Panellists on a Thursday webinar pointed project developers toward compliance and regulated markets rather than the voluntary carbon market (VCM) as the primary source of future demand and price formation.

The UAE is in the unique position of being both a potential buyer and seller of international carbon credits, carbon market participants said during the Carbon Forward Middle East conference last week.

After 25 years of negotiations, the EU and Mercosur signed a contentious deal to create one of the world’s largest free trade zones on Saturday in Asuncion, Paraguay, with its impacts on nature still being evaluated.

Portugal’s fertiliser industry has urged the EU to suspend the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and related tariffs on fertilisers throughout 2026, warning that current proposals could severely disrupt the sector.

Honduras is aiming to reduce emissions by over 12.82 MtCO2e by 2035, compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) baseline, with the target fully conditional on receiving international financial support, including via Article 6, and help with capacity building.

Worrying signs - Israel's foreign ministry is reportedly discussing the country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement due to pressure from the US, according to local news outlet Haaretz. Doing so would be an abrupt turnaround by the Israeli govt, which has otherwise shown longstanding and enthusiastic support for climate accords and green energy. Such a move would be strongly decried by environmental groups that warn against the disastrous consequences of existing international climate agreements.

Ecuador BUR – Ecuador signalled willingness to engage with international carbon market mechanisms, including the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) and future biennial transparency report (BTR) requirements – both in need of capacity building – according to the UNFCCC’s technical analysis of the country’s second biennial update report (BUR) published on Wednesday. The review highlighted ongoing work to develop a mitigation actions registry to support monitoring, reporting, and verification. Ecuador reported progress across energy, agriculture, waste, and LULUCF sectors, with mitigation efforts framed under its National Climate Change Strategy, alongside the REDD+ Action Plan “Forests to Live Well” (2016-25). The analysis also underscored Ecuador’s transition into the REDD+ results-based payments phase, following completion of readiness and the signing of its first REDD+ agreement in 2018.