ($41.6 mln) in its 2026 budget to bolster environmental protection and sustainability efforts across air, water, biodiversity, and social programmes, the Daily Express reported. Of that, around MYR144 mln will go to the Sabah Forestry Department to preserve natural resources and implement climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, including work under the Sabah Climate Change and Carbon Governance Enactment 2025 and the exploration of carbon markets. The funds are also assigned for environmental protection projects, wildlife protection activities, community benefit-sharing from carbon credits, and biotechnology development to support industrial, medical, and agricultural sectors.

Submissions to the Australian savanna fire management (SFM) method, currently before the integrity body, has highlighted differing views on the way issuance from historical sequestration should be treated.

A newly launched carbon project developer is targeting government-led initiatives across East Africa, positioning itself to work directly with countries to help strengthen oversight of project authorisation, governance, and pricing.

Australian carbon prices are expected to tighten in the post-2030 period as a result of the permanent arrangement for carbon abatement contract (CAC) holders, according to an analysis shared with Carbon Pulse.

A London-based nature tech company has launched natural capital fund focusing on investing in carbon and biodiversity projects in Western Australia, it announced.

Battery boost - Australia's Cheaper Home Batteries programme has been extended to run until 2030, with total funding rising to A$7.2 bln ($4.7 bln) compared to the initial A$2.3 bln, the the federal government announced. The programme is now expected to deliver 40 GWh of additional storage capacity, equating to around 2 mln household batteries installed. It comes as the scheme, which provides a 30% discount to household battery purchases, has been touted by the government as a runaway success, seeing some 3.5 GWh of battery storage over the last six months. However, experts have flagged flaws in the scheme, saying it has incentivised unnecessarily large batteries being installed. Canberra has tweaked the scheme as a result, with support to be staggered in line with the size of the battery, moderating per kWh for medium and large batteries.

Institutions providing or arranging capital for maritime shipping, representing nearly three-quarters of global shipping finance, have reported increasing alignment between the GHG intensities of the vessels in their portfolios and International Maritime Organization (IMO) net zero targets.