Back spinning – Dominion Energy's 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is set to deliver its first power to the grid by the end of March, with full completion now expected by early 2027 following a 26-day shutdown ordered by the Trump administration, Coastal Review reported. The project was about 70% complete by late January after a court granted a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume, Dominion said in the latest project update. The company installed its first turbine on Jan. 27 and has completed all 176 monopole foundations for what will become the largest offshore wind farm in the US. The shutdown added $228 mln to project costs, bringing the total to $11.5 bln, including an estimated $580 mln in tariff-related expenses, according to the update. The facility will generate enough power for up to 660,000 homes when the 176 turbines are fully operational.

Round two – A Virginia Senate committee on Tuesday passed amendments to a budget bill that would accelerate the state's re-entry into RGGI, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee approved the changes to House Bill 29 (HB 29) on a 9-5 party-line vote at the request of Governor Abigail Spanberger (D). The amendments also included technical fixes to congressional redistricting provisions in the so-called "caboose" budget bill for the current fiscal year. Virginia previously participated in RGGI but withdrew from the programme in 2023.

Australia’s Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) has recommended that a waste methodology under the country’s domestic offset scheme not be remade when it expires next month.

RGGI Allowance (RGA) futures fell nearly 5% last week amid diminished demand stemming from retreating winter weather and additional incoming supply from next month's Q1 auction, market players told Carbon Pulse.

Transatlantic trash talk - US President Donald Trump criticised a new clean energy agreement between California and the United Kingdom, describing the arrangement as inappropriate and urging British officials not to engage with Governor Gavin Newsom (D). Speaking to POLITICO, Trump disparaged the Democratic governor and argued that Newsom’s environmental policies had harmed the state. His comments came after Newsom signed an MoU in London with UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, committing the two governments to collaborate on clean energy technologies and carbon management, among other topics.

A US-based company tackling decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors announced a $100 million first close of its Series D financing.

Protected areas (PAs) in fire-prone regions conserve forest carbon more effectively than comparable non-protected lands, countering claims they act as fire hotspots that undermine carbon storage, according to new research.

Concrete claims – CDR quality assurance provider Absolute Climate has launched a certification pathway allowing low-carbon products such as concrete, green steel, and sustainable aviation fuel to generate tradable Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs). The company announced on Tuesday that each certificate represents a single verified claim, issued after the product passes through its supply chain and tracked via partner registries to prevent double-counting. It said the certification process reflects the specific climate impact delivered by each product, distinguishing industrial emissions reductions from carbon removals and using facility-level data and life cycle assessment to ensure claims remain clear and credible.

The UK government should expand its carbon market to cover international shipping - but without increasing the number of allowances available, the country’s climate advisors have warned.

European carbon allowances ended a run of five consecutive losses on Tuesday as positioning ahead of the expiry of options on Wednesday, together with anticipation of the weekly Commitment of Traders report, kept prices in a narrow range for much of the day before a late surge took the market back above €70.00 after Monday's seven-month low settlement.

Stark warning - Europe’s climate advisory board, the ESABCC, has warned the continent must prepare for about 3C warming by 2100, far beyond the Paris Agreement goal. Current adaptation is fragmented and too slow, leaving Europe exposed to deadly heatwaves, floods and wildfires already intensified by climate change. The report urges mandatory risk assessments, stronger early-warning systems, and integrating resilience across all policies, funded partly by private investment. Experts stress adaptation is feasible but limited at high warming levels, so mitigation remains essential. Without rapid emissions cuts, risks could exceed society’s capacity to cope, making prevention and preparation equally urgent priorities for governments, the board added. (The Guardian)

The UK is on course to miss both its 2035 climate target and 2030 clean power goal due to a £75 billion investment shortfall, according to analysis published Tuesday.

Most banks and investors have only begun integrating methane into transition plans and disclosures, with many lacking clear sectoral strategies tied to financed emissions, according to a new working paper.

CBAM update - The Commission has published the CBAM default values and benchmark values for the definitive period in an excel format on its website. The values had already been published Dec. 16, but the excel sheets are now provided for information purposes only. The benchmark and default values determine how many CBAM certificates importers will have to purchase when importing goods in the mechanism's scope.

New Mexico’s Senate has voted down legislation that would have written statewide GHG limits into law, with a group of Democrats joining Republicans to defeat the proposal requiring the state to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The European Commission and EU member states have launched a joint tender to build and operate the platform that will sell and repurchase certificates under the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Nigel Farage, the leader of British political party Reform UK, said that it would create a new “super department” encompassing business, trade and energy, during a press conference Tuesday, as figures within the party repeatedly attacked net-zero energy policy.

A Swiss carbon removal (CDR) supplier announced Tuesday it has agreed a 10-year contract to supply carbon credits to a US-based retail group, marking the buyer’s first CDR purchase.

Carbon costs have become a major driver of European electricity prices and the widening gap with US power markets, accounting for the majority of the increase in recent years, according to analysis published last week.

Scientific fact - Achieving net zero emissions isn't a "political choice" but rather the only option available to halt global warming, Jim Skea, chair of the IPCC, told the FT. The British physicist said there were “some very challenging policies that would need to be put in place if net zero were to be achieved”, adding it was “perhaps not surprising that there’s a debate out there”. Hi statements come as political and business support for climate action has weakened led by the Trump administration, and in the face of economic pressures seized on by populist movements. More than 50 US-based scientists are working on the next round of IPCC reports, due to begin publication next spring, but none were nominated by the US govt, Skea said, while dozens of scientists nominated by China and Russia will contribute to upcoming assessments.      

Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU rose by 1.1% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous three months, outpacing economic growth and underscoring the challenge of keeping pollution in check as activity picks up, according to Eurostat.

AI greenwashing - Most claims that AI can avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry generative AI behind data centre growth, according to research commissioned by non-profits Beyond Fossil Fuels and Climate Action Against Disinformation. The tech industry's tactics were "diversionary" and amount to "greenwashing", said one report author. The analysis says the tech industry has muddled types of AI when misleadingly presenting the technology as a solution to climate change. Whilst green claims even for traditional AI tend to rely on weak forms of unverified evidence. Data centres are projected to account for at least 20% of the rich world's growth in power demand to the end of the decade, the IEA estimates. (the Guardian)

Rapidly evolving carbon pricing regimes are reshaping global business costs and compliance obligations; Alwyn Hopkins, sustainability leader for industrials and energy at EY UK, outlines the practical steps companies need to take to prepare, respond, and thrive.

Recent project setbacks have raised doubts about the extent to which hydrogen can help to decarbonise energy use, with critics arguing that years of hype have masked weak economics, and supporters countering that growing investments suggest the market is starting to focus on applications that can actually work.

Waste not, want not - Fast reduction of waste-derived methane emissions has been chosen as the top priority for COP31's action agenda by the government of Turkiye, according to a draft seen by Climate Home News. The topic was ranked first among 14 priorities in the document, which other countries must respond to before publication in March. The action agenda runs separately from formal negotiations between countries at UN climate summits. Waste accounts for about 4% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, versus almost 70% from burning fossil fuels. Turkiye is a key importer of European waste, much of which end up in landfills or is illegally burned in the open.

The organisation mandated by Switzerland to buy its Article 6 credits has acknowledged that securing international carbon trade authorisation remains a bottleneck, but, thanks to experience gained in recent years, the country should move forward on bilateral trade agreements in 2026.

A Singapore-based carbon offset developer has partnered with an Indian agritech company to roll out industrial-scale biochar production across India, aiming to generate up to 1 million durable carbon removals over the coming years, the companies have announced.

Security was a key driver of energy innovation last year, ahead of emissions reduction, whilst carbon removal and low-carbon industry were among growth areas for venture capital investment, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Climate Change Directorate on Tuesday launched the Kenya National Carbon Registry (KNCR), promoting greater speed and transparency for project developers, according to speakers at a launch event in Nairobi.

One size fits all - Marine engineering company Bar Technologies is calling for a unified global carbon pricing framework, to avoid the duplication and complexity of overlapping schemes. In a statement released Tuesday, it said the proliferation of regional emissions trading schemes such as the EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime, and postponed IMO Net-Zero Framework, is creating undue compliance pressure on maritime and could delay decarbonisation progress. Meanwhile, the EU's carbon border fee introduces indirect carbon costs into the trade system by pricing the embedded emissions of major seaborne cargoes such as steel, aluminium, cement, and fertilisers. The developer of wind propulsion technologies is advocating for a bunker-lever collection mechanism to fund climate-positive projects, aiming to avoid the complexity of overlapping schemes. (IndexBox)

Estonia’s prime minister has signalled support for reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to tame price volatility, saying Tallinn is open to tools such as a price cap or releasing extra allowances to make the carbon market more predictable for industry and investors.

France’s new multi-annual energy law (PPE3) sets out a decade-long push to electrify the economy, using a combined nuclear–renewables strategy to cut fossil fuel use and bolster energy sovereignty, with the decarbonisation of industry, buildings, transport, and digital infrastructure at its core.

Corporate adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is being shaped by internal carbon pricing and broader decarbonisation strategies, though high costs and unclear accounting rules continue to constrain wider uptake, according to new research.

Summit dates set - The second Clean Cooking Summit will take place in Nairobi on July 9-10, hosted by Kenya, Norway, the US, and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The event will be co-chaired by President William Ruto, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. It aims to mobilise new financial and political commitments to expand clean cooking access across Africa, where around 1 bln people remain without it, building on $2.2 bln pledged at the 2024 Paris summit.

Solar glut -  India’s solar manufacturing boom, driven by the government's strong push to develop local production, has tipped into a structural glut after capacity surged 13-fold since 2020 to nearly three times the domestic demand, according to BloombergNEF. Module plant utilisation has fallen to about 40% from over 70% since 2023, as exports to the US slowed following tariffs. Cell manufacturing capacity, meanwhile, is further set to rise four-fold to 100 GW within two years.

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could speed up Central Asia’s shift away from coal-fired power, as cutting emissions emerges as the most cost-effective way for the region to maintain access to European markets, according to a report published this week.

Japan’s current energy blueprint puts its net zero goal by 2050 out of reach by leaving a substantial role for thermal power in 2040, according to a report released Tuesday that argued for stronger carbon pricing for a realistic coal exit.

There are large and fast-evolving investment opportunities in the global decarbonisation space – even though carbon, nature, and biodiversity sectors are still classified as niche and emerging sectors, an investor conference heard on Tuesday.

The value of the NZX-listed Carbon Fund’s assets plunged almost 23% in the final quarter of 2025, matching a fall in New Zealand Unit (NZU) prices.

Bamboo boost – The Philippine government is promoting bamboo cultivation and utilisation as a key nature-based solution to address climate change, improve livelihoods, and support rural development, officials said. Speaking at a forum, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) officials said bamboo can support ecosystem restoration, absorb CO2, reduce disaster risks, and create sustainable income opportunities, particularly for rural communities. Integrating bamboo into climate action plans aligns with the country’s long-term low-emissions development goals and supports resilience-building efforts while contributing to a circular and green economy, they said. The Philippines has an estimated 39,000 to 53,000 ha of land suitable for bamboo cultivation, the commission added.

An Australia-based carbon project developer has appointed a new CEO, following the resignation of its former head last year.

Capital for Contact – New Zealand gentailer Contact Energy has successfully completed the bookbuild for a NZ$450 mln ($271.2 mln) placement of ordinary shares as part of a NZ$525-mln capital raising, it said in a stock exchange update Tuesday. Announced on Monday, the capital raising is to finance the execution and potential upsizing of renewable energy projects, including pre-final investment decision drilling at the Tauhara 2 geothermal development, a 200 MW battery at Glenbrook – adding to the existing 100 MW – and the 150 MWac Glorit solar farm. The announcement came as Contact reported a 5.3% dip in its revenue in its H1 2026 results, to NZ$1.6 bln, while its net profit was up almost 44% year-on-year to NZ$205 mln.

FEED frenzy – Canada has opened a funding call to support front-end engineering and design studies for carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects, aiming to advance capital projects toward final investment decisions. The Natural Resources Canada programme uses continuous intake with no fixed closing date, accepting applications on a rolling basis until funds are allocated, the government said. The call has two phases: an expression of interest stage open to all eligible applicants, followed by a full project proposal phase for invited applicants only. The initiative aims to position Canada as a CCUS leader and advance knowledge sharing on cost-effective project development.

Kraken the market – Octopus Energy is injecting nearly $1 bln into California clean tech, spanning carbon removal, heat batteries, and solar-plus-storage. The UK-based company will back two carbon removal companies focused on grassland restoration and reforestation, with big tech firms already lined up as credit offtakers. The investment will also support Bay Area heat battery technology and a solar-battery project set to launch in July. The deals form part of Octopus's plan to deploy $2 bln in US energy projects by 2030.  

The agriculture, forestry, and and land use (AFOLU) sector holds the largest potential to generate Internationally Traded Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) for Colombia under Article 6.2, while resulting revenues could multiple domestic emissions reductions if strategically invested, according to a new study.

California regulator ARB's proposed rule updates to the state's Cap-and-Invest Program have divided analysts, with some forecasting price rises in the medium term and others saying prices will hold near the floor until 2030.

Solar farms – New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has announced the first 32 farms which will be participating in the Solar on Farms initiative. The farms – which include dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture, plant nurseries, and wine, among others – will receive funding to cover part of the cost of solar panels, an inverter, and a battery. EECA said that the demonstration farms will provide insights about how solar and batteries can cut costs for farms while improving resilience. A total of 40 farms have been selected for the trial, it added, and the contracts for the remaining eight are being finalised.