The compliance instrument surplus for the California-Quebec joint ETS dropped nearly 12% following the interim deadline in Q4 2025, state data published Wednesday showed.

Offshore wind fight - Rhode Island and Connecticut have joined the legal pushback against US President Donald Trump's (R) halt of leases for five offshore wind projects on the East Coast, filing a request for preliminary injunction to block the Interior Department from suspending work on the 65-turbine Revolution Wind project off their coasts.

Two Northern Californian cities are the latest caught in the Trump administration’s crosshairs over policies aimed at limiting fossil fuel-based energy. 

Decarbonisation loan - Chilean mining company Codelco has secured a $600 mln in climate financing to support the decarbonisation of its energy supply, reported PVTech. The financing came from HSBC and Santander and was guaranteed by the World Bank group through its Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The state-owned Chilean firm said this latest financing will allow it to continue to transition to “a 100% renewable energy mix” by 2030.

Mine to sunshine - CPV Renewable Power began commercial operations at the 160 MW CPV Backbone Solar facility in Garrett County, Maryland, built on a former coal mine site with 324,000 panels capable of powering 30,000 homes, Thomas for Industry reported. The project becomes Maryland’s largest solar facility. Construction on a second phase is underway to expand capacity to 175 MW. Vanguard Energy Partners built the facility starting in 2020. The site marks CPV’s fifth wind and solar project with a 4.8 GW development pipeline.

Vistra’s plant purchase - Vistra agreed to acquire Cogentrix Energy’s 10 natural gas facilities totaling approximately 5.5 GW for a net purchase price of approximately $4 bln, according to company announcement. Seven plants with combined capacity of 3.1 GW are located in states participating in regional power sector cap-and-trade scheme RGGI.

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals challenging state's participation in regional power sector cap-and-trade system RGGI, declaring the cases moot after Governor Josh Shapiro (D) agreed late last year to withdraw from the programme.

Most forest policies in Canada aren't enough to incentivise climate adaptation by private landowners, even as government-funded programmes accelerate Indigenous-led conservation on public lands, recent studies have suggested. 

California clean transportation grants – California regulator ARB opened applications on Tuesday for community transportation planning grants, offering up to $7.3 mln support for future clean transportation investments. Tribal governments, community-based organisations, local governments, and public schools can apply for grants of up to $500,000 by Feb. 10. The grants are part of California Climate Investments, an initiative applying revenues from the state’s Cap-and-Invest programme to reduce GHG emissions. Previous grantees have used the funds to engage residents that had previously been excluded from the planning process to identify transportation needs and build partnerships.

European carbon continued to trade around a key psychological price level on Wednesday and ended the session fractionally higher, after positioning data from the two main exchanges showed speculative traders had only marginally reduced their bullish bets over the holiday period, while the first auction of 2026 cleared at a small premium to the prevailing spot market.

Roadmap reckoning - Hawaii lawmakers will next month begin debating how to fund and implement a transport decarbonisation plan targeting net zero emissions by 2045, E&E News reports. The move represents a key next step stemming from a landmark climate settlement signed in 2023 by Governor Josh Green (D) with youth climate activists. The agreement required the Hawaii Department of Transportation to publish a detailed roadmap for cutting emissions from road transport, aviation, and shipping, which it released as draft in June of last year.

Data drain - California energy regulators have raised projections for data centre electricity use, warning that new facilities, particularly in Northern California, will be a major driver of demand growth through mid-century, E&E News reports. The California Energy Commission (CEC) published data showing Pacific Gas and Electric’s pipeline of data centre capacity requests increased to about 15,000 MW in December from roughly 12,000 MW in September. Most of the increase came from projects in the early inquiry stage that may not ultimately be built. However, the volume of requests with signed agreements nearly doubled over the period. Regulators now expect statewide electricity demand to climb by more than 50% by 2045 after nearly two decades of relative stability.

The UK government has published final reports for several of the projects under the second phase of its Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Innovation Programme.

A positive new year - Sustainable finance investment company Mirova and Thematics Asset Management have completed a merger project, creating a platform they claim will offer a broader and more diversified range of thematic investment products. This should address the varied needs of investors whilst meeting the highest sustainability standards, they explained in the announcement.

The Climate Action Data Trust (CAD Trust) has completed the development of its Data Model Version 2.0 application programming interface (API), with the full transition by connected registries expected to be finalised by Q2 2026, the organisation said on Wednesday.

Participation in voluntary and compliance nature markets in the UK continued to grow last year, although challenges remain in advancing projects, securing buyers, and stacking different types of credits, according to a report.

European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic is proposing to temporarily exempt fertilisers from the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), following pressure from France and Italy on Wednesday.

The UK government is looking to accelerate the decarbonisation of heavy goods vehicles, opening a consultation on a new CO2 regulatory framework for the sector and announcing new funding for electric lorries.

Carbon and biodiversity crediting projects have significant conflicts, alongside potential synergies, largely because carbon credits are more easily traded, a paper has said.

Low-carbon French steel – ArcelorMittal has signed an 18-year contract with French electricity utility EDF to secure long-term supplies of low-carbon nuclear power for its steel plants in France, the two companies announced on Tuesday. Under the Nuclear Power Production Allocation Contract concluded on Dec. 26, EDF will allocate a share of the capacity of its operating nuclear fleet to ArcelorMittal, with first deliveries starting on Jan. 1, 2026. The agreement on low-carbon electricity supply is a key factor for the future competitiveness steel produced in France, said Reiner Blaschek, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

The gap in value widened between the highest-quality credits and much of the rest of the voluntary carbon market in December, while the integrity of retirements continued to increase at the end of 2025, according to analysts at a rating agency.

Tata Steel aims for a final investment decision (FID) to transform its IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands by Oct. 1 this year, its CEO has said, reminding however that Dutch authorities have committed to deliver guarantees to the company before a decision can be made.

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) officially kicked in January after a two-year pilot phase, but concerns have emerged over whether suppliers of affected goods will be able to get their emissions verified in time for the first reporting deadline.

Clean ship testing - The UK company PuriFire Energy has started lab testing on what it calls a breakthrough hydrothermal gasification process that could provide a new source of clean shipping fuel, it announced on Wednesday. With a new, larger R&D facility in Cambridgeshire, PuriFire will be able to conduct live trials of its proprietary process to turn wastewater and carbon into green hydrogen and bio-methanol. At the same time, PuriFire is also trialling the hydrothermal gasification process using real-world feedstocks, in a project backed by the UK DfT and port companies.

Flying blind - Just 27.9% of companies said they are at all concerned about climate impacts and a mere 5.3% said they were "very concerned", according to analysis by Vail Williams consultancy looking at a survey of over 10,000 UK companies by the Office for National Statistics. Yet 16% of companies report being hit by climate-related disruption each year, and one in five businesses reported weather-related damage to buildings and infrastructure. Local supply chains were disrupted for 9% and global supply chains for 5%, but just 15% have adapted to supply chain disruption. Broader environmental action is just as weak too, with two-thirds of the surveyed companies saying they had done none of the listed measures such as monitoring climate risks or establishing a climate strategy. Larger firms are ahead, with around a third of companies with over 250 staff now having a climate strategy, compared to a tiny number of smaller businesses. (Energy Live News)

Retirements in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) fell by 4.5% in 2025, 8 million down on 2024's total, after December activity failed to live up to levels seen in previous years.

Electric dreams - Nearly one in six cars sold last year in Turkiye was fully electric, with the country's car and light commercial vehicle market climbing to a record high of 1.37 mln units, according to the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD). Fully electric car sales increased 90% to about 190,000 units, taking a 17% share of the passenger car market, while hybrid sales rose 63% to around 295,000 units, making up 27% of the market. Demand was mainly driven by Turkiye's large population, growing mobility needs, and an aging vehicle fleet, with 2026 sales expected to be at a similar level and potential for volumes to exceed 1.5 mln units in future, the organisation said. (Reuters)

Businesses are increasingly retiring higher-rated carbon credits, according to a report from a carbon ratings agency. 

Drying up - Climate change is causing trees to die across Australia's forests, a study looking at past eight decades found. It excluded areas affected by logging, clearance, or fires and looked at forests ranging from cool and wet to dry savanna. The increase in deaths was linked to rising temperatures and was worse in drier, more competitive forests, while tree growth overall failed to keep pace, potentially lowering the country's carbon stock in forests.

A development agency focused on southern Scotland is putting nearly £1 million towards helping to expand a local carbon capture developer, it announced on Wednesday.

Germany's greenhouse gas emissions decreased hardly at all in 2025, as the buildings and transport sectors failed to pick up the slack in decarbonisation, according to an energy think tank.

Climate appointments - South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also chair of the Presidential Climate Commission, has appointed 25 people to serve as commissioners on the country's climate body for the next five years. He will announce the deputy chair at the commission's first meeting this year, and further outline its priorities from now up to 2030, his office said in a statement. The commission was set up to coordinate and oversee South Africa's low-carbon transition and includes leaders from business, labour, and civil society. (Politico Pro)

Fragmented and inconsistent climate policies across regions risk slowing the global energy transition till 2030, even as clean energy deployment is accelerating in many markets, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Capital raise - Cube Infrastructure Managers has raised €150 mln of co-investment commitments for its JV platform, CubIKS, established by Cube Infrastructure Fund III in partnership with The Dillinger Group, a Germany-based operator of renewable energy plants. CubIKS was set up to own a portfolio of solar PV plants across Germany and Northern Italy, aiming to own and operate 1 GW of solar PV assets over the next five years with co-located battery storage where feasible. The co-investment programme was supported by existing investors of Cube Infrastructure Fund III — Canadian pension funds and a Japanese institution, stated the press release Wednesday.

The electrification of cars and vans is now “unstoppable”, according to a top executive at Schneider Electric, who points to building and industrial power systems as other low-hanging fruits that can drive the next phase of the region's low-carbon transition.

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out searches at the premises of a non-governmental organisation linked to an activist involved in international climate advocacy, as part of a probe into alleged foreign exchange violations.

China has released a trial climate disclosure standard for companies, setting them up for mandatory reporting in the future.

Drawing board - Turkmenistan is eyeing potential carbon credit generation as part of a draft National Forest Programme for 2026-30, the government said on Wednesday. The plan, developed by Turkmenistan’s environment ministry with support from UN Development Programme, treats forests as carbon sinks while stepping up efforts to restore natural woodlands and combat desertification. It also introduces state forest inventories and digital monitoring using satellites to underpin a national forest database. Entrepreneurs will be allowed to lease forest fund plots for fruit, oil-bearing, and medicinal crops, while land ownership remains with the state. Turkmenistan is Central Asia's most carbon-intensive economy and has little carbon market infrastructure in place.

Western Australia is offering A$9 million ($6 mln) in grants to decarbonisation projects, with a focus on renewable energy and green exports, it announced this week.

The head of an Australian rail transport company has urged the Safeguard Mechanism to be reformed in order to fold more heavy road freight into the scheme, warning current arrangements could pose carbon leakage risks between different forms of transport.

Delivered - Greek gas shipowner Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp has taken delivery of Active, a 22,000 cubic metre low-pressure liquid CO2 and multi-gas carrier, built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, the company announced. The vessel, designed to transport liquefied CO2, ammonia, and petrochemicals, is the first of four ordered as the company readies itself for the emerging carbon capture and storage logistics market. Active will enter service immediately on a six-month LPG time charter with an energy trading firm.

At risk - Many of Australia's capital cities' outskirts now share the same dangerous fire conditions that fuelled the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, according to a report published by NGO the Climate Council. The report highlights worsening fire conditions are being driven by GHG emissions, drought, strong winds, and expanding urban bushland, putting millions of residents at risk. As well as reducing emissions, the NGO urged state and federal governments to invest heavily in disaster preparation and community resilience, and build emergency service and land management capacity.

Carbon farming - Indore-based Auri Grow India has launched an AI-powered carbon credit agritech platform called CarbonKrishi that aims to help Indian farmers estimate, report, and generate carbon credits based on sustainable farming practices, the company announced. The company plans to onboard about 100,000 farmers across agriculturally intensive regions, with estimates suggesting the platform could generate gross carbon credit value of INR 160-500 mln ($1.9-6 mln) annually, depending on verification outcomes and global carbon prices. The system uses AI analytics, satellite imagery, crop and soil data, and digital reporting to assess farm-level carbon impact, and the initiative will help integrate Indian agriculture into the global carbon credit ecosystem, the company said.

The Colombian government expects to publish a series of long-anticipated regulations ahead of the mid-year presidential elections that will affect the country’s compliance and voluntary carbon markets, its long-awaited emissions trading system (ETS), and international carbon credit transfers under Article 6.

Voluntary corporate spending on carbon credits grew in 2025, although the voluntary carbon market (VCM) remains relatively small, per a report released this week on VCM strategies.

Captured concerns - Decatur, Illinois will host a public forum next week to hear resident concerns over Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, with critics saying the company failed to disclose a CO2 leak during negotiations with the city, WCIA reports. ADM launched an industry-first CCS project in Decatur in 2021 that injects CO2 from a nearby corn processing facility underground, and later identified a leak in March 2024 that the US Environmental Protection Agency said did not impact drinking water. Residents are expected to raise safety and infrastructure cost concerns at the Jan. 12 Council Connections meeting.