Climate and energy transition risks and opportunities detailed in Woodside’s annual report provide a glimpse into the energy giant’s thinking on its future prospects in a net zero world.

Major oil and gas companies should be prohibited from positions of influence within the voluntary carbon market's standards-setting bodies, an NGO said in a report published Thursday.

Cloudy outlook - A boom in 'green ammonia' produced using green hydrogen has stalled as political shifts dampen the sector's economics and buyers aren't keen to sign long-term contracts. Experts cite doubts about the longevity of US tax credits and proposed exemptions to the EU's carbon border levy on fertilisers as clouding the outlook. Fertiglobe, the fertiliser arm of Abu Dhabi's Adnoc, says the only way to compete with grey ammonia is with CO2 pricing or subsidies, and these have been falling away in Europe and the US. Fertiglobe has paused some of its larger blue ammonia projects (made using carbon capture and storage) because of lack of demand. Buyer demand signals have weakened for green ammonia and hydrogen, including in Asia, influenced by the political agenda that is less focused on climate issues. The EU's carbon border fee may help blue ammonia projects, according to Yara, but likely won't be big enough to justify green ammonia. (FT)

EV funding gap - India’s electric vehicle (EV) sector attracted $25.6 bln in investments between 2020 and 2025, but this represents only 18% of the capital required to meet the country’s 2030 electrification targets, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The report estimated that $117.82 bln still needs to be mobilised over the next five years to scale manufacturing, charging infrastructure, and supporting ecosystems. IEEFA noted that high borrowing costs of 15-33% for commercial EV buyers are slowing adoption and called for integrated financing mechanisms, including credit guarantees and risk-sharing structures, to lower interest rates and unlock large-scale private capital.

Policy proposals for the mandatory phase of Japan's emissions market have drawn mixed responses from domestic industry groups and environmental organisations, amid ambiguity around banking regulations and the use of international credits.

Renewable boost – New Zealand gentailer Mercury has a NZ$1 bln ($598 mln) pipeline of renewable energy projects in the works, it told investors Tuesday. This includes NZ$220 mln for an expansion of the Nga Tamariki Geothermal Station, with the new 46 MW unit coming online in January. Mercury is aiming to add 3.5 TWh of generation capacity by 2030, leveraging its strength in wind and geothermal, it said. The power sector is covered by the NZ ETS.

An Australian feed additive company, targeting emissions reductions from livestock, posted a 236% surge in revenue in the first half of the 2026 financial year, it said on Wednesday.

Power search – The New Zealand government is looking at the possibility of long-term power purchase agreements across the public sector, in a bid to encourage investment new energy projects, the Beehive announced on Wednesday. This follows a Request for Information last year, and the government is now starting discussions, including with independent generators. All technologies are considered, including biomass, wind, geothermal, solar, biogas, and hydrogen, plus battery storage, said energy minister Simon Watts. He added that solar will play an immediate and practical role, and has asked officials to prepare a feasibility study on establishing a procurement model to accelerate the rollout of commercially available solar across all of government.

Capital expenditure on decarbonisation activities by an Australian mining company jumped over 200% in the first half of the 2026 financial year, according to its results on Wednesday.

Funding support - The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing up to A$3.25 mln ($2.1 mln) in funding to MGA Thermal for up to five front-end engineering design (FEED) studies to accelerate the commercialisation of its proprietary thermal energy storage (TES) technology, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. MGA Thermal’s patented technology can store energy as latent heat, enabling efficient long-duration thermal storage. ARENA said the project aims to accelerate project investment readiness and wider TES adoption across Australia’s industrial sector.  

Australia’s emissions fell 1.9% year-on-year in the September quarter according to national data released Wednesday, driven partially by a fall in transport emissions for the first time.