Wafer thin margins, fat emissions - Dutch chipmaking equipment maker ASML met its GHG neutrality targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2025, reporting net emissions of zero, while Scope 3 emissions stood at 11.5 Mt of CO2e, according to its annual report. The company cancelled 104,000 tonnes of carbon credits in the reporting year, all from removal projects registered with ACR, and plans to cancel 101,000 tonnes in 2026. ASML warned that semiconductor industry emissions could quadruple by 2030 without collective action. Energy consumption per wafer pass has fallen 57% since 2018, with a further 30-40% reduction targeted over the next five to 10 years.

Support group - The Carbon Business Council (CO2BC) and Emerald Climate have launched APACdr, a new Singapore-based regional initiative aimed at accelerating the scale-up of CO2 removal across Asia-Pacific. The initiative reflects the region’s importance in global climate efforts, given that Asia-Pacific accounts for more than 60% of the world’s population and around half of global emissions, and will play a key role in shaping carbon removal markets. APACdr is structured as a working group bringing together policymakers, financial institutions, corporate buyers, project developers, and civil society to align on market development, financing, and regulatory frameworks. Its inaugural meeting in Jan. 2026 convened 26 organisations from across sectors, highlighting growing regional engagement and capacity in carbon removal. Throughout 2026, the initiative will focus on building the financial and policy infrastructure needed to scale CDR, including portfolio-based procurement models, blended pricing mechanisms, demand aggregation, integration with global carbon markets, and stakeholder education. It also plans to produce a regional policy primer and host regular working group sessions, including a dedicated summit during Singapore’s Ecosperity Week. The organisers said the initiative is intended to provide a coordinated platform to align capital, policy, and demand signals, positioning Asia-Pacific to expand its carbon removal sector and play a larger role in global climate mitigation efforts.

Ashes to assets - An Indonesian cooperative in Pasaman Barat, West Sumatra, has launched a biochar carbon credit project using agricultural waste including corn cobs, cocoa husks, and water hyacinth, Harian Haluan reported. The project is a joint venture between the Hidup Basamo Sepakat cooperative and Malaysian company Reclimate, and it has affiliations with both Gold Standard and Verra, according to the cooperative's operations manager. The biochar, marketed as a soil amendment that stores CO2 long-term, is intended for export as carbon credits. The project aligns with Indonesia's national target to cut GHG emissions by 43.2% by 2030.

Pushing pause - Swedish municipal energy company Soderenergi has decided to pause its planned bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project at the Igelsta biomass-fired combined heat and power plant in Sodertalje, citing excessive financial risk and insufficient funding. The project, under evaluation since 2020, had reached an intensive development stage requiring major investment, but the company concluded that key financial and market conditions were not yet in place to justify proceeding. The company said unresolved issues include weak development of the Nordic voluntary carbon credit market and limited support from Sweden’s government subsidy scheme, both of which undermine the project’s commercial viability. These factors contributed to a risk profile that Soderenergi deemed too high, prompting the board to halt further work and avoid entering new commitments. While development activities will stop, Soderenergi will continue monitoring technological and market developments in carbon capture. The company noted that Sweden’s large biomass-based district heating sector still offers long-term potential for carbon capture deployment. Soderenergi and its municipal owners emphasised that climate goals remain important, but the decision reflects the need to avoid exposing public finances to undue risk in an uncertain investment environment. The company last year said it had agreed to reserve the first carbon removal credits from its planned BECCS facility for drugmaker AstraZeneca. The Igelstaverket CHP plant in Sodertalje had aimed to begin operations in 2030, with capacity to capture and permanently store up to 500,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually.

While some community-driven models are emerging, most projects in Colombia remain in intermediate participation categories, as procedural consent has dominated governance in the market, according to a new study.

Reduced deforestation risk - The Brazilian Amazon state of Para cut deforestation alert areas by 40% to 488 sq km between Aug. 2025 and Jan. 2026, down from 809 sq km/y earlier, according to an official press release this week. The decline outpaced the 35% reduction across the Amazonia Legal subregion. Separately, the state’s jurisdictional REDD+ system has completed 16 FPIC consultations to-date, of a planned 47, said the state environmental secretariat.

Soil stakes – The first credits from the soil carbon programme by US-based Veterans Carbon Holdings (VCH) have been issued, it was announced this week. The company says they are unique in relying on stratified soil sampling and third-party validation rather than satellite or practice-based modelling. The units were verified under BCarbon’s Soil Carbon Protocol v2.0 and will be serialised via DOVU’s blockchain infrastructure, while projecting expansion across 1.5-2 mln acres. VCH told Carbon Pulse that 200,000 credits relate to its 2024 enrolment and 206,000 to 2025 contracts under BCarbon’s 1 tonne-per-acre advance model.

Para J-REDD+ update – The Secretariat of the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) published on Friday the Portuguese versions of documents related to the jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programme of Para, a Brazilian state in the Amazon. Until now, they had only been available in English. The materials comprise the TREES Registration Document for the 2023-27 crediting period and a TREES Monitoring Report for 2023. Stakeholders will have 30 days to comment on the documents. Similarly, Tocantins's documents were displayed in Portuguese earlier this month.

Nepal biochar tender – The UN Development Programme has launched a tender to support the creation of a commercial biochar enterprise in Nepal, seeking a contractor to develop a business plan and provide operational support, according to a notice published Feb. 23. The request for proposals is open until Mar. 10 and forms part of a broader programme to scale biochar deployment linked to climate and private sector development objectives.

Fragmented governance, weak financial incentives, and limited infrastructure are slowing carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to a report published on Thursday.

The rate of new clean cooking projects starting registration has fallen by a third after the introduction of tighter rules on calculating carbon credit volumes, but there has also been a jump in new entrants to the market, according to data from analysts.

Plans for a new hydrogen-powered portable cooker that promises zero CO2 emissions will kick start this year and transform the clean cookstove market, the company told Carbon Pulse Thursday.

Expansion - Tokyo-headquartered developer Green Carbon will expand its operations in Cambodia this year with the spread of the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique,  lifting the target area to around 20,000 hectares by 2026 from the current level of nearly 1,100 ha. It also aims to expand business to four provinces around the Mekong River basin and Tonle Sap Lake - Takeo, Prey Veng, Pursat, and Kampong Thom, according to a statement released Friday. Besides, Green Carbon plans to continue its expansion in Battambang, targeting a cumulative reduction of 10 mln tonnes of CO2e over the next 10 years.

Talent needed - India’s carbon market regulator Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has invited applications to empanel subject matter experts under the offset mechanism of the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), as the country moves to operationalise its domestic carbon market. Selected experts will review project documentation at validation, verification, and issuance stages, ensuring compliance with approved methodologies across sectors including energy, industry, forestry, waste, and CCUS. Applicants must have at least 10 years’ sectoral experience and a track record in carbon market validation, verification, or GHG consultancy. The deadline for submissions is Mar. 23, 2026.

Please wait - India’s carbon trading platform is likely to become operational by September, Times of India reported, citing a power sector official who said the platform could be a potential boost for renewable energy uptake. Central Electricity Authority Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad said the market mechanism could help drive demand in the commercial and industrial segment, particularly as renewable power purchase agreements have slowed. The platform is expected to create an alternative market construct, he said, to support capacity addition and accelerate progress towards India’s 500 GW non-fossil fuel target by 2030.