Rural cookstove projects are “likely highly additional”, especially in areas without other government incentives, according to a new study.

A leaked European Commission presentation containing updated benchmarks that will determine the share of free EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) permits given to industry across 2026-30 shows a softer reduction for most chemicals and cement producers, fewer handouts for glass and ceramics, and unchanged totals for steel, compared to previous proposals.

The EU's chemicals industry is in the limelight as it ramps up its demands on the European Commission to alleviate carbon costs ahead of a major overhaul of the bloc's emissions trading market in Q3 – but high energy prices, ageing assets, and increasing output from other countries appear to be the main culprits behind the sector's woes.

Biochar consultation - French carbon standard Rainbow has opened consultation on two new biochar methodologies, it announced Tuesday. The two methodologies are based on the distributed production of biochar using closed  and open kilns, separately. The methodologies were developed in collaboration with Varaha, Carboneers, Cotierra, and Circonomy. The public consultation is open until Mar. 11.

Biochar and other carbon removal (CDR) pathways delivered significantly fewer credits than forecast in 2025, according to a report released on Tuesday.

EU carbon prices endured one of their most volatile sessions of recent months as prices dropped as much as €3.30 in less than 10 minutes in response to headlines relating to European Union discussions over market reform for Phase 5, before clawing back the entire decline as traders processed the news, while UK Allowances fell by the most in nearly four years on what many said was selling linked to the worsening political climate in the country.

The UK Treasury plans to trial its new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) rate in the last quarter of this year, before official take-off in January, according to its newly proposed legislative framework for the border free.

The upcoming revision of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), expected to begin in July, must ensure carbon prices “don’t go through the roof”, said Peter Liese, a lawmaker with the European Parliament’s leading European People's Party (EPP) who spearheaded the previous reform.

ETS reform - The CEO of BASF, Markus Kamieth, has called for EU ETS reform to protect the European chemicals sector, already suffering from high energy costs and Chinese competition. The scheme places the sector at a "significant competitive disadvantage" and without urgent reform, ETS costs could be as high as €1 bln a year for BASF in the 2030s if no revisions are made, he said. The old picture of decarbonising European industry and protecting it with CBAM has "become obsolete" in the current economic climate, said Kamieth. (FT)

At what cost? - A new study, published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, found that relying on subsidies instead of effective carbon pricing is a costly strategy for the energy transition. The research, conducted by experts at the Paris School of Economics, examined how political constraints on carbon pricing shape climate policy. When high carbon taxes are infeasible, policymakers turn to subsidies for clean electricity and storage, which may improve acceptability but impose economic and fiscal costs, according to the paper. Using a stylised dynamic model with fossil and renewable energy sources and a carbon budget, the researchers showed that weaker carbon pricing requires increasingly large subsidies and may lead to excessive accumulation of clean capital to displace fossil fuels. A calibration to the European energy market indicates welfare losses of up to 2.6% and fiscal shortfalls equivalent to 56% of the present value of electricity consumption, the paper found.

The global steelmaker has confirmed it will build an electric arc furnace at a facility in France, with the €1.3 billion investment half funded by environmental certificates.

Glaring gaps - A leaked draft of Germany’s Climate Action Programme fails to detail how the govt plans to close the remaining emissions gap by 2030, Tagesspiegel Background reported. The programme is the main policy framework to put Germany on track to meet its goal of reducing GHG emissions 65% by 2030, on 1990 levels. The govt is legally required to adopt a programme by Mar. 25, but the draft leaves open questions on areas including Germany's carbon price in the transport and buildings sector in 2027 and assumptions on future CO2 limits for passenger cars. The latest emissions projections suggest Germany would cut GHG emissions 63% by 2030, only if all current policies are fully implemented. 

Azerbaijan's first credits - The Hydro-3 plant has become the first renewable energy project in Azerbaijan to be issued international carbon credits, after registering with Gold Standard last May, the local news outlet Trend reported on Tuesday. The project, operated by Socar Trading and AzerEnergy OJSC, covers two small hydropower plants, Mirik and Garagishlag. The 10,745 credits, issued on Jan. 28, cover the period between Apr. 2024-Aug. 2025.

A carbon credit rating agency is branching out into commodities, using its methodology to identify for investors and developers the best option when monetising lower emissions from a facility.

Voluntary carbon market participants have heralded the EU as the first mover in creating a comprehensive, government-backed standard for certifying durable removals, but many still question where demand-side scale will come from and caution that ensuring a robust, high-integrity system still rests on fine-tuning the crediting framework.

The European Parliament on Tuesday approved the EU’s goal of reducing net emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, leaving only the Council’s final endorsement before the target can become law.

Co-applying enhanced rock weathering (ERW) and biochar can increase carbon removal (CDR) by improving soil chemical conditions, a new study has found, though short-term CO2 losses from increased microbial activity may temporarily outweigh inorganic carbon gains.

Iimports of fertilisers in the European Union have dipped amid uncertainty over whether they will be subject to the bloc's new border carbon adjustment fee or exempt, according S&P analysts.

BP has stopped its share buyback policy after profits in 2025 were hit by lower oil and gas prices, and shortly after investors questioned whether its fossil fuel reset would provide value for money.

The first carbon removals have been issued from a biochar production facility in Nigeria, with the inaugural credits purchased by a global buyers' initiative.

The UK government has contracted more than 6 GW of solar, onshore wind, and tidal projects in its latest renewables subsidy auction, bringing the total clean power secured in the year-to-date, including offshore wind, to almost 15 GW, it announced on Tuesday.

The European Union is weighing major changes to its system of free CO2 permits for industry as part of a broader overhaul of its carbon market, according to an internal document seen by Reuters, as a key EU lawmaker told reporters on Tuesday that the phaseout of handouts could be slowed from as early as the end of the decade, also proposing a future easing of the Linear Reduction Factor (LRF).

Spanish syngas - Barcelona-based WtEnergy Advanced Solutions has raised €10 mln to finance development of its waste-to-energy technology at industrial scale. The round was led by SC Net Zero Ventures, Suma Capital’s climate tech fund, with participation from Shell Ventures and existing shareholder Cemex Ventures. WtEnergy specialises in the energy recovery of waste and biomass through gasification technologies, aiming to replace fossil fuels with sustainable syngas. The financing will go towards project execution, plant standardisation, company strengthening, and European expansion.

The Belgrade Stock Exchange is developing a trading platform for carbon certificates to help companies manage risks tied to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), its executive director Lazo Ostojic told local media.

New direction - Saudi Arabia's $925 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) is expected to announce a new five-year strategy this week, focusing on sectors including industry, clean energy, minerals, and AI, according to sources as reported by Reuters. The new 2026-30 strategy will reportedly scale back on expensive mega projects such as The Line (a futuristic city) and focus more on attracting capital from global financiers as the kingdom faces mounting fiscal pressures from lower oil prices. The new strategy will see NEOM shift towards renewable energy and industrial development, including green hydrogen, solar, and wind, and away from its earlier emphasis on tourism and urban design.

Three community-based land restoration projects in Ethiopia have been selected for a UK-backed accelerator aimed at mobilising investment into high-integrity carbon and nature projects, marking the first Ethiopian initiatives to enter the programme.

Extending partnership - Indonesia and the UK launched the fifth phase of their Multistakeholder Forestry Programme, aimed at strengthening forest governance, transparency, and confidence in Indonesian forest products, the Indonesian government said. The programme, backed by Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, builds on a partnership dating back to 2000 and supports Indonesia’s goal of achieving a forestry and land-use net carbon sink by 2030. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said the initiative would reinforce legality and sustainability systems while improving livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.

Europe needs to ramp up efforts on nature-based carbon removals (NbCR) if it is to meet its climate, biodiversity goals, a report said on Tuesday.