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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.