Kiln it – Todd Rexine, conservation director at Great River Greening, explained at a recent webinar how the Minnesota non-profit launched a biochar initiative to deal with rising wood waste from restoration work and invasive species. Great River Greening researched and adopted low-tech flame-cap kilns to convert wood waste into biochar that can be returned to sites or reused. Since 2023 they have facilitated 202 cubic yards of biochar (164 to date), engaged 500-plus stakeholders, expanded kiln rentals, and developed Minnesota-specific best practices and contractor specs, which will be released soon.

A California state senator who has led recent efforts to legislate on carbon removals (CDR) will not introduce a new bill this year, instead calling to prioritise regulatory implementation and directing existing climate funds toward the sector, he said on Monday.

Over 2.1 million Core Carbon Principles (CCP)-labelled credits were issued last week – bringing overall tagged issuance close to 90 mln – but CORSIA credits came under pressure, fuelling concern in the airline industry expressing that operators may have to declare a force majeure if available credits under the UN's aviation offsetting scheme don't increase soon.

A Texas-based carbon registry is migrating more than 2 million issued credits from one blockchain network to another to improve auditability and traceability, it announced.

At today's level of warming, about 40% of the ice stored in West Antarctica may already be on a path of long-term decline, while parts of East Antarctica could cross thresholds at 2-3C of warming, a study has found.

REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon have recorded lower cumulative deforestation over the past 15 years, but rates have risen again in recent years, a study has found.

Kenya is set to launch its national carbon registry this week, providing a digital platform designed to centralise tracking, verification, and management of carbon credits and emissions mitigation outcomes.

Rural restoration in Brazil - Brazil's Mato Grosso state will provide free environmental compliance support to over 1,500 small landholders through a new rural regularisation programme, it announced at the end of January. The Tangara Rural Regularization Program will help producers complete Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) filings and develop restoration plans for degraded areas, targeting properties up to four fiscal modules in size. The initiative is funded through a partnership between Mato Grosso's government, Brazil's Forest Service, and Germany's KfW Bank, with technical execution by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. Participating farmers can access assistance via WhatsApp with required documentation including property titles or possession declarations and personal identification.

OAE boost - The Carbon to Sea Initiative (C2S) is seeking proposals to assess integrating ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) with municipal wastewater treatment, the non-profit ocean science programme announced last week. The request for proposals aims to produce a technical report evaluating climate, human health, and environmental benefits of combining OAE technologies with wastewater systems, which currently account for an estimated 3-7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. C2S will fund one four-month award of up to $125,000, with proposals due by Mar. 20, 2026. The report will examine geographic feasibility, operational considerations, and risks across two scenarios: existing wastewater treatment infrastructure in regions like North America and Europe, and newly developing systems in areas currently discharging untreated wastewater.

The European Commission convened an expert workshop last week to examine the CO2 sequestration potential of direct ocean carbon capture and storage (DOCCS) technologies, launching “exploratory work” towards possible EU wide certification.

In progress - Vietnam will complete and publish provincial forest boundary databases and maps by the end of 2026 as part of an action plan to implement the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), state-run news agency VNA reported, citing Forestry and Forest Protection Department. The plan requires provinces to identify coffee, rubber, and timber production areas at risk of deforestation and to issue official compliance guidelines for the timber sector. Authorities will develop EU-aligned monitoring indicators, strengthen traceability systems, and build an integrated digital platform linking planting area codes and sustainable forest management certification data.

In focus - Indonesia is stepping up efforts to embed blue carbon into its climate strategy ahead of COP31 in Turkey, its Marine Affairs Ministry said last week. The ministry added that the country aims to align marine carbon policies with its target to cut emissions by 31.89% unilaterally, or 43.2% with international support, calling for stronger governance, data, and financing frameworks. The Southeast Asian country hosts around 17% of the world’s blue carbon ecosystems including mangroves and seagrasses.