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- Thu 23:22Development partners – The Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF), implemented by UN Environment Programme, has named French nature-based solutions developer Hummingbirds as its first Project Development Partner, aiming to accelerate private investment into forest restoration projects across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, it announced this week. Under the partnership, RSCF will provide early-stage finance to help build a pipeline of investment-ready projects spanning REDD+, afforestation and reforestation, improved forest management, and blue carbon. Hummingbirds specialises in de-risking early-phase nature-based carbon projects through pre-feasibility and pilot-stage financing.
- Thu 22:40An investment advisory body published guidance on integrating deforestation into institutional net zero strategies.
- Thu 18:51Projects taking place in Chile under Article 6.2 bilateral agreements have unlocked some $1.4 billion in investment, according to officials and panellists speaking at an event in Santiago on Thursday.
- Form a line - The UNFCCC has released new forms to support the transition of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) activities (PA and PoA) to the Article 6.4 mechanism under the Paris Agreement. Titled 'Request for Review of Provisional Issuance for Article 6.4 Mechanism Programmes of Activities and Projects Transitioned from CDM', the form standardises how reviews of provisional issuance can be requested for transitioned programmes of activities, project activities, and component projects. It specifies who may request a review, the required project identifiers, monitoring period details, issuance batch information, and valid grounds for review.
- Thu 18:12Money forever - The European Commission estimates that a full ban on PFAS, known as 'forever chemicals', could reduce health and environmental costs in Europe by €110 bln by 2050. Without stronger regulation, costs related to healthcare, site decontamination, and pollution management could reach €440 bln across the European Economic Area by 2050. A comprehensive ban could lower these costs to €330 bln, although impacts on ecosystems remain unquantified, the study, released Wednesday, noted. PFAS include over 10,000 persistent chemicals used in products such as firefighting foams, waterproof clothing, and semiconductors, and are linked to cancer and infertility. (Financial Times)
- Thu 18:03Project developers working under a UK nature-focused carbon standard face tighter rules around additionality, following an update published Thursday.
- Thu 17:39More than one-fifth of French residents think that they will need to leave their home within the next 10 years due to the impacts of climate change, according to an academic speaking in London on Thursday.
- Thu 17:18EU carbon allowances dropped sharply at the start of Thursday's session and continued to drift to set a seven-week low at the close, as traders reported a continuation of the liquidation of long positions that had characterised Wednesday afternoon, while energy markets continued to firm amid strengthening rhetoric from the US over Iran's nuclear capability.
- The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is showing stronger alignment between credit integrity and price, but outdated supply and persistent misconceptions continue to undermine quality and investor confidence, according to experts.
- Thu 17:03The European Commission faced criticism from all sides of the European Parliament this week for its proposal to relax CO2 standards for cars and vans – either for having gone too far, or not far enough.
- The US is developing the most new gas-fired power capacity globally, more than a third of which to power data centres, and the trend is taking hold in Europe too – threatening the continent's energy transition, a non-profit has found.
- More than 120 civil society groups have urged EU leaders to cancel a planned US-EU trade deal and rapidly curb the bloc’s reliance on US liquefied natural gas (LNG), warning that Europe is entrenching a new energy dependency that bankrolls “US fossil fuel imperialism” and undermines climate goals.
- Thu 15:22Relaunch party in Mozambique - President Daniel Francisco Chapo and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne came together on Thursday to relaunch the Mozambique LNG plant after about five years of paralysis, the president's office announced a day before. This will help to create jobs in the construction and operational phases, and open new business opportunities for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, the office said. The $20 bln project was suspended following a nearby jihadist attack, which triggered a force majeure that ended late last year. The UK decided in December to pull a $1.5 bln package of support for the Mozambique LNG project, after TotalEnergies announced intentions to restart. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank's decided earlier this week to grant a $150 mln loan for another LNG plant in the country, the floating Coral North, led by Italy's Eni.
- Thu 15:03The largest industrial-scale production facility for electro-sustainable aviation fuels (e-SAF) in Germany looks set for lift-off after receiving approval for €350 million in public funding.
- Thu 14:18Faster, faster - RWE has called on Germany's government to speed up plans to build new gas-fired power plants, following the European Commission approving state support for 12 GW of new capacity, reported news outlet Die Welt. The govt must now hash out the final details with the Commission and present the new auction design before the summer break. Energy company RWE is urging for auctions to be kept simple and pragmatic, and for the awards to be made before the end of autumn. The plants are supposed to partly run on green hydrogen, but few details are made clear yet. The govt plans to use the gas plants as backup for times of little wind and solar output.
- Thu 14:16The rise of digital technologies like the Internet of Things and blockchain can help to build trust and coherence across Africa’s burgeoning carbon markets – but it needs to be combined with wider work to bolster investor confidence, according to experts.
- Thu 14:01UK-Africa scientific collaboration - The UK is supporting a new generation of researchers in Central Africa on sustainable forestry, the government announced Thursday. The British High Commission in Yaoundé unveiled scholars under the Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training for Sustainable Development (CRAFT) programme. The initiative aims to build new knowledge on the Congo Basin’s climate, forests, water systems, and societies to support better policy making. It's the first major initiative under the Congo Basin Scientific Initiative (CBSI) funded through UK International Development with £9.1 mln over five years. More details here.
- Thu 14:01Private equity firms remain heavily exposed to fossil fuels despite years of climate pledges, according to updated information released by a data consortium.
- Thu 13:26Carbon, capture, and storage (CCS) costs are expected to be higher than $150/tonne, far above current compliance or voluntary carbon prices, leaving many projects reliant on national subsidies to be commercially viable, a survey has found.
- Thu 13:22Germany has extended the European Energy Exchange’s (EEX) mandate to run auctions of its EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) allowances for a further two years, securing the exchange’s role as auction platform through the end of 2028.
- Thu 13:20End of an era - Digging coal at a major lignite mine in eastern Germany is set to end in 2030 - three years earlier than planned, as expanding wind and solar has made its extraction economically unviable, operator LEAG told broadcaster rbb. Regional supply of renewables is reducing the need for coal-fired power from the Welzow-Süd mine particularly during the summer, and LEAG wants to ensure its operations turn a profit throughout the year. LEAG also said it will apply to build new gas power plants, after the European Commission greenlit state backing for 12 GW of new capacity. Germany plans to full exit coal-fired power in 2038 at the latest, but many industry observers expect coal plant operations to become economically unviable before then.
- Thu 12:54A public-private partnership focused on restoring Africa’s Miombo woodlands has launched its first four carbon removal projects across southern and eastern Africa, targeting more than 50 million carbon removals over their lifetimes.
- Thu 12:28A confidential paper for the European Commission, seen by Carbon Pulse, sets out how long-lived wood and other bio-based materials in buildings could earn EU carbon removal certificates, detailing which building components would qualify, how to count stored carbon, and what rules should govern additionality, monitoring, and liability.
- Thu 12:19A government-funded scheme to help decarbonise UK industry allowed companies to progress projects that otherwise wouldn't have been viable, a report found.
- Thu 12:10Species can be negatively impacted by afforestation and reforestation, particularly if projects prioritise carbon sequestration over biodiversity conservation, new research said this week.
- Lower emissions cement - Cement maker Holcim has invested in Norwegian carbon capture startup Capsol Technologies, which has developed a chemical absorption process used to remove CO2 from gas streams. The cement maker plans to apply Capsol's hot potassium carbonate (HPC) technology to help achieve its emissions reduction goals and drive profitable growth, stated the press release. The investment follows a Capsol demonstration project at Holcim’s Dotternhausen plant in Germany in 2025, as a step on the way to Holcim producing net-zero cement at scale.
- Thu 09:57North Sea future - The inaugural meeting of the new North Sea Future Board - chaired by UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks - is being held on Thursday in the Scottish city of Aberdeen, bringing together stakeholders across oil, gas, and clean energy. The board is tasked with helping to boost investment, unblock barriers, and support the industry workforce, and will support the UK govt's North Sea Future Plan for a prosperous energy transition in the region. The board's meeting follows the signing of a pact between nine North Sea countries this week to build 15 GW of offshore wind annually in the North Sea, and the securing of record offshore wind capacity in the latest UK auction.
- One jump ahead - Sustainability intelligence platform Sweep is appointing Patrick de Cambourg, the outgoing chair of the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board, as senior adviser. De Cambourg played a key role in developing the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), including the simplified reporting standards currently under review by the European Commission, and also previously spent over 30 years at Mazars and presidency at France’s accounting standards body (ANC). His appointment at Sweep will give its customers a strategic advantage in regulatory intelligence and data readiness, stated the press release.
- Thu 08:00Carbon removals (CDR) must follow a like-for-like (LfL) rule if they are to help stabilise global warming in the long run rather than merely offset emissions in the short term, according to a new report by climate NGO Carbon Gap.
- Thu 00:44Flying on UCO – An Israeli university announced on Tuesday a partnership with engineering giant Boeing to develop SAF from used cooking oil (UCO) feedstocks. Media reports said the product remains two to five times m expensive than conventional fuel, while significantly cutting emissions. Boeing and its university partner launched the implementation phase, and is developing SAF produced from green hydrogen and CO2. Also on Tuesday, the multinational technology conglomerate Honeywell announced a partnership to expand SAF production with SAF One Energy Management and Tata Projects Limited, the engineering arm of the Indian technology company Tata Group. Honeywell said it will deliver an integrated solution along with the Tata subsidiary, involving the American company’s Ecofining process that transforms UCO and other waste oils into SAF. The North Carolina-headquartered company announced in October its new technology converting biomass into SAF and advanced fuel for the maritime sector.
- Thu 00:41
France meets Belize - The French government has launched a public tender to support the development of carbon markets in Belize, financed by the EU under the Euroclima programme. The tender is divided into four lots: a technical study on blue carbon readiness; a forest carbon, agroforestry, and payment for ecosystem services technical study; a solar mini-grid and e-mobility technical study focused on Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement; and creating a carbon knowledge and risk toolkit. Interested parties may see the full tender documents and submit proposals via the PLACE platform by Mar. 6. Belize has in recent years expressed keen interest in developing carbon markets, with a particular focus on national blue carbon initiatives. The national legislature is currently considering a Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiatives Bill that would regulate carbon markets, including aspects of Article 6 engagement – such as creating an authorisation application form, a national registry, an MRV system for GHGs, and new institutional arrangements.
