An Australian carbon outlook published Monday has warned prices could stay flat in the medium term due to a lack of investor momentum and policy certainty, urging the government bring forward its review of the Safeguard Mechanism.

A clean cooking project frontrunner, with aspirations to supply the CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme, has folded after the Kenyan government reportedly rejected the company's request for a Letter of Authorisation (LoA).

Watchdog electricity worries - Demand is quickly outpacing power generation as data centres and other large electricity customers come online, according to new findings by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC). E&E News reported the watchdog warned overall resource adequacy is worsening.

Path to US energy expansion - The nonpartisan Energy Infrastructure Alliance Forum has officially launched to improve US federal support for the commercial deployment of a range of energy tech, according to Axios. The outlet reported the organisation will focus on the DOE’s recently renamed loan office, The Office of Energy Dominance Financing, which has a $289 bln in available loan authority after a Trump administration overhaul that restructured Biden-era commitments, including for renewable energy.  It published a white paper outlining a roadmap for leveraging office funds to support energy infrastructure priorities of the federal government, including for nuclear energy, AI hyperscaler support, critical mineral supply chains, and grid resilience.

Producers increased their net length in two California Carbon Allowance (CCA) markets and in the RGGI Allowance (RGA) futures market, while reporting a net short in their Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) holdings, the latest US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday showed.

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) recorded a net deficit of 1.7 million credits in the third quarter of 2025, the programme's first quarterly shortfall since early 2021, data from state regulator ARB showed Friday.

Canada’s federal financial system should better reflect the country’s climate and biodiversity commitments, and address gaps in disclosure, transition planning, and oversight, which could leave the economy exposed to climate-related risks, according to a parliamentary environment committee.

Brazil ETS workshop - Brazil's Extraordinary Secretariat of the Carbon Market held a product workshop recently that marked the official start of the country's future emissions trading system (Portuguese: SBCE). Representatives from the federal government, private sector, financial markets, and strategic institutions took part in the workshop that focused on design for the most appropriate scope for the system, encompassing all phases of carbon market implementation, according to Brazil's finance ministry. At the end of the three-day immersion, it is expected the work will result in the creation of a planning document known as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which will gather the minimum requirements necessary to guarantee the initial operation of the SBCE, with functionalities organised in phases, allowing it to evolve over time. Participants also discussed defining a necessary path to foster carbon trading and attracting national and international buyers. The workshop was held in partnership with Serpro, which is responsible for developing the digital platform where the system's central registry will be maintained.

RGGI hopefuls - Democratic delegates in the Virginia General Assembly are advancing House Bill 397, which would require the state legislature to re-enter Virginia into regional power sector cap-and-trade scheme RGGI. HB 397 was read in the House on Friday for the first time. On Thursday, the General Assembly’s Department of Planning and Budget released a fiscal impact statement for the bill, estimating that participation in RGGI could result in annual proceed of $115.6 mln per auction in Virginia, or $462.6 mln per fiscal year.

SAF landing – FedEx announced Thursday it had expanded its use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport late last year, lifting the total number of US airports where it uses blended SAF to five in 2025. The company has secured the equivalent of 5 mln gallons of neat SAF across these agreements, including 2 mln gallons to be supplied at DFW and JFK under a deal with World Fuel Services, delivered as a minimum 30% blend. FedEx said the DFW purchase marked the first non-pilot SAF procurement at the airport by any airline.

Hydrogen shift – The City of Edmonton has partnered with the University of Alberta and Diesel Tech Industries to study hydrogen-powered retrofits for municipal vehicles, a Canadian outlet reports. The collaboration will examine hydrogen combustion and dual-fuel hydrogen diesel systems for buses and other heavy-duty vehicles, with a focus on maximising hydrogen use while avoiding full engine replacement. The research is backed by funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta and Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and builds on Edmonton’s earlier trials of electric, hydrogen fuel-cell, and dual-fuel vehicles amid cost and cold-weather constraints. If successful, the partners aim to scale the retrofit model to other Canadian municipalities.

Captured value – South Korean researchers have developed a new electrode that captures CO2 from exhaust gases and converts it directly into formic acid in gas mixtures similar to industrial flue emissions, Interesting Engineering reports. The design combines a CO2-absorbing layer, a porous carbon sheet, and a tin(IV) oxide catalyst, enabling carbon capture and conversion to occur simultaneously in gases containing nitrogen and oxygen. The researchers said the approach could reduce costs by avoiding energy-intensive CO2 separation and could be adapted for methane.

Colorado CCS - Colorado’s Geologic Storage Stewardship Enterprise Board set an annual stewardship fee for operators in the state to promote long-term protections for Class VI wells – 8 cents per tonne of CO2 injected. The board’s decision on Tuesday designated the fees to go into a fund to support the long-term care of those storage sites, to manage potential risks association with carbon capture and sequestration. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission applied to the US EPA in 2025 for primacy over Class VI injection well permitting – a process that is in the proposed rulemaking stage.

A major voluntary carbon standard has applied its first labels of eligibility to credits for use under the international aviation sector’s offsetting scheme, it announced Friday.

Charging ahead - A report released Wednesday by US fast-charging data firm Paren found that the country’s public fast-charging network expanded rapidly in 2025, adding around 18,000 new DC fast-charging ports, a roughly 30% YoY increase, even as growth in EV adoption slowed. The study said charging demand rose in parallel, with an estimated 141 mln charging sessions over the year, also up about 30%, indicating new capacity was absorbed rather than left idle. Paren found that deployment increasingly favoured larger, higher-capacity sites, while utilisation rates remained broadly stable, pricing changed little, and operational reliability improved across most markets, suggesting the sector continued to scale sustainably despite a more cautious market backdrop.

Treaty tightening - Senate Republicans on Wednesday introduced legislation that would require Senate approval for any future US participation in international climate agreements, responding to how the Obama administration joined the Paris climate accord without submitting it as a treaty, E&E News reported. The bill, titled the “No Climate Treaties Act,” is sponsored by Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) and 23 other GOP senators and was released to coincide with the US's formal exit from the Paris climate agreement this week. The measure aims to prevent a future Democratic administration from rejoining the accord without a two-thirds Senate vote, after President Donald Trump initiated US withdrawal from the agreement upon taking office, reversing the decision by former US President Joe Biden to rejoin it following Trump's withdrawal during his first term.

Low funds- The UN is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states failing to pay their fees, said Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a letter to ambassadors. Money could run out by July, with the crisis threatening programme delivery, he added. All 193 member states must honour their mandatory payments or fundamentally overhaul the organisation's financial rules to avert collapse. It comes after the US withdrew from 66 international organisations including 31 UN agencies earlier this month, with the Trump administration calling them "wasteful, ineffective, and harmful". The country was the UN's largest contributor. Last year ended with a record amount unpaid to the UN - equal to 77% of the total owed, said Guterres. (BBC)

Carbon questions – A US federal judge on Thursday issued supplemental questions ahead of a hearing, in the lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and British American Tobacco (BAT). The judge asked plaintiffs and defendants to clarify how “carbon neutral” claims should be interpreted and substantiated in motions to dismiss a California consumer lawsuit. The court also asked plaintiffs and Reynolds to identify the controlling legal or regulatory definition of carbon neutrality in consumer marketing and whether a reasonable consumer would understand the term to require zero emissions or to allow third-party verified offsets. The hearing is scheduled for February.

Debt down - US-based methane abatement firm Zefiro eliminated almost $1.8 mln in debt and secured $447,500 in cash after three creditors exercised nearly 10.8 mln warrants, with most of the value offset against outstanding loans and the rest paid in cash. The remaining debt and accrued interest were settled via share issuance, reducing 2026 maturities by 64%. CEO Catherine Flax participated by converting $800,000 of her own loan and related interest into equity.

Judicial joust - A coalition of 27 US Republican attorneys general on Thursday urged the Federal Judicial Center to remove a climate science chapter from the latest edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, arguing it is biased and could influence judges hearing climate-related litigation, E&E News reported. The letter, led by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, said the new section would tilt courts toward so-called left-leaning policies and harm US energy production, and accused its authors of ties to academic programmes that support climate lawsuits against states and energy companies.

To change, or not to change… - New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) is weighing potential changes to the state’s 2019 climate law during budget negotiations, citing concerns over affordability and grid reliability, a move that is already drawing resistance from fellow Democrats, E&E News reported. According to people familiar with the discussions, the administration is exploring possible “offramps” from the state’s legally binding emissions mandates, though no specific proposals have been disclosed. The prospect of revisions has raised alarms among Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups, who warn that reopening the law could weaken one of the country’s most ambitious climate frameworks and complicate budget talks as Hochul seeks re-election.

Rebate roadmap - California officials will release details next week on how the state plans to allocate about $200 mln in electric vehicle rebates proposed in Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) budget earlier this month, according to the head of the state’s climate regulator, E&E News reported. California ARB Chair Lauren Sanchez said the structure of the incentive programme would be publicly outlined following internal planning, with the funding aimed at supporting EV uptake after sales slowed amid the Trump administration’s cancellation of federal EV tax credits last year.

The number of carbon credit buyers choosing to remain anonymous fell year-on-year over 2025, according to analyst data published Friday.

Emissions from California's largest grid operator ended 2025 down by roughly 8.5% year-on-year (YoY), according to recently published data.

European carbon prices posted their largest monthly decline in 11 months, and the biggest weekly loss in almost two years as determined and relentless offloading of long positions pushed EUAs to their lowest in more than seven weeks amid a search for signals from technical indicators, while natural gas rallied amid renewed forecasts for colder weather.

The climate policy adviser to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has backed the idea of continuing to hand out free carbon allowances to industries under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), provided companies invest in cutting their emissions, he told a panel on Thursday evening.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned the United Nations is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to member states failing to pay their fees.

The Bahamas’ lower legislative chamber is debating two bills following up on prior carbon market laws from 2022, triggering a debate centred on government rhetoric versus outcomes.

Future funding - Voyager Ventures has raised $275 mln for a new fund aimed at investing in energy, industrials, and climate technology companies in North America and Europe, ESG Today reported. Fund II will target technologies that span energy production and distribution, advanced manufacturing, critical materials, physical AI, and compute. Investment sectors include carbon removals, distributed energy, and AI systems. Its initial funds focused on early-stage climate tech startups advancing decarbonisation solutions in mobility, energy, carbon removal, and more.

High electricity prices, and complex value chains, are making carbon capture and storage (CCS) unviable for the cement industry without public subsidies, a senior executive at Heidelberg Materials has warned.

The European Commission will present before Christmas a proposal and impact assessment detailing how international carbon credits generated under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement could be used within the EU’s climate framework, officials confirmed.

Scotland's preferred approach to expanding the UK's Emissions Trading System (ETS) to maritime would be to grant exemptions for island ferries, fishing, and state maritime activity, according to the country's latest impact assessment.

Scotland’s parliament approved legislation this week to embed binding nature recovery targets in law, giving ministers new powers to develop legislation pertaining to wildfire management, sustainable forest management, and protected sites.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) has released its first dedicated global standard for accounting land-based emissions and carbon removals within corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, following five years of development, it announced Friday.

Germany’s federal administrative court has ruled that the government’s 2023 Climate Action Programme falls short of legal requirements and must be strengthened to ensure the country meets its emissions reduction targets for 2030.

The UK must reframe its clean power narrative around energy security, affordability, and local benefits if it is to maintain cross-party consensus and public support, a new report has found.

France faces EU legal action on renewables – The European Commission on Friday stepped up legal action against France for dragging its feet on fast-tracking renewable energy permits, sending Paris an additional reasoned opinion for failing to fully transpose key provisions of the revised EU Renewable Energy Directive. The directive’s permitting rules, in force since November 2023, were due to be implemented by 1 July 2024 and are meant to simplify and speed up approvals for renewables and related grid projects, including through strict time limits and “overriding public interest” status. France now has two months to comply or risk being referred to the EU Court of Justice with possible financial sanctions.

Energy Charter Treaty pullout – The European Commission on Friday launched infringement proceedings against 16 EU countries that remain in the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), demanding they withdraw “without undue delay” after the EU and Euratom left the pact in June 2025. The letters of formal notice were addressed to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden. The Commission argues the ECT, which governs cross-border energy trade and investment, falls under the EU’s exclusive competence on trade and investment, and that the member states concerned have not taken any steps to withdraw from the Treaty.

Singapore and Rwanda have opened a new call for carbon credit project applications under their bilateral Article 6 agreement, the two governments said on Friday.

Food emergency - The UK's food industry is facing a 'national emergency' without faster climate action, said Ken Murphy, CEO of supermarket chain Tesco at an event in London this week. Resilient, low-carbon supply chains and healthier products are no longer optional extras but key to keeping food affordable and available for British consumers, he said. Progress has been made on regenerative agriculture in recent years, but shifting geopolitics and economic pressures have since begun dampening momentum. Collaboration between retailers, farmers, suppliers, and charities is key to share learnings and risk, particularly in helping farmers weather the financial burden of adopting new technologies. Tesco is calling for standardised UK-wide metrics on soil health, biodiversity, and carbon reduction to build resilient supply chains, and faster planning decisions to deliver sustainable projects. (edie.net)

Land-intensive carbon removal (CDR) could hamper biodiversity protection unless site selection criteria are improved, a study released on Friday has said.

The price in China's national emissions market remained stable over the past week amid relatively healthy trading volumes, which some analysts have linked to the early availability of tradeable permits.

India’s push to scale up biofuels could feed directly into its emerging carbon market, even as gaps in accounting remain, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report this week.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group ramped up its role as the EU’s self-styled “climate bank” in 2025, with almost 60% of a record €100 billion in annual financing directed to green projects spanning clean energy, grids, storage, and climate resilience infrastructure.

A major gas supplier in Japan has decided to expand the coverage of its carbon offset evaluation tool to include credits issued under the J-Credit scheme and Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Funding secured - ASX-listed Alpha HPA has raised A$225 mln ($157 mln) to build and commercialise the second stage of the HPA First project in Gladstone, it announced. Backers of the capital raise included National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, which committed A$75 mln, AustralianSuper, and Orica. The project will produce 100,000 tonnes per annum of high purity alumina and  intends to run off 100% renewable energy, using Alpha HPA's proprietary processing technology and is expected to be operational in 2027. High purity alumina is a critical input into semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, the company noted.

Biochar project - Japanese developer Tromso has launched a biochar project utilising unused cocoa shells in Vietnam's Dong Nai province through collaborations with a local partner. It has teamed up with Trong Duc Cocoa, which generates around 6,000 tonnes of cocoa shells annually and 10,000 tonnes over the next five years, Tromso said. The Japanese company is verifying the effects of biochar on stabilising and increasing agricultural yields, while also exploring the potential for carbon storage to be converted into carbon credits.

Reaffirmed - Pacific island nation of Palau reaffirmed its commitment to implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement in its latest NDC published this week. It pledged to cut GHG emissions by 44% from BAU levels by 2035 under an enhanced action scenario, targeting reductions of 73,000 tCO2e a year by 2035, including additional removals from forests and mangroves, while remaining net negative overall. Forests and mangroves are expected to remain the largest carbon sink, removing more than six times the country’s annual emissions. Palau said implementation depends heavily on international finance, technology transfer, and capacity building. It is already participating in Article 6.2 activities with Japan.

Calling all carbon capturers - Canada is collecting feedback on technical changes to its Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage investment tax credit (CCUS tax credit), the federal department of finance announced Thursday. The proposed changes would address technical issues to align the measure with policy intent and facilitate administrative efficiency by clarifying the legislation, and also proposed that the designation of specific geological formations be permitted under the CCUS tax credit. The federal government is accepting feedback until Feb. 27.

Battery swap - ASX-listed Janus Electric has entered into a strategic agreement with a consortium of unnamed Canadian transport logistics companies to integrate its heavy-duty EV technology into a series of captive, circular energy projects in Canada, it announced earlier this week. Janus has developed proprietary swappable battery technology that can convert existing tucks, and the agreement will see this combined with developer of waste-to-energy infrastructure to create a first-of-it's kind closed-loop logistics hub, the company said. The alternative energy technology is intended to enable the supply of low-cost, low-emissions energy to the integrated fleet, potentially reducing the reliance on both grid electricity and diesel fuel. Final terms of the partnership remain subject to financing, Janus said.

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco) have agreed to acquire a controlling stake in a Brazilian low-carbon aluminium producer to unlock its next stage of growth, it announced Friday.

A Japanese shipping major will participate in Norway's flagship carbon capture and storage project through the signing of long-term charter contracts, it announced Friday.

California has issued less offsets to-date compared to the same timeframe in 2025, according to data published Wednesday.

California Carbon Allowances (CCA) futures continued to fall last week towards the $30 mark, with the Dec-26 V26 contract hitting its lowest settlement since early September as traders remained split on whether the slide reflects tactical positioning ahead of next month's auction or deeper concerns about regulatory threats and waning investor appetite.

Canada’s largest pension fund is failing on a number of key climate obligations, coming in with an overall “D Grade” on a scorecard initiative by a national environmental charity.

Small build - Australia's Victorian parliament has launched an inquiry on expanding access to renewable and affordable electricity for people living in apartments, townhouses, and other multi-unit dwellings, it announced. The inquiry will consider current barriers and inequities to accessing renewable and affordable energy, and options to increase access. It will explore options to increase renewable energy and affordable electricity, including shared rooftop solar, balcony and facade solar, community batteries, and virtual powerplants, according to the inquiry's terms of reference. The inquiry is accepting submissions until Feb. 27.