New call - Paraguay’s environment ministry (MADES) has launched a public tender seeking consultancy firms to develop the country’s National Carbon Markets Strategy and an operational manual for Paris Agreement Article 6. The call is being issued through the ministry’s carbon markets directorate, with technical support from the Global Green Growth Institute and financing from the Carbon Transaction Facility, as Paraguay advances efforts to operationalise its national carbon market framework.

The region advanced toward the operationalisation of Paris Agreement Article 6 over the past week, as governments moved to update bilateral frameworks, clarify domestic rules, and position themselves for participation in international carbon markets.

Chile and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) last Friday, marking the latest revision of their bilateral agreement under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, first signed 10 years ago, as the two countries move to align with the Article 6.2 framework.

The UAE supports the UN’s CORSIA aviation decarbonisation scheme and does not foresee relying on punitive fines for enforcement, according to an Emirati aviation official speaking last week at Carbon Forward Middle East in Abu Dhabi.

Grass is greener - Green Earth Group has completed a feasibility study for the Namizimu Afforestation, Reforestation & Agroforestry Carbon Project in Southern Malawi, confirming the project is technically and financially viable and ready to advance, the developer said Monday. It now aims to secure a Letter of Approval (LoA) from Malawi under Article 6, enabling alignment with the country's National Carbon Framework and future international credit transfers. Over the next six months, Green Earth and partner GEP said they will prioritise three actions: launching a 100-hectare pilot to test costs and seedling survival; finalising project boundaries and obtaining the LoA; and initiating formal stakeholder consultations following FPIC standards. These steps will prepare the project for full Project Design Document development and Verra registration, which Green Earth said positions Namizimu as a scalable template for replication across other forestry reserves in Malawi.

The Netherlands is launching a new government subsidy programme aimed at accelerating the development of carbon removal technologies, marking one of Europe’s clearest public funding efforts to support carbon removal (CDR).

Watering down - The world's largest sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management has called on the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to relax its guardrails for corporate climate goals, allowing them to target net zero by 2050 based on 2C of global warming, rather than 1.5C. The $2-trillion fund that owns stakes of almost 1.5% in all listed companies has previously been vocal on tackling climate change and has acknowledged increased climate risk to its holdings, but now says that fears some companies may walk away from science-backed climate goals unless they are relaxed. Carbon Tracker has warned that its push to water down rules risks triggering a domino effect on other climate standards. (FT)

Futures for Phase 1 CORSIA slid last week despite the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) publishing country-by-country offsetting data, which reaffirmed emissions would be higher than previously expected for 2024-26 period of the scheme.

A startup is aggregating public-sector energy-efficiency and ecosystem restoration projects across rural India and selling them through global carbon markets, the company's founder announced during the group's launch at the Carbon Forward Middle East conference.

As CORSIA moves toward mandatory compliance for most countries, insurance is emerging as critical infrastructure to unlock carbon credit supply and enable the aviation market to scale, writes Phoebe Thomas, CFC, for Women in Carbon.

Taiwan’s space agency, in collaboration with leading universities, launched a satellite-based monitoring system for biodiversity-linked carbon credit projects, it said in a statement Monday.

Malaysia aims to list a national forest conservation financing framework on the UN's non-market approaches platform by late 2026, potentially announcing it around the COP31 climate summit, a senior official told Carbon Pulse.

A carbon removals trade body has published its latest annual report, noting the addition of nearly 20 new companies to its association, and pointing to key developments last year that should drive stronger demand ahead for the nascent sector.

A new framework has been launched to define the best-practice criteria for high-integrity nature projects, aiming to reduce delivery and credibility risks for investors and buyers in an increasingly scrutinised voluntary carbon market.

Conference carbon - Sustainability Forum Middle East (SFME) has launched a carbon offsetting initiative in partnership with SAFA, a forum partner and voluntary carbon credit platform, according to a press release. This initiative will allow participants attending SFME's fourth edition on Jan. 27-28 at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay to compensate for the emissions entailed in their participation. Those attending from within Bahrain will be able to offset 1 tonne of CO2eq. to compensate, whilst those travelling in by air will be given the option to offset 2 tonnes of CO2eq. Offset initiatives will support projects to provide solar cookers for refugees in Chad, promote improved cooking practices in Nigeria, and restore mangroves through the Delta Blue Carbon project in Pakistan.

An Australian non-profit has filed a complaint with the country’s consumer watchdog over an offset platform, citing additionality concerns, it announced Monday.