Verra revision - Verra published on Tuesday a revised version (v1.1) of its VMD0054 (Estimating Leakage from the Displacement of Agricultural Activities) module under its VCS programme. The revision - incorporating feedback received in 2024 - introduces an accounting framework that takes into account the production of new commodities introduced to the project area when calculating the net emissions from land use changes, and includes revised ecosystem conversion assumptions so that projects in areas with very little forest cover can use the most common native ecosystem as the reference for quantifying carbon stock change due to displaced production, Verra said. The previous version of VMD0054 (v1.0) will be inactivated on Feb. 1, 2027. Projects that meet the Jan. 31, 2027 submission deadlines may continue to apply the previous version of VMD0054 for the remainder of their project crediting period or baseline reassessment period, whichever is shorter. Verra will hold a webinar to provide an overview of VMD0054 v1.1 on Feb. 10, 2026 at 1100 Eastern (1600 GMT).

Claims for PACM – Mesa Argentina de Carbono, a private sector initiative that advocates for carbon markets, has urged the Argentine government to submit its third version of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) and to join the UN-backed international carbon market established under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. In a publication on its website, the initiative argues that Argentina could export its carbon credits and receive two to five times more per unit than in the current voluntary market.

Money for restoration - Brazil’s National Treasury has disbursed R$100 mln ($18.6 mln) to support the restoration of the Atlantic Forest in the country’s mid-west. The amount represents the first transfer from the second Eco Invest auction, a programme designed to scale up foreign investment in Brazil’s green economy. The beneficiary bank, Brazil-based Itau, said the total structured financing will enable the productive restoration of nearly 4,000 ha of degraded land in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The funds will cover soil preparation, planting, sustainable management, and the purchase of inputs for sugarcane cultivation at a sugar mill. The financing will have a two-year grace period and a seven-year term.

A representative at one of the largest developers of offsets in California’s carbon market said that the state should not restrict its considerations for which credits offer direct environmental benefits (DEBs) to match Washington’s cap-and-trade programme, during a panel discussion on Tuesday.

A Boston-headquartered management consultancy firm has purchased 9,000 direct air capture (DAC) credits from a Texas facility.

Three bills filed in Louisiana’s 2026 regular legislative session this week would propose changes to state law affecting carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, by removing eminent domain powers and expanding parish-level authority over project siting.

A sustainable investment firm is investing $10 million into a US company that produces organic coconut sugar products in Indonesia.

A coalition of carbon removal buyers has facilitated $3.05 million in pre-purchases from two companies as part of its sixth round of advance credit buying.

Greenlit goals - Consumer goods company DKSH's near-term and net zero emissions targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), according to a release on Tuesday. The company aims to curb its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions 71.2% by 2030, compared to its 2020 baseline, and also aims to curb Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services 61.1% per CHF of value added by 2033, using 2024 as the base. By 2050, it aims to reach net zero across its value chain. Measures used to get there include optimising transport, using more renewable electricity, plus more electrified vehicles in its fleets. DKSH is also investing in carbon removal to boost these efforts.

A registry has certified a new protocol for CO2 removal through mangrove restoration, it announced Tuesday.

Limestone-based weathering - Dublin-based agritech startup Silicate Carbon expects to raise up to €15 mln in its next funding round in 2Q 2026 to help further develop its concept of carbon capture and using limestone to balance acidity in farming. Founder Maurice Bryson is focused on optimising the process and doing commercial pilots in the agricultural space, which will add limestone to soil, boosting soil productivity and removing CO2. (Business Post)

A Hong Kong-based company has issued what it said were the world’s first “carbon coins”, tokenised from 500,000 carbon credits from Verra's Verified Carbon Standard.

Changing bulbs - Japan’s Tokyo Century has agreed with household goods maker Iris Ohyama to launch a programme-type J-Credit project that generates carbon credits from LED lighting upgrades, the companies said on Tuesday. The scheme replaces fluorescent lighting with LEDs at customer facilities, allowing credits to be created and sold. A portion of the credit sales revenue will be donated by IrisOhyama to non-profit organisations chosen by customers, the companies added. Tokyo Century said it aims to register the project in 2026 and expand the model to other energy-saving and renewable energy initiatives.

Papua New Guinea has introduced legal protections for project developers under newly gazetted carbon market regulations, including formal recognition of “secondary ownership” rights, a move aimed at reducing project risk in the forest-rich country.

Australia should improve its flagship voluntary carbon reduction scheme rather than scrap it, emissions trading lobby group IETA said in a public letter to the government this week, warning that a repeal would undermine corporate climate action.

Delivered - Australia’s AgriProve has delivered 30,145 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) to the Peart family for their Jones and Blewett soil carbon projects in Queensland, marking what the developer claimed to be one of the largest single-farm soil carbon issuances achieved by a single farming operation under the ACCU scheme. The credits were issued after independent verification of increases in soil organic carbon across the family’s 4,800 ha grazing operation, achieved through long-term rotational grazing and pasture improvement. Project developer Corporate Carbon, together with its soil carbon spin-off Agriprove Solutions, have to deliver some 36.9 mln ACCUs, according to Clean Energy Regulator data.