Large-scale infrastructure offers a key pathway for mainstreaming and financing nature-based solutions (NbS) amid broader challenges to securing capital, panellists said during a Thursday webinar.

Colombia-based carbon standard Cercarbono announced on Wednesday the final update of its methodology for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects, following a public consultation launched in July last year.

European carbon prices will average €104/tonne in 2026, with supply tightness and fewer REPowerEU auctions than previously anticipated giving the bulls the upper hand, analysts said on Thursday.

Two global investors have announced plans to launch a new $1.2 billion climate finance vehicle.

Demand arising - 2026 could be the year where an effective demand signal arises for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the EU, particularly bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS), said Mark Taylor, co-founder and chief product officer at Sightline Climate on a webinar Thursday. He referenced plans to integrate domestic and permanent carbon removals in the EU ETS as helping to drive the incentive for companies to invest and potentially generate revenue from doing so, as well as the EU target for 50 mln tonnes of CO2 injection capacity by 2030 and the under-subscribed Northern Lights project. However, Sightline's Co-Founder and CEO Kim Zou countered that the opportunity could be capped, particularly for BECCS, given limited biomass feedstock and competition for it from other industries such as synthetic fuels. They both spoke on a webinar presenting the company's report looking back at climate tech VC investment in 2025, which marked an 8% increase in year-on-year from fewer, larger, and later-stage bets focused particularly on energy security, adaptation, and supporting AI growth.

European carbon allowance prices managed to record a modest daily increase on Thursday after rising almost €2.00 to set a 31-month high before giving up all their gains having breached a technical channel, as a brief turnaround in the gas market in the middle of the day encouraged sellers, while UKA prices also hit another 33-month peak and retreated.

Denmark on Thursday awarded a new offshore carbon storage exploration permit in the North Sea to a consortium led by TotalEnergies, further expanding the country’s emerging CO2 storage portfolio and adding a nearshore site that could serve future CO2 capture projects.

The CEO of one of the world's largest fertiliser producers, Yara International, slammed an EU proposal to temporarily exclude fertilisers from the bloc's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), saying it severely imperils confidence in the stability of the jurisdiction's wider climate policy framework.

Germany is preparing a major revision of its federal export credit guarantee system, raising questions over whether the policy will fully align with the global objective of limiting warming to 1.5C, according to analysis from a climate think tank.

US airlines were responsible for over 55 Mt of emissions in 2024 that are subject to CORSIA offsetting requirements, data recently published by UN agency ICAO shows, even as analysts highlight ongoing uncertainty around their participation in the scheme.

Greenlit plans - The European Commission will sign off Germany’s state support plans for new backup gas power plants and an industry power price, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a conference in Halle on Wednesday. The govt plans to subsidise 10 GW of new gas power plants that can back up intermittent renewables. The business case can only be assured with additional state support and so a state aid scheme must be agreed with the Commission, and Merz's statement likely refers to the general agreement on the terms of support. The industry power price also requires EU approval under law and is a key part of Merz's plan to halt industrial decline and bolster Germany's economic growth. (Clean Energy Wire)

A voluntary carbon asset management platform and an infrastructure provider have announced a strategic partnership aimed at improving how carbon credits are sourced, evaluated, and transacted across the market.

Fossil fuel demand is on track to peak around 2035, but the surge in global living standards will boost oil demand by another 3 to 5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the early 2030s, according to Shell.

A wave of new LNG supply is coming to the rescue of Europe's beleaguered industry, with potential to cut annual energy costs almost €40 billion by 2032 and deliver cumulative savings of nearly €200 bln, according to analyst forecasts.

Carbon removal (CDR) experienced bumper growth in 2025 with a burst of new contracts, although Microsoft continues to dominate the market, according to a report released by a portfolio manager this week.

Japan and Azerbaijan are close to finalising a carbon trading deal under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, with credits set to come from a project to decarbonise the Caspian country's largest oil and gas terminal, an executive told Carbon Forward Middle East on Thursday. 

Carmakers stick to EV plans in Europe – Global carmakers say they will stick with electric vehicles in Europe despite a European Commission plan to ease the bloc’s 2035 petrol and diesel engine ban, the Financial Times reports. Kia, Renault and Stellantis executives said EVs remain central to their product plans, while warning the revision offers only “very small flexibility” and risks leaving European brands exposed to cheaper Chinese electric rivals. (FT)

Steel and CBAM - The European steel industry is battling significant challenges with implementing the EU carbon border tax as importers are facing “excessive cost surprises” from last-minute regulations, Eurometal president Alexander Julius told S&P Global Energy in an interview. The European Commission published more than 1,600 pages of new calculation factors in Dec. 2025, which has complicated problems in the steel supply chain by imposing changes to compliance requirements. Julius argued that the steel sector is also likely to press for a CBAM exemption, similar to the fertiliser sector, due to the competitive disadvantage it places on the industry. There are serious errors and inconsistencies with the steel sector's default values under CBAM, according to trader Gerber Steel, whilst Julius referred to the default value system as "a mystery". (Eurometal)

The European Commission has updated the EU’s central carbon registry to reflect tougher climate targets for 2030 and clarify how national governments can use emission trading and land-use flexibilities to meet their obligations under the bloc’s Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR).

Public actors need to strategically tackle the widening gap in insurance against climate-related natural disasters through four actions that embed nature throughout, WWF said on Thursday.

The period 2026-30 is by far the most important for UK tree planting if it is to count towards the country’s 2050 net zero target, a non-profit research group said this week.

Climate fund - Swiss voters will go to the polls on Mar. 8 to vote on a proposed new climate fund, put forward by a committee arguing that despite the country's net zero by 2050 goal, climate policy and decarbonisation are too slow. The fund would be financed by annual contributions of 0.5-1% of GDP until 2050, amounting to between CHF 3.9 bln (€4.2 bln) and CHF 7.8 bln a year, say sponsors of the proposal led by the Socialist and Green parties. Money raised would go towards expanding solar power, renovating buildings and public transport, protecting biodiversity, supporting job resilience, and backing climate tech. Yet opponents say it would be wrong to saddle future generations with the debt the fund may incur, and point to the already available CHF 2 bln per year for climate protection and restructuring the energy system.

A bigger share - Revenue from EU carbon taxes tripled from 2017 to 2023, rising from €15 bln to €51 bln, Eurostat reported. Their share in overall energy taxes increased from 6% in 2017 to 19.7% in 2023. In 2023, some 76.4% of the carbon taxes were collected from businesses, while households contributed 22.3% and non-residents 1.3%. The energy sector accounted for 30.1% of total carbon taxes, followed narrowly by manufacturing at 29.4%. Govt revenues from auctioning allowances under the EU ETS are included as a subset of carbon taxes.

FDI ranking boost - The UK has moved up the rankings for new foreign direct investment (FDI), helped by growth in AI and clean energy, said McKinsey. The country became the world's third-largest destination for newly announced FDI projects between 2022 and 2025 - behind the US and India, up from fourth place in 2015–19, the consultancy said in a report published Thursday. Inflation-adjusted inflows averaged about $85 bln a year, stronger than a 20% increase in global announced FDI, and higher than the $45 bln and $43 bln averages attracted by France and Germany respectively. Much of the UK's new FDI is focused on $1 bln-plus clean energy and AI deals, with relatively little directed into advanced manufacturing in areas like EV batteries. Around 80% of the public inflows to Britain came from Europe and the US, with the country at risk of missing out on capital from the Gulf, South Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere. (Reuters)

Accelerator update - L'Oreal has named the 13 first participants in its sustainable innovation accelerator, which will provide €100 mln to startups and scaleups over five years and the chance to pilot their solutions potentially across its global operations. Those to be selected for the first cohort from the 950 applicants include seaweed-based packaging producer Kelpi, Japanese bioplastics firm Bioworks, and fungi recycling innovator Novobiom. UK digital carbon intelligence company Neutreeno was also chosen, and Brazilian biomethane producer Gas Verde. The programme is run in partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). (Edie.net)

New unicorn - Europe has a new climate-tech unicorn in the form of German startup Osapiens, which raised $100 mln at a $1 bln valuation. The Series C round for the company that provides sustainability and compliance software to companies for ESG reporting was led by Decarbonization Partners, with participation from Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Armira Growth. Its more than 2,400 customers include  BAT, Tesco, Lidl, Carrefour, and Coca-Cola North America, according to the LinkedIn announcement.

The European Commission is preparing detailed EU-wide rules to certify CO2 removals from carbon farming activities, setting out how projects in agriculture, peatland rewetting, and afforestation must prove their climate benefits to generate tradable units under the bloc’s new Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation.

The European Commission's proposal to pause its border carbon fee for fertiliser imports highlights the risk of investing in low-carbon products, amid "frustrating" political indecision, industry insiders said at Carbon Forward Middle East on Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are moving ahead with plans to create compliance markets in the coming years, market-makers told Carbon Forward Middle East, providing fresh confirmation to international speculation. 

The rapid expansion of the forward offtake market in the voluntary carbon market may be here to stay, and could determine credit pricing dynamics in the years ahead, according to analysis from a carbon data firm and rating agency.