Carbon chemistry – Baker Hughes, a US-based energy technology company, has formed an exclusive partnership with Italy’s Giammarco Technologies to accelerate commercialisation of hot potassium carbonate post-combustion carbon capture, Chemical Industry Digest reported on Friday. The partnership was announced at Baker Hughes’ 2026 annual meeting in Florence. It will combine Giammarco’s solvent-based process with Baker Hughes’ turbomachinery, aiming to improve efficiency and reduce energy use and costs, while supporting pilot testing, FEED work, and pathways to full-scale deployment across hard-to-abate sectors.

Climate change could render up to 50% of current grazing land unsuitable for livestock farming by 2100, with major implications for pastoralists and grazing animals, a new study has found.

Rising temperatures are increasing soil carbon storage in boreal sphagnum peatlands, according to a synthesis of field experiments.

AI use in carbon markets - Artificial intelligence could support carbon project audits, but liability for audit decisions must remain with validation and verification bodies (VVBs), participants said at a recent roundtable hosted by New York-based Genvision and the International Association of Validation and Verification Bodies. AI could help with basic checks such as reviewing whether documentation is complete, but AI systems that cannot clearly explain how conclusions are reached are unsuitable for compliance audits, which require transparent links between rules and evidence, the speakers said.

Global carbon markets contracted in 2025, with their total value falling to €791 billion, the lowest since 2021, analysts' calculations have found, with 2026 now seen as a pivotal year for setting the long-term direction of the sector.

The European Commission on Monday launched a call for evidence to support an impact assessment on the possible use of international carbon credits to help meet the EU’s 2040 emissions reduction target.

European carbon allowance prices advanced for a second day, posting its biggest daily rise in three months as the market appeared to focus on technical drivers, with bulls shrugging off a weak auction to test a couple of technical resistance levels in the afternoon, while traders anticipated further signals from this Wednesday's Commitment of Traders data.

The European Commission told Carbon Pulse it is reviewing the planned reduction of EU carbon allowances under the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), saying it is keeping options open on the distribution of free allowances to industry after a week of high market volatility.

Nigeria has refined its forest-related emissions benchmark, adding in degradation data for the first time and making moves towards Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) payments.

The European Commission on Monday cleared a rescue loan of up to €390 million for troubled steelmaker Acciaierie d'Italia (AdI), saying the measure complies with EU state aid rules and will keep the company operating until a new owner takes over.

A romantic weekend in Marrakech, a bouquet of imported roses, and a candlelit dinner may look like the perfect romantic gesture, but together they carry a carbon footprint of nearly 800 kg, according to a new analysis that compared the climate impact of typical Valentine’s Day gifts.

Spot prices for Phase 1 CORSIA carbon credits tumbled last week amid a lacklustre voluntary market, where the recent collapse of the Koko Networks cookstove and clean fuel provider continues to stir debate.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged EU leaders to scale up homegrown renewables and nuclear power, warning that energy remains a “chokepoint” for Europe’s competitiveness ahead of a leaders’ retreat on Thursday.

The EU's renewable energy and clean transport fuel policies are helping to boost biofuels supply and prices – although the impacts are mixed, with stronger national goals to cut greenhouse gas intensity, but challenges for clean aviation fuels, according to S&P biofuels analysts.

Finland's climate change advisory body has said the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) is the best way to reduce emissions while also creating economic opportunities, and recommended not to include international credits in the bloc's carbon market.

The European carbon market (EU ETS) is moving from being dominated by the energy complex to being dominated by policy signals, with consequences for which signals the market acts on and what signals traders pay attention to.

A fair transition - Northern Ireland is one step closer to creating a Just Transition Commission (JTC) - an element of climate change legislation aiming to ensure no sector is unfairly disadvantaged by the low-carbon transition. Draft regulations on the JTC are to be presented to the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee and the Assembly, the BBC reported. The seven sectors of academia, youth groups, civic society, trade unions, fisheries, agriculture, and environment are to be represented on the JTC, and it's also proposed to add representatives from energy, transport, the built environment, the rural sector, and green finance. The Commission's design shall be based on the Scottish model, where a JTC has been operating since 2019.

A greener edge - More than 80% of BNP Paribas's financing exposure to energy production was directed to low-carbon energies as of end-2025 - helping the bank to easily beat its goal to enable €200 bln of low-carbon and transition-based financing from 2022-25, its annual results showed. The achievement puts the Paris-based bank ahead of track for its goal of 90% low-carbon energies (€40 bln-plus) within its energy production credit exposure by 2030. As of end-2025, that ratio had hit 82%, up from 76% in 2024. The biggest contributor to the increase in the ratio over 2024 was a reduction in fossil fuel exposure, falling to €8.6 bln in 2025. (ESG Today)

Two final bids reached the end stage of Denmark's €4 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) subsidy scheme - a large cement producer and an unknown project - from a pool of 16 initial bidders, most of which withdrew.

Carbon removal registry Isometric has released a new crediting method, setting out standards for measuring and certifying carbon removal through agroforestry systems.

ESG disclosure - Swiss pharmaceutical corporation Novartis has for the first time published figures on its use of carbon removal credits to address residual emissions, according to its latest sustainability reporting. The company said it covered 124,300 tonnes of CO2e with carbon credits in 2025, alongside volumes linked to biomethane and sustainable aviation fuel certificates. It reported Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from energy of 200,000 tCO2e, down from 233,300 tCO2e a year earlier.

Pyrolysis licence - Canada-based cleantech firm Char Technologies has licensed its high-temperature pyrolysis technology to France-based energy developer GazoTech SAS to support the rollout of biochar and syngas projects in France and selected European markets, the company said last week. Under the agreement, GazoTech will apply the technology on a project-by-project basis, with CHAR receiving an upfront licence fee linked to equipment delivery and ongoing royalties tied to biocarbon output, allowing it to generate revenue without deploying project-level capital.

CDR pre-purchase - US-based carbon removal developer Parallel Carbon has signed a pre-purchase agreement to supply 1,200 carbon credits to Zurich Insurance Group, the companies said last week. The credits will be issued under the Puro Standard and generated using an integrated direct air capture with geological storage and hydrogen production process, with the hydrogen output expected to be sold into low-carbon industrial markets.

Industrial emissions covered the EU’s carbon trading system fell 8% year-on-year in January, driven by significant decreases in steel and cement emissions, real-time emissions data indicates.

Clear skies - The UK’s Met Office has signed a £20,000 contract to purchase UK nature-based carbon removals to offset excess air travel during the 2025-26 financial year, according to a government procurement notice published at the end of January. The contract was awarded without competition to UK-based supplier Beyond Zero and was signed on Jan. 27, with delivery running from Feb. 23 to Mar. 31. The procurement falls below the relevant threshold and covers removals linked to air travel emissions from Apr. 2025, the notice said.