A Texas-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) project developer has filed an application for a permit to inject CO2 in Illinois.

Standard body Verra has launched a consultation on a draft savanna fire management method, it announced Wednesday.

A US-based non-profit and a carbon market platform on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership to expand access to carbon removal (CDR), methane mitigation, and refrigerant destruction projects, while strengthening the operational foundation behind how philanthropic capital is deployed in the carbon markets.

Mission accomplished - Tech giant Microsoft has achieved its goal to match 100% of its annual global electricity consumption with renewable energy by 2025, it announced Wednesday. Since 2020, the company said it has contracted 40 GW of new renewable energy supply across 26 countries, working with more than 95 utilities and developers across more than 400 contracts and counting. In its journey towards becoming carbon negative by 2030, Microsoft said it will continue to push for an expansive focus on adding all forms of carbon-free electricity solutions, complementing and adding to its existing portfolio of renewable energy resources. The tech giant also noted the importance of technologies including carbon capture and nuclear energy in efforts to meet rising electricity demand while maintaining environmental or sustainability goals.

Stewardship secured – Canadian conservation organisation The Nature-Based Solutions Foundation has acquired two clusters of private inholdings totalling more than 55 hectares, it was announced Wednesday. The clusters are located within the Kanaka Bar Band’s proposed Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in British Columbia, securing rare old-growth forests and critical habitat for endangered species. The purchases bring the number of private properties slated for return to the Band under title-registered conservation agreements to three.

The Dominican Republic became the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to register two wind farms under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), a developer announced on Wednesday.

A Berlin-based carbon credit marketplace has partnered with a Munich-headquartered developer to provide buyers access to CO2 removal (CDR) credits generated via European forestry projects.

Afforestation and reforestation projects should assess whether their remote-sensing can detect fine-scale biomass changes, particularly if they plan to issue credits early, attendees of a Wednesday webinar heard.

An Australian NGO has written to the country's environment minister to reconsider the scope of an proposed gas development, referring to a peer-reviewed report showing the burning of the resultant fossil fuel would have dire consequences for the Great Barrier Reef.

Washington's February Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) auction sold all of the more than 3 million allowances available amid the strongest bid-to-cover ratio since the initial year of the programme, a notice published Wednesday showed.

European carbon market participants have raised concern that heavy changes to the EU ETS to reduce costs for industry, such as establishing a price corridor or cap, could create a crisis of confidence in the mechanism and even threaten the bloc's climate goals.

US-based tech giant Amazon has announced it is expanding its carbon credit service to offer super pollutant neutralisation and lower-carbon fuel (LCF) inset credits.

A coalition of public health and environmental groups has sued the US EPA over its repeal of the endangerment finding on Wednesday, launching a court challenge against what the Trump administration described as the "largest deregulatory action in American history".

Power move - Italy's cabinet has approved on Wednesday a €3 bln reform reimbursing gas plants for EU carbon permit costs, preventing them from passing those costs into wholesale electricity prices. Because gas units set the marginal price, the plans to remove carbon costs has now pushed Italian forward power prices down about 15%, Bloomberg reported. The policy, which had been leaked last week, would cut bills for households and energy-intensive industry but compresses revenues for generators, especially renewables that previously earned high market prices set by gas. Utilities including Enel and ERG may face margin pressure, per the reporting. Under the draft plan, clean power would be shielded from carbon price impacts starting in 2027. But by covering emissions expenses, the government effectively reduces gas plants’ running costs, which could encourage greater fossil-fuel generation and make the EU’s 2050 climate-neutrality goal harder to achieve, Bloomberg added.

You can learn from us - An article by the World Economic Forum published Wednesday has argued that governing advanced AI should learn from carbon markets. Current AI governance relies heavily on voluntary commitments and ethical principles, which have limited impact because they do not change economic incentives. In climate policy, meaningful progress only emerged when governments priced pollution through cap-and-trade systems. The authors suggested applying a similar approach to AI. Instead of regulating AI capabilities, which are hard to define and politically contested, policymakers should regulate a measurable input: computing power. Training frontier models requires specialised chips, data centres, and large electricity use, all of which can be monitored. Because compute can be metered, regulators could create a permit system where companies must purchase allowances to run large training jobs, the WEF said. Permits would be risk-weighted: safer systems require fewer permits and become cheaper to develop, while riskier systems cost more. This would turn safety from a public-relations issue into a financial incentive. Revenue from permit auctions could fund global oversight and support participation by less wealthy countries, the authors added. Although imperfect - such an approach does not perfectly measure harm and enforcement would take time - the proposal’s central claim is that measurable inputs plus pricing mechanisms create behaviour change.

Imports of fertilisers fell to a record low in January – not because of the EU's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), but because importers stockpiled an unprecedented amount of fertilisers in December, trade bodies and NGOs said this week.

Twenty-nine activities transitioning from the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) received approval from host countries in the last month, a UN body said on Wednesday.

Eritrea aims to cut its emissions by nearly a quarter by 2030 on the condition of international finance and support, and potentially through cooperation under Article 6, according to the country's latest Paris Agreement pledge.

EUA prices rose for a second session on Wednesday after the weekly position data from futures exchanges showed speculative traders had reduced their net length for a fourth week, but by less than had been expected, while natural gas prices climbed sharply amid an increase in tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Rapid growth in the number of tonnes purchased from technical carbon removal (CDR) projects has triggered increased buyer scrutiny, while also weeding out developers who raised initial capital but failed to scale, analysts from a leading data firm said on Wednesday, who noted that these were both signs of a maturing market.

Export exposure – Environmental groups have sued the US DOE over its authorisation for Venture Global’s CP2 LNG export terminal in Louisiana, E&E News reports. The plaintiffs argued that the approval relied on “insubstantial analysis” of how additional exports affect US energy prices and failed to consider life-cycle GHG emissions. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is serving as co-counsel alongside Earthjustice in representing the Sierra Club, the groups said. The petition was filed with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday.

Hands off - Germany has relatively low gas storage levels at present (last pegged at 23.5% of capacity) but there is no need for market intervention, sources close to the country's economy ministry have said. Winter preparedness remained the responsibility of suppliers and traders, and the summer-winter spread is currently in a better position than a year ago, they said. The summer 2026 contract last settled at €30.78/MWh on Germany’s THE, while winter stood at €31.50/MWh. The German ministry is currently developing follow-up regulation for the current fill-level requirements, the sources said. State intervention should only occur if it can sustainably boost supply security, is cost efficient, and doesn't relieve market participants of their responsibility. (Montel News)

Data dump delayed - Due to the bank holidays at the beginning of April, the release of EU ETS verified emissions data for 2025 will be published "on Apr. 9, at the latest", the European Commission said Wednesday. This is later than usual, as the annual publication has typically come on or just after Apr. 1, with operators required to submit their emissions data for the previous year by Mar. 31.

A Paris-based carbon removal (CDR) portfolio manager announced Tuesday it has launched a due diligence coverage service to provide buyers with access to project-level assessments.

Partners - The Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF) has entered into a partnership with Natural Investments, an impact-focused investment platform within the Natural Capital group, to mobilise private capital into early-stage forest and landscape restoration projects in Southern Africa. Under the agreement, RSCF will provide co-financing to help Natural Investments expand its pipeline of investable, landscape-scale conservation and restoration projects. The support is intended to absorb early-stage development risk, improve project bankability, and create replicable investment structures capable of attracting private and institutional investors. The initiative aims to safeguard critical wilderness areas while demonstrating that restored landscapes can function as commercially viable natural capital assets. Natural Investments is advancing a diversified portfolio covering more than 1 mln hectares across Africa. Its projects target carbon sequestration and avoidance, biodiversity recovery, and improved local livelihoods, while seeking to generate sustainable long-term financial returns. The initial geographic focus under the partnership will be Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia, selected for their policy environments, intact ecosystems, and potential for diversified revenue streams. RSCF, supported by the governments of Germany and Luxembourg and implemented by UNEP and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, was launched in Oct. 2020 to catalyse investment in forest and landscape restoration during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030). It supports broader international objectives including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Bonn Challenge, and the Rio Conventions.

Methane destruction - Isometric has released its first draft protocol for superpollutant reduction, for projects that capture and destroy methane from landfill sites before it reaches the atmosphere. The Landfill Methane Flaring and Utilization Protocol has been released in draft for public consultation, closing on Mar. 15, 2026. Eligible projects install and operate gas collection systems that capture landfill gas from the decomposition of organic waste, with the collected gas then used to generate electricity or heat. Methane is responsible for about 30% of global warming to date, and has over 80 times the warming power of CO2 in the first 20 years after release.

Shipping decarbonisation continues - Global shipping firms are continuing to invest in low-emission vessels and fuels despite the one-year delay to a proposed carbon price under the International Maritime Organization, Reuters reported. Industry players said the delay has not changed investment decisions, pointing to long vessel lifetimes and expectations that stricter rules will still be introduced. Ships capable of running on alternative fuels now dominate new orders. The decision on a proposed $380/tCO2 levy was postponed in Oct. 2025 after opposition led by the US and Saudi Arabia.

Canada and Ukraine have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on areas of strategic importance in the energy sector, including on renewables, nuclear, and oil and gas.

Canada cannot meet its climate targets while its financial system continues to bankroll emissions-intensive activities, a Canadian senator told Carbon Pulse, arguing that her bill would facilitate cohesion between the country’s climate commitments and its capital markets.

Stick with it - Chris Stark, head of the UK's mission for clean power, made the case for sticking to the country's goal for 95% clean power by 2030 and said that carbon pricing is absolutely needed to get there. In an interview with Carbon Brief, he pushed back on calls to abandon the 2030 target such as by the Tony Blair Institute, saying increasing renewable energy helps insure against future gas-price spikes. The UK's high cost of energy are "due to fossil fuels, not due to the Climate Change Act", he said. The country needs to build an "electrostate" built on domestic supply chains and will have to interact with China, said Stark, stressing the importance of thinking long term.

Fossil fuel interests are perpetuating energy insecurity by standing in the way of an affordable green transition, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in remarks at the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) ministerial meeting on Wednesday, calling for a new global platform to discuss transitioning away from oil, coal, and gas.

Durability matters - The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) is launching a new Continuous Improvement Work Program (CIWP) on permanence: monitoring and compensation, in order to ensure carbon credits deliver durable climate impact. The new programme buildings on the recommendations of the previous CIWP on permanence and will explore ways to strengthen pooled buffer reserves, develop standardised definitions, and advance innovative compensation mechanisms. Additional applications from experts to join the CIWP working group are welcome. More information here.

Anti-carbon tax Reform - The right-wing Reform UK party would chuck the UK's incoming CBAM, along with other climate levies, if it were to come to power, the party's shadow business and trade minister, Richard Tice, told Politico on Tuesday. This would come alongside a more interventionist industrial strategy that favours procurement of homemade goods, like a mandate for steel manufactured in the UK, he added. The UK intends to launch its CBAM in Jan. 2027, preceded by a pilot of its CBAM rates in Q4 2026. The UK's next general election is not currently scheduled until 2029.  

The Council of EU member states backed plans on Wednesday to amend the supply control mechanism of the bloc's upcoming Emissions Trading System for road transport and heating fuels (ETS2), without making changes to the European Commission's initial proposal.

A coalition of international organisations has unveiled a new effort to expand access to clean cooking, aiming to transform political commitments into financed infrastructure and nationwide deployment programmes, with several governments and industry voices also backing carbon credits as a key means of financing greater clean energy access in the sector.

Delivering carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale requires the financial sector to fund early-stage projects, boost bankability by aggregating demand, and accelerate learning via a global forum, according to a report by a private sector coalition.

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has called on the International Energy Agency (IEA) to move away from a recent "focus" on fighting climate change and concentrate instead on scaling energy access and security, speaking at a ministerial event in Paris on Wednesday.

Leaked annexes to the EU’s upcoming Industrial Accelerator Act would force public projects and subsidy schemes to use minimum levels of low‑carbon and “Made in EU” materials in construction and transport, tightening rules for steel, aluminium, concrete and plastics across the bloc.

Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Luxembourg have pushed back against calls to delay the launch of the bloc’s new carbon market for road transport and heating fuels (ETS2), warning that further political tinkering would weaken the EU’s broader climate policy objectives.

EU-turn - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has doubled down on his backing of the EU ETS, calling it a "tremendous success", Euractiv reports. This comes just days after he first called last Wednesday for significant reform to the scheme, and even a "postponement", before then appearing to row back on these comments Thursday following an EU leaders summit last week.

Carbon markets should evolve to finance long-term ecological stewardship, not merely insure credits, argues Charles Bedford, Founder of Carbon Growth Partners and Professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Working together - Japan and Cambodia this week signed a five-year cooperation agreement to deepen collaboration on climate mitigation and decarbonisation, reaffirming their support for the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals. The deal covers joint work on emissions reduction and adaptation, circular economy measures including plastics management, environmental technology deployment, pollution control, and biodiversity conservation. A similar deal was signed between Japan and Bangladesh.

Car credits - Australia’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) generated a net surplus of 15.9 mln compliance units in its first reporting period, according to data published on Wednesday. Each unit corresponds to 1 gram of CO2 per kilometre below a vehicle’s emissions target. More than 68% of suppliers beat their emissions targets between July and December last year. Passenger car and light commercial vehicle fleets both outperformed their average emissions targets, while zero-emissions vehicles made up 12% of covered sales, the regulator said.

Two new savanna fire management (SFM) methodologies to generate Australian carbon credits will be considered by the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) this week, with a project developer touting the large-scale benefits it will reap for Indigenous communities.

Demand for carbon removals (CDR) in 2025 roughly doubled year-on-year, largely driven by offtake agreements led by a tech giant, according to a sustainable energy outlook published on Wednesday. 

Hydrogen push – Indian clean technology company Greenzo Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lord’s Mark Industries to develop up to 60 MW of green hydrogen projects in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Under the agreement, the partners plan to install solar-powered hydrogen projects with battery storage in Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Jhansi, and Lucknow, with Greenzo providing hydrogen technologies and engineering support. Lord’s Mark Industries will act as developer and investor, handling financing, regulatory processes, and commercial structuring. The companies have not disclosed project timelines or end users yet, but said the collaboration would support India’s green hydrogen sector as the country looks to scale clean energy deployment amid government incentives and growing interest in low-carbon fuels.

The final quarter of 2025 saw new records for commissioning of renewable generation and storage assets in Australia, according to a report released Wednesday.

Market shift – India is looking to diversify its steel export markets towards the Middle East and Asia as a way to mitigate the impact of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), according to a government source, Reuters reported. About two-thirds of India’s crude steel exports have traditionally gone to Europe, but demand there has softened since the carbon levy took effect in January, prompting New Delhi to seek new agreements with infrastructure-focused buyers in the Middle East and Asian markets. Officials also noted efforts to secure long-term supplies of critical raw materials like coking coal and limestone to support the industry’s competitiveness amid shifting trade dynamics.

An Australian oil and gas company has flagged a net nominal short-term Safeguard Mechanism liability of A$24 million ($17 mln) in 2026, it said in its annual results and reports on Wednesday, while also noting it had met its 2030 net emissions reduction target.

Traders polled by Carbon Pulse ahead of Wednesday's Q1 WCI auction expected, on average, a settlement in line with recent front-month California Carbon Allowance (CCA) futures prices, while analysts provided predictions between the price floor and above $30.

Wright or wrong - US Energy Secretary Chris Wright threatened to withdraw the country from the International Energy Agency (IEA) if it continues producing net zero scenarios, calling such work "leftist fantasies" at a Paris conference on Tuesday, Politico reported. Wright, speaking ahead of an IEA ministerial meeting, said the agency should focus on energy security rather than behaving like a "climate advocacy organisation". The Paris-based IEA produces scenarios that inform global climate policy and corporate decarbonisation strategies. In a November report, the agency appeared to respond to US pressure by reintroducing a scenario based on current trends and pushing its peak oil demand forecast from the 2030s to mid-century.