Path to more water please - Canada's major CCS project of discussion, Pathways Plus, could put significant strain on Alberta's water usage, the National Observer reported. The project could use as much as much as 740 litres of water for every tonne of CO2 captured, according to a CCS specialist interviewed. By 2050, this would work out to an annual usage of 5.9 billion litres from the Beaver River basin system, which currently has only nine billion litres of reserve in dry years, already stressed by drought.

California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) rose slightly over the last week as the market enters the holiday period and continues to await regulatory developments, market participants said.

Bamboo bamboozled - In debates held Thursday in the Agriculture Committee of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, speakers discussed the lack of progress on the National Policy for Incentives for Sustainable Management and Cultivation of Bamboo, which was enacted into law 13 years ago but has not been regulated by decree. Guilherme Corte, the president of the Brazilian Association of Bamboo and Natural Fiber Producers (Abafibras), said the lack of regulation has prevented the recognition of carbon credits for bamboo forests in the country and denied legal security to producers.

Still going up - Global greenhouse gas emissions reached 5.03 bln tonnes CO₂e in October 2025, up 0.40% year-on-year, according to Climate TRACE data released Wednesday. Transportation sector emissions posted the largest sectoral increase at 1.13% as compared to October 2024, while power sector emissions rose 0.81% to 1.28 bln tCO₂e despite renewable energy growth. Year-to-date 2025 global emissions totalled 50.31 bln tonnes CO₂e, up 0.55% versus 2024. China's October emissions increased 0.60% to 1.42 bln tCO₂e , while US emissions rose 0.61% and EU emissions declined 0.46%. The coalition's database now tracks 245 additional power plants globally and nearly 2,300 cattle operations in Japan.

LNG boss: offsets are BS - Gulfstream LNG CEO Vivek Chandra called carbon offsets and cleaner LNG "bullshit" at the Reuters Energy LIVE 2025 conference in Houston last week, DeSmog reported. Chandra stated "that cleaner LNG phase that was there a couple years ago, 'let's plant a few trees and call that an offset,' that was all bullshit."  The CEO added he would integrate carbon storage if it secures US tax credits for the 4 mln tonnes-per-year Louisiana export project that could emit 1.45 mln tonnes of annual GHGs. Multiple LNG executives at the panel prioritised affordability and reliability over sustainability, with Argent LNG CEO calling sustainability "a far third" priority as Trump administration accelerates LNG permit approvals.

Carbon finance inquiry – In Brazil, the investment fund Reag holds R$40 bln ($7.2 bln) in shares in developers Global Carbon and Golden Green, two companies that do not operate at their registered address – which is the same for both – and are little known in the sector, local outlet UOL reported. Reag is under investigation for alleged money laundering linked to Brazil’s largest criminal faction, the First Command of the Capital (PCC). Two of Golden Green’s directors are executives at Reag. In response to UOL, the fund said that the companies are in pre-operational phase and that their assets are environmentally integrated, audited, and properly inventoried.

Finding another way - Iowa’s new senate majority leader, Sen. Mike Klimesh (R), is preparing to file a bill that would alter the way carbon pipeline developers use eminent domain, according to Iowa Public Radio. Earlier this year, Klimesh was among a group of lawmakers who opposed a bill that would have made it harder for CO2 pipelines to use eminent domain, a measure that arose after significant grassroots pushback mounted against Summit Carbon Solutions’ 688-mile (1,1107 kilometre) project. Although the bill ultimately passed, it was vetoed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R). Now, Klimesh is spearheading an effort designed to reduce pipeline developers’ need to use eminent domain by giving developers a way to find a route around landowners who don’t want pipelines on their land.

Bay State's battery bet - Massachusetts solar plus battery deployment meeting 2030 targets would cut power sector CO2 emissions by 1.76 mln short tonnes annually, according to a SEIA and Synapse Energy Economics study. This would result in a 25% reduction from the state's 7.18 mln short tonnes of power CO2 emissions reported in 2024, according to RGGI Inc. data. The 3.5 GW solar and storage deployment under the SMART 3.0 programme would save ratepayers $313 mln annually by 2030 primarily through wholesale electricity price reductions while avoiding 29 bln cubic feet of natural gas consumption equivalent to 25% of current Massachusetts electric sector use. Winter months would capture 44% of avoided energy-cost benefits, which is when the RGGI member state faces the highest gas price volatility.

Hochul's missing market - NY Renews released a spending roadmap Thursday for approximately $4.7 billion in annual cap-and-trade revenue from a programme Governor Kathy Hochul has not yet moved forward, projecting 17,000 direct jobs annually and nearly 30,000 total jobs including indirect employment. The statewide coalition behind New York's 2019 climate law proposes allocating theoretical allowance auction proceeds to community climate resiliency grants, a "Climate Ready Homes" weatherisation and electrification programme, building efficiency and heat pump investments, fossil fuel vehicle scrappage, and EV infrastructure. New York has yet to implement cap-and-trade despite the coalition's advocacy for the revenue-generating emissions reduction mechanism.

Towards PACM - Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) held an information session on Dec. 11 on how projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will be transitioned to the Paris Agreement Carbon Mechanism (PACM). Of the projects in transition, 60% are from the energy sector, 33% from waste management, with the remainder from industrial and forestry initiatives. The approval process was agreed in October, and there is currently an open call for stakeholders to comment on the projects under review. The session was conducted by the Department of Market Instruments and REDD+ within the National Secretariat for Climate Change (SMC).

Getting good grades - The UK-based voluntary carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon has awarded the renewable fuels producer Gevo an “A” rating related to its CDR credits generated via its North Dakota SAF facility, Gevo announced Thursday. The plant generates 65 mln gallons of ethanol per year and has a CCS capacity of 165,000 tCO2/year. That captured carbon is sequestered via a Class VI carbon injection well in the state. The credits are verified under Puro.earth’s Geologically Stored Carbon methodology, and the company is the only ethanol CCS project to issue credits for thousand-year permanence, Gevo said. The plant sources most of its corn feedstock from within 75 miles of the facility, and leverages the company’s own carbon-tracking platform for upstream agriculture MRV. The company is also developing another SAF facility in South Dakota.

Not on record - GHG Protocol’s plan to limit the use of “market-based” emissions accounting is proving contentious among US tech giants, Semafor reported Thursday. The standard setter, which has extended its public consultation to the end of Jan. 2026, finds itself in the crosshairs of companies with net zero targets - between those that prefer to invest in low-carbon energy projects directly powering their operations, or those that invest in credits from clean energy installations anywhere in the world, though claimed towards their own facilities.

From soil to credits – Rabobank is working on a new carbon project in Brazil, in partnership with UK-based consultancy Anthesis and Argentinian Ruuts. The project, called ReTerra, was registered with Verra last week and is expected to generate 717,000 carbon credits annually under the Improved Agricultural Land Management methodology (VM0042). The project will be implemented across 350,000 ha in the state of Mato Grosso and aims to promote the large-scale adoption of regenerative agricultural practices in Brazil. ReTerra is designed to support producers in transitioning to regenerative practices, measure and verify soil carbon outcomes, reward performance through outcome-based carbon revenues, and scale through partnerships across the value chain so that benefits reach producers, buyers, and ecosystems, said Kim van der Leeuw, head of nature-based solutions at Rabo Carbon Bank.

Canada’s environment ministry is predicting the country will make it just halfway to its closest net zero target, confirming months-long concern from climate analysts.

Voluntary carbon market standard Verra has published an initial list of approved insurers to support project developers for credits eligible under the UN’s international aviation emissions scheme, CORSIA.

Colorado regulators have adopted an air quality standard going beyond federal requirements to tighten controls on methane and other harmful emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, as the state advances its net zero target for 2050.

A proposed US carbon border measure would cut global emissions while raising roughly $100 billion in revenue over its first decade, with most reductions and revenues occurring domestically, according to a new analysis.

California emissions from transportation fuels this year appear to be on track to be lower than 2024 levels after year-over-year (YoY) diesel and gasoline sales declined in September, state data posted Thursday shows. 

Tech-backed Frontier buyer group has signed a $44.2 million carbon removal offtake with a Canadian company, bringing the advance market commitment's total 2025 investment to $261 mln across 688,300 tonnes contracted.

Calgary connected – PowerBank Corporation has brought a 1.45 MW DC rooftop solar project in Calgary to commercial operation, it announced Thursday, marking its first operational project in Alberta and its debut as a small-scale generator on the Alberta Interconnected Electric System in 2025. Developed as a pilot for Fiera Real Estate, the project sells electricity to the grid under Alberta’s Small Scale Generation program and will generate carbon offsets through the province’s TIER system. The project was delivered under a full engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement with backing from Zathura Investments. PowerBank said the project supports potential future work with Fiera, which manages over C$12 bln in real estate assets globally.

Framework forming - Canada has moved ahead with plans to develop made-in-Canada sustainable investment guidelines by appointing the Canadian Climate Institute to lead the work, in partnership with investor-led initiative Business Future Pathways. The move was announced on Thursday as the next step in the arm’s-length development of a voluntary sustainable finance taxonomy. The taxonomy is intended to provide clear, science-based definitions of “green” and “transition” investments and support investor clarity as Canada advances toward net zero. A new Taxonomy Council is expected to finalise guidelines for three priority sectors by the end of 2026, with a further three sectors to follow by fall 2027.

A standard body has published its new approach to calculating baselines for the carbon savings of REDD projects, alongside a series of jurisdictional maps.

Voluntary and regulated carbon markets are converging, a development that could mark a "turning point" for climate finance, according to a new research paper.

DAC deal - Canadian DAC developer Deep Sky has formed a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), one of Japan’s largest financial institutions, to accelerate deployment of high-integrity CDR in Japan, the companies announced Dec. 3. Unveiled at the DeCarbon Tokyo 2025 Conference, the collaboration aims to build commercial pathways, financing structures, and policy frameworks to scale DAC in the country. Priority areas include enabling carbon credit offtakes, advancing local business collaboration, and supporting Japan’s DAC ecosystem.

Responsible for an estimated 14.5% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, projects tackling livestock emissions have historically covered a very small part of the carbon market – but developers are preparing to go mainstream, with methodologies under Verra in development and poised for submission next year.

A climate of cuts - The Trump administration plans to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, a federally-funded climate and atmospheric science lab established in 1960, E&E News reported. The White House said the National Science Foundation (NSF) will eliminate what it calls 'Green New Scam' research while relocating ‘vital’ functions such as weather modeling and supercomputing to other entities or locations. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought described the centre as a source of climate “alarmism”, while NSF said it is reviewing the lab’s structure and remains committed to core weather and space-weather capabilities. The move has drawn criticism from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) and scientists, who warned dismantling NCAR would undermine US climate and weather research, though details of the restructuring plan have not been released.

Oregon regulators are preparing a wide-ranging update to the state’s Clean Fuels Program that could tighten carbon intensity targets beyond 2035, expand incentives for transportation electrification, and revise renewable electricity provisions, with formal rulemaking expected to conclude in late 2026 or 2027, officials said on Wednesday.

The number of participants in Washington's cap-and-invest programme held at 200 in the fourth quarter after breaching that threshold for the first time in Q3, even as total allowance holdings jumped 19%, Washington Department of Ecology (ECY) reports showed.