Bahrain is witnessing rising domestic interest in carbon pricing, as the major aluminium producer faces stark exposure to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), according to attendees of a sustainability conference held in the country last week.

UK emissions fell to 373 million tonnes of CO2e in 2024, a 3% decrease year-on-year, as official data released Thursday showed how sectors’ trajectories continued to significantly diverge.

Paraguay this week announced creation of the National Cadastre of Mitigation Projects, advancing detailed plans to transact the country’s first Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) this year, a senior official told Carbon Pulse.

The Liberian government "does not, and will not" plan to impose a carbon levy on international ships entering its ports, it said in a rebuttal to the news last week that it would introduce the non-market mechanism.

A carbon standard has released a new methodology for durable biochar for consultation that seeks to align with Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) rules by incorporating a downward adjustment over time within its framework.

CCS for ships - The business case for onboard carbon capture on ships is unlikely to stack up for some time without carbon pricing, the CEO of Wartsila Hakan Agnevall told industry publication Lloyd's List. He was referring to the decision by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) last October to postpone global carbon pricing on shipping for at least a year. Technology group Wartsila has offered a commercial carbon capture solution for maritime since last May, which is proven to reduce vessel emissions by up to 70%.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has assumed control of clean energy and cookstove company Koko Networks, after the company failed to secure Kenyan project approval and fell into bankruptcy. 

UK electricity generators are struggling to prove the carbon intensity of power exported to the EU – now covered by the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – leading to rising cost exposure and trade disruptions only a month after the scheme kicked in.

Negotiating tactics - The EU is assessing how to strengthen its approach to future UN Climate Summits by using its trade, finance, and development leverage in the talks, according to an internal EU document seen by Reuters. After frustrations at COP30 in Brazil last year where the bloc struggled to rally supporter for faster and more ambitious action - notably no new global pledges to cut fossil fuel use faster - the EU now wants to up the ante in leveraging its trade and development tools. EU climate ministers will discuss the ideas on Friday at a meeting in Cyprus, which holds the EU's rotating presidency and drafted the document. Some govts also reportedly want a clearer EU line on when to reject future COP deals that it deems too weak.

The full picture - The climate crisis could lead to a global financial crash and wipe out entire national economies, according to research from the University of Exeter and Carbon Tracker Initiative. The full risk isn't being factored into current economic models as they fail to account for extreme weather shocks and climate tipping points. These models used by governments and financial institutions forecast that steady economic growth will only be slowed by gradually rising average temperatures but miss the impact of unexpected events. Govts, regulators, and finance managers should pay far greater attention to high impact but low likelihood risks such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, which could threaten the foundations of economic growth and wouldn't be easily bailed out from, the researchers said. (the Guardian)

A Vietnamese project developer said its improved cookstove project in Laos has been approved as eligible under the aviation sector’s global offsetting scheme, making them “among the first in Asia” to secure the designation.