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- Thu 22:51Current satellite-based forest monitoring pipelines often function as de facto “black boxes” – complex, region-specific, and difficult to replicate, a webinar heard this week.
- Thu 21:45The administration of US President Donald Trump (R) is drafting a new diplomatic memo against the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) proposed carbon price plan, media reported on Thursday.
- Thu 19:59
Harnessing Hell's heat - The UK has switched on its first deep geothermal power plant at United Downs in Cornwall, marking the country’s first use of super-heated underground water to generate electricity. Developed by Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) over nearly two decades at a cost of £50 mln, the project involved drilling three miles below the surface - the deepest onshore well in the UK - to access water heated to nearly 200C by granite rock. This heat is used to drive turbines, producing continuous, “always-on” renewable electricity sufficient for up to 10,000 homes. The power has been contracted to Octopus Energy for delivery via the national grid. Deep geothermal differs from shallow geothermal systems such as heat pumps because it reaches much higher temperatures capable of generating electricity, not just heating. While geothermal energy offers stable, 24/7 output without fuel price volatility, the British Geological Survey and industry representatives noted that high upfront drilling costs present a major barrier to wider deployment. The project received funding from private investors and £15 mln from the European Development Fund. In addition to electricity, the plant will produce lithium carbonate from underground fluids - the UK’s first domestic commercial lithium supply - initially around 100 tonnes per year, with plans to scale up significantly. The UK has further geothermal potential in regions such as Scotland and northeast England, though no additional deep geothermal electricity projects are yet approved. Industry stakeholders say stronger government policy support is needed to attract investment. While shallow geothermal systems are expanding more rapidly due to lower costs, global investment in deep geothermal electricity is rising quickly, driven partly by growing electricity demand from data centres and clean energy needs. (BBC)
- Thu 17:20Exceeding expectations - Italian utility Eni has reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analyst estimates thanks to production gains that helped offset lower oil and gas prices. Adjusted net income totaled €1.2 bln, surpassing the €991.2 mln average estimate. The company said it benefitted from output that rose more than 7% from a year earlier, buoyed by projects in Angola, Indonesia, Norway, and Congo. This contrasts with several European peers such as Shell and BP that published disappointing results. Eni’s production averaged 1.84 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 4Q, and expects growth this year to be level with 2025-28 guidance. It forecast net capital spending of about €5 bln for 2026. (Bloomberg)
- Thu 17:17EU carbon allowance prices nose-dived by as much as 4.6% early on Thursday morning before recovering half their losses over the rest of the day as traders responded to yet more comments from European lawmakers, with one minister calling for the market to be "suspended" during the upcoming review process.
- Thu 17:14Winds at its back - Portuguese utility EDP has reported a 44% rise in 2025 net profit, on the back of strong earnings from its renewable division arm, which come despite a fall in gains from divestitures of older renewable plants. Consolidated net profit rose to €1.15 bln. EDP said it booked €64 mln in capital gains from selling wind and solar parks last year, down from €181 mln in 2024. EBITDA rose 5% year-on-year to more than €5 bln, while operating costs fell 2% to €1.9 bln, despite installing 2.1 GW of new capacity last year, which it said reflected "increasing efficiency". (Reuters)
- Thu 17:00A European shipping body is backing the creation of a reliable supply chain for greener shipping fuels, and has called to de-risk investments using national revenues from the EU's carbon pricing scheme.
- Thu 16:48Drax delivers - UK power company Drax exceeded annual profit expectations and raised its dividend on Thursday, supported by strong pellet output in North America and record renewables generation, with shares rising to a near two-decade high. The company, which has benefitted from elevated wholesale prices of recent years raised its full-year dividend by 11.5% to 29 pence per share, and forecast 2026 core earnings in line with the market view. Drax reported core earnings of £947 mln for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2025, down almost 11% from a year ago but still ahead of analysts' forecast of £914 mln on average, according to a company-led consensus. Its shares hit their highest level since Aug. 2006, before paring some gains to trade up 3.5% at 913 pence. CEO Will Gardiner has said he expects core profit of £600–700 mln in 2027 as Drax moves onto the UK’s updated low‑carbon support regime, with earnings expected to grow from there. This follows Drax's announcement it may cut more than 350 roles as it adapts its business structure. (Reuters)
- Thu 16:41Two groups representing EU industries have urged the European Commission to avoid proposing changes to the Emissions Trading System (ETS) that would weaken the price of European carbon allowances - contradicting pressure from other lobbies.
- Thu 16:41Poland, supported by eight other EU countries, called for urgent political action to help the bloc's ailing chemicals sector, mainly by revising the phaseout of free carbon allowances to industry under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and by amending technical values that determine permit handouts, during a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
- Thu 15:45Balancing act - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for partnership and ongoing discussion with China on his first visit to the country as chancellor. Accompanied by a large business delegation, Merz made statements calling to enhance the "strategic partnership" with China, in a bid to reset relations that have been dampened by a significant trade deficit with the world's second-largest economy. Xi welcomed his comments, whilst Premier Li Qiang expressed China's wish to cooperate in areas like automobiles and chemicals as well as AI and biomedicine. European leaders have been looking to strengthen their relationship with China as the rift widens with the Trump administration in the US, though must balance preservation of their own industrial interests with supporting China's requests for economic partnership. (Reuters)
- Thu 15:26The Norwegian parliament voted Thursday to scrap its 2030 climate neutrality target after lawmakers and climate NGOs raised concerns about its cost and impact, with experts estimating this may weaken short-term demand for Article 6 linked carbon credits.
- Thu 15:25Europe installed over 19 GW of new wind power capacity in 2025, over 90% of it onshore, with investment topping €45 billion – but tampering with the electricity market design, or making changes to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), would have a negative effect on investment into the sector, an industry body warned on Thursday.
- Thu 15:19A carbon procurement and intelligence platform has partnered with a provider of geospatial mapping and carbon stock data to support companies and investors report on their Scope 3 impact and mitigate those emissions with environmental certificates.
- Thu 15:04The upcoming reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) will aim to turn the bloc’s carbon market into “an investment tool” to modernise European industry, so it is no longer seen only as “a taxation tool”, the European Commission said on Thursday.
- Thu 15:00At least 13 EU industry ministers, including German, French, and Italian officials, have signed a joint statement calling for "a pragmatic approach to free allocation", among other measures to ease carbon costs for the bloc's industrial sector.
- Thu 15:00Europe's first-mover carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects need to reach a final investment decision this year, or put the EU at risk of missing its climate goals for 2030 and 2040, an industry association warned on Thursday.
- Thu 13:44Mounting political pressure to ease prices on the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) is fuelling suggestions that the bloc establish a UK-style cost-containment lever – even though the British model has been criticised for failing to act as an effective safety valve.
- Thu 13:04A new playbook sets out key actions to scale up the number of Africa-based validation and verification bodies (VVBs) in the voluntary carbon market – to reduce project delays and cost overruns, and deliver greater socio-economic benefit for the continent.
- The widely cited $100 per tonne figure for the levelised cost of captured CO2 in direct air capture (DAC) masks wide variation in individual project costs and depends heavily on assumptions around energy, location, and financing, according to a Dutch DAC technology provider.
- Whether US financial firms decide to rejoin the newly relaunched Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM) will largely depend on the legal risks around ESG engagement on their home turf, experts say.
- Thu 12:30Up to 1 million CORSIA-eligible cookstove credits will be auctioned by the International Airline Trade Association (IATA) in March that will test whether the spot price has tumbled into a range of $15-16.
- Thu 12:20The UK government has formally published its first Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) for companies voluntarily wishing to disclose their sustainability actions, with the new standards based on a global baseline.
- Thu 11:37The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is drawing new institutional fixed-income investors, buyers, and funds – but several forms of risk and taxes are spooking others, a webinar heard.
- Thu 11:34Precision subsoil biochar application significantly increased soil organic carbon stocks in a three-year German field trial, while regenerative agriculture practices without biochar produced no statistically significant gain, according to research released Thursday.
- Thu 10:03Border carbon adjustments (BCAs) make it possible for countries to impose the pain of carbon pricing at home – but questions of how much support to give developing exporter countries, and how far to recognise foreign climate policies, raise complications that have not yet been resolved, according to experts.
- Thu 08:45While France fully supports the decision to include international credits in the EU’s 2040 climate target, it also issued a statement seeking “clarification” that credits delivered under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement will be kept out of the bloc’s carbon market.
- Thu 08:08Italy plans to request a suspension of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), pending a thorough revision, a senior minister told journalists at the start of the EU Competitiveness Council on Thursday, sending benchmark carbon prices tumbling below €70 per tonne.
- Thu 06:24The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is a crucial, but not the only, avenue to bring the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark climate advisory opinion to life, said the director of the NGO which kickstarted the campaign, pointing to the opinion's applicability to the UNFCCC, finance and trade talks, as well as human rights bodies.
- Thu 00:58An initiative of investment managers committed to climate action has officially relaunched, backed by more than 50 asset owners representing $3.7 trillion in assets, but with substantially weaker requirements.
- Thu 00:14The pre-COP31 summit will be hosted by Fiji in October, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) announced on Thursday.
