A major exchange group in Asia and a stock exchange in Latin America signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to promote the development of carbon markets in their regions and advance sustainable finance.

Issuances were increasingly concentrated in newer vintages (less than 4 years old) in 2025, which is consistent with stronger buyer preferences linked to integrity considerations, according to a report from an NGO, published on Tuesday. 

Belgian biochar pilot – Belgian wastewater utility Aquafin has secured funding from the Helios Foundation to build a pyrolysis and drying unit at the Menen treatment plant, aiming to convert over 5,000 tonnes of sewage sludge annually into 600 tonnes of biochar. The project is expected to avoid more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions per year and capture an additional 640 tonnes of biogenic CO2, supporting decarbonisation in sectors such as metallurgy, construction, and soil remediation. The investment amount was not diclosed.

Helsinki-based carbon removal (CDR) registry Puro.earth has launched a premium service aimed at enabling more frequent issuance of verified carbon removal credits, seeking to shorten the time between production and market availability.

Peatland payback - Peatland restoration can deliver climate mitigation benefits within a few decades, according to a new paper by the University of Eastern Finland. The results suggest that peatland restoration can contribute to between 2 and 6 CO2-equivalent tonnes per hectare of annual climate mitigation, in a 100-year assessment perspective - suggesting that restoring weakly productive forestry-drained peatlands could play a key role in contributing to the land-use sector emission scenarios in Finland. The study focused on nutrient-poor and acidic peatlands, where growth of Sphagnum moss can result in a temporarily effective carbon sink.  

Using cheap water sensors could help cut the cost of monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for carbon removal from enhanced rock weathering (ERW), but the method requires site-specific calibration and periodic verification to be reliable, according to a study published last week.

ICR consultation - The International Carbon Registry (ICR) has begun a targeted consultation with its approved Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs) on the future update of the ICR Validation and Verification Specifications (VVS). This follows the revision of ICR’s core programme requirements late last year. The 30-day consultation open from now to Feb. 25 reflects ICR’s commitment to principles-based alignment with ISO 14064-3, consistent and defensible validation and verification outcomes, and continuous programme improvement informed by practitioner experience.

A consumer healthcare company has noticeably cut its indirect emissions by applying a carbon price equivalent to the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) when selecting suppliers in its tendering process.

Enhanced concrete weathering (ECW) may offer a viable pathway for carbon removal (CDR) when applied to soils, but environmental risks and site-specific factors must be carefully managed, according to a report published this month.

Liberia’s Carbon Markets Authority (CMA) has appointed a global consultancy to support international climate finance mobilisation and develop a national carbon market framework, backed by 100% grant-based or concessional funding.

Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) could help lower atmospheric CO2 and ease ocean acidification, but its effectiveness declines over time due to carbon cycle feedbacks, a new modelling study has found.

A Qatar-headquartered carbon standard is moving to embed biodiversity co-benefits more deeply into its framework, while signalling that a standalone nature markets remain a longer-term ambition dependent on regulatory and demand-side development.

A Dutch climate technology startup focused on certifying Scope 3 emission reductions in the agri-food sector has raised €1.25 million in a new funding round to accelerate its expansion into the US and Brazil.

Indonesia has completed the delivery of all contracted forest carbon units under its results-based payment agreement with the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), marking one of the largest jurisdictional REDD+ transactions to date.

The Saudi state-backed Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (VCM) has forged a strategic partnership with Qatar-based international carbon standard the Global Carbon Council (GCC) to include GCC’s credits on its exchange.

Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) has approved the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) as an official standard admissible into its National Registry of Mitigation Activities (RENAMI), also accepting several methodologies from the waste sector.

Carbon market news captured mainstream Brazilian headlines and Paraguay pressed on with Article 6, while the tough reality of international carbon pricing sank in for emissions-intensive sectors and economies, in a truly heterogeneous week for LATAM.

Malaysia's government agency for forest financing mechanisms has established a partnership with a crediting standard to strengthen emerging forest carbon frameworks, they announced Tuesday.