Australian miner Rio Tinto has lobbied the government to keep the diesel fuel tax rebate, arguing the technology needed to decarbonise its operations is still years away from being ready to deploy. 

Balancing act - Rising carbon prices may signal stronger climate policy, but they also expose significant risks, the World Economic Forum wrote in a blog post published Friday. As prices have climbed - especially in Europe’s carbon market - financial investors such as hedge funds are increasingly trading emission permits as speculative assets rather than compliance tools. This “financialisation” could detach prices from real emissions reductions, turning carbon markets into volatile commodity markets similar to oil or food, the WEF said. Unpredictable price swings would weaken the credibility of the carbon signal that companies rely on for long-term investment decisions. Firms might delay clean-technology investments if they suspect prices reflect short-term trading rather than stable policy direction. Sudden spikes could also raise energy and industrial costs, provoking political backlash and pressure on governments to intervene or weaken climate measures. If trust in the market erodes, the effectiveness of carbon pricing as a decarbonisation tool diminishes. The article warns that without stronger oversight and complementary policies, rising carbon prices could undermine - rather than accelerate - the energy transition by creating instability instead of certainty, according to the post.

An Australian oil and gas company on Friday signed a long-term agreement to supply vast quantities of gas to a steel plant in a bid to make low-emissions iron, raising questions over whether gas-based output can credibly be labelled “green”.

Climate-related disasters and high carbon emissions are increasingly pushing up sovereign borrowing costs, with fiscally fragile and developing countries facing the steepest penalties on their debt, according to new research by the European Central Bank (ECB).

China's high-level climate policy is increasingly centred on building global leadership in clean technology rather than accelerating near-term emissions reductions, a report published this week has argued.

The Australian government will this year finish the legislative work needed to bring the country’s carbon market in line with outstanding review recommendations, according to a progress report Friday, but could not say when they would be introduced to Parliament.

A Tokyo-based project developer has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an Indonesian research institute to develop nature-based carbon credits in the Southeast Asian country, particularly in agriculture and land-use sectors, it announced Friday.

Australia’s new mandatory climate-related reporting rules are driving a higher level of sophistication in corporates’ understanding of their impacts, but also draining resources away from actions that could curb them, a conference heard this week.

Pacific pact - The Asian Development Bank and the Pacific Islands Forum have signed an agreement to accelerate regional cooperation and integration in the Pacific, focusing on deeper collaboration to address shared development challenges, strengthen connectivity, and promote sustainable growth across the island nations. The partnership will strengthen efforts to deliver Pacific-led solutions that build resilience, expand opportunity, and mobilise climate and development finance in line with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific, a statement noted.

Qualified - Australia's Optimal Renewable Gas (ORG) has qualified for New South Wales' government's Low Carbon Product Manufacturing grant to help develop its Griffith Biohub, part of a funding round worth up to A$95 mln ($67 mln) for low-carbon industrial projects, it announced. The project will use anaerobic digestion to convert up to 100,000 tonnes of agricultural organic waste each year into biomethane. ORG is developing the project alongside partners Jemena, Baiada Poultry, and Osaka Gas Australia.

LNG push - South Korea's SK Innovation has been selected to develop a $2.3 bln liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project in Vietnam's Nghe An province, according to Korea Herald. SK Innovation will work with Vietnam’s state-run PetroVietnam Power Corporation and local firm Nghe An Sugar for the LNG project, which includes the construction of a 1,500-MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant, a terminal with storage capacity of 250,000 cubic metres. Construction of the power plant and the terminal will start next year, with completion targeted for 2030.

Paddock to power - Australian vegetable grower Kalfresh has secured A$80 mln ($56 mln) from Wollemi Capital and Queensland Investment Corporation to build a bioenergy facility transforming food waste and crop residues into renewable natural gas, it announced. The funding agreement marks the start of construction on the A$291 mln Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct, Kalfresh said, which at full capacity using anaerobic digestion technology, will produce enough energy to power up to 31,000 homes and reduce emissions by 430,000 tCO2 per year. Renewable gas production is expected to start from mid-2027 and be scaled up in stages.

An Australian landfill gas operator saw its carbon credit generation rise by 20% in the second half of last year, and expects to see further increases in the financial year according to half-year results published Friday.