Researchers from a US university published their findings on a new method of predicting nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the country’s croplands on Thursday, utilising a machine learning system to reach higher accuracy.

Virginia has withdrawn its appeal of a 2024 court ruling that found the state's withdrawal from RGGI under former Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) was illegal, as Old Dominion continues towards rejoining the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic power sector ETS.

Bolivia’s recently-elected, carbon market-friendly government has opted to slow the rollout of its market framework rather than rush regulation, seeking to anchor the process in technical cooperation with the EU amid deep institutional restructuring, Carbon Pulse learned during the Bolivia Carbon Forum.

Sylvera news - Sylvera this week announced that it is collaborating with DAC developer Deep Sky to support the transparent development of CDR projects. As part of this work, Sylvera has evaluated Deep Sky Alpha, a facility that has been validated on the Isometric registry and is moving toward credit issuance. Deep Sky is pursuing a model aimed at scaling carbon removal by combining multiple CDR technologies within a single platform while committing to independent verification and analysis throughout project development. The partnership with Sylvera focuses on improving transparency around project design, delivery risk, and the durability of removals, factors seen as increasingly important for buyers and investors as the CDR market expands. Sylvera said more details are to follow in the coming weeks. Separately, Sylvera introduced a new product called Sylvera Portfolios - designed to allow users to build, manage, and monitor portfolios of carbon credits. It integrates the company’s independent credit quality ratings with pricing data that update automatically. The platform is intended to help users track the value of credit holdings, compare scenarios across broker proposals, and create customised price indices across project development portfolios. Sylvera said the system provides a continuously updated view of portfolio performance by combining ratings data with pricing information at the portfolio level.

Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota introduced legislation on Wednesday that would create a GHG pollution “superfund” programme aimed at recovering climate-related costs from major fossil fuel companies and funding adaptation projects across the state.

Thirty-six mitigation strategies across sectors including electricity, industry, transport, buildings, and land use could each deliver around 2 billion tonnes of CO2e of annual emissions reductions by 2050, according to research published Thursday.

Large amounts of ancient carbon released from thawing permafrost are accumulating in Arctic lakes rather than rapidly converting into greenhouse gases, although part of the carbon is still contributing to CO2 emissions, according to new research.

A senior European Commission official has said that the executive plans to revisit the debate on including indirect emissions for the metals sector in its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in 2027.

A senior European Commission official has said EU member states are not transparent about how they spend revenues from the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and that their reporting is often insufficient and sometimes misguided.

EU carbon prices ended the day slightly weaker on Thursday after clawing back an early decline of 1.6%, while energy markets resumed their climb after a midweek sell-off as the conflict in the Persian Gulf extended into its sixth day.

Global tech giants are joining forces to deploy $100 million to reducing super pollutants such as methane, black carbon, and refrigerant gasses.

A group of European energy ministers has urged the European Commission to maintain stability in the EU’s electricity market rules, warning that major changes could undermine investor confidence and raise costs for consumers, amid pressure to reform the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to bring down power prices.

A Bill Gates-backed nuclear power startup has been given the green light by US authorities to build the country’s first advanced small modular reactor (SMR)  power plant, it announced this week.

Developers working on community-led forest carbon projects face challenges in accessing early-stage funding due to a declining availability of flexible grants and a lack of private finance pre-certification, a report has suggested.

A new demand-side coalition was launched on Thursday aiming to mobilise C$100 million ($73.2 mln) in funding for Canadian carbon removal (CDR) projects by 2030 through credit purchases, investment, and project finance.

CDR offtake - Sirona Technologies has signed a multi-year offtake agreement for carbon removal credits generated from its modular direct air capture (DAC) projects that are made in Belgium and deployed globally. The deal was facilitated by carbon marketplace Patch and details about the buyer (s) and volumes weren't specified in the press release. The agreement reflects the trend of buyers securing durable CDR now to guarantee access to high-quality supply later this decade, it said.

Without robust safeguards, transacting carbon credits internationally under Article 6 risks becoming a substitute for domestic climate action, and could worsen global inequalities, according to a new report from a non-profit.

African countries are strengthening governance frameworks for implementing their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), but weak measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems and limited access to climate finance continue to slow progress, a new study has found.

A France-based carbon standard has released new jurisdictional risk map for REDD projects in Brazil, it announced Thursday.

The carbon removal (CDR) sector could boost Canada’s GDP by nearly C$80 billion ($58.5 bln) by 2050, according to a new report by a CDR lobby group which recommended the northern country implement loan guarantees ensure the sector delivers.

A coalition of civil society groups has put several of the world’s largest development banks on notice over their continued financing of fossil fuel projects, warning that the institutions and their government shareholders could be violating international law.

Members of the European Parliament cautioned against adding further flexibilities to the Commission's proposed Market Stability Reserve (MSR) amendment for the Emissions Trading System for heating and transport (ETS2), saying it could eliminate the price signal and weaken the climate policy.

European Union countries on Thursday gave final approval to a new 2040 climate target requiring the bloc to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90%, compared with 1990 levels.

Drilling consent - The UK's North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has granted approval to drill a carbon storage appraisal well as part of the Endurance project off the coast of Teesside in northeast England, the organisation said in a release Thursday. It marks the next step in meeting the govt target to store 100 mln tonnes of CO2 per year, required to meet the country's net zero by 2050 goal. The NSTA is currently offering 14 locations in the UK’s second carbon storage licensing round, building on the 21 licences awarded in the first round in 2023. The Endurance project was awarded the first carbon storage permit in Dec. 2024.

India’s emerging compliance carbon market could face early operational hurdles as companies scramble to build the monitoring and reporting systems required under the new Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), a webinar heard Thursday.

An Australia-headquartered asset manager has acquired 636 hectares in Queensland, with plans to develop biodiversity credits and other nature-based programmes.

Extension subsidies - The UK govt has confirmed its intention to allow existing nuclear power plants to be eligible for Contracts for Difference (CfD) support for lifetime-extension activities. This follows a consultation it held, to which it received 13 responses including from electricity generators, investors, and supply chain organisations. The feedback expressed broad support for the value-for-money, energy-security, and decarbonisation benefits of extending existing nuclear assets, alongside assurance requests that any CfD wouldn't affect funding for renewables. The govt will now lay regulations before Parliament to incorporate the consultation policy proposal into national legislation, subject to Parliamentary approval. Any award of a CfD for nuclear life extension will be subject to robust value-for-money and subsidy-control assessments.

ETS on the agenda - IEA head Fatih Birol and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are to meet on Friday in Brussels to discuss energy policy, including the design of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), according to reporting by the Financial Times. The meeting will primarily focus on electricity market design and how it interacts with the EU’s carbon market. European Parliament EPP lawmaker Peter Liese has urged the European Commission to take a more moderate approach when updating EU ETS benchmarks, reiterating previous comments, warning that overly strict revisions could sharply reduce the level of free emissions allowances available to industry and push carbon prices higher. He stated that the Commission is preparing an ambitious benchmark revision expected in April that would significantly cut free allocations for heavy industrial sectors. Meanwhile, German fertiliser producer SKW Piesteritz said recent spikes in energy prices should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers and called for exemptions for ammonia production from the EU ETS, arguing that the sector is particularly vulnerable to rising energy and carbon costs.

The European Commission announced Thursday it has approved a €200 million Spanish state aid scheme to support investments adding manufacturing capacity across the electric vehicle (EV) value chain, in line with the objectives of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.

Bhutan and Singapore have advanced their bilateral Article 6 partnership with four proposed projects aimed at generating carbon credits under the Paris Agreement, according to local media reports.

Dutch emissions factors - The Dutch Emissions Authority has published an annually updated list of energy carriers and standard CO2 emission factors dated Jan. 2026. The list covers everything from fossil fuels to biomass to waste. The calorific values (in megajoules/unit) and emissions factors (in kgCO2/gigajoule) for all fuels are listed for 2024, 2025, and 2026. In an explanatory note, the authority explains that the 2024 values will be used in 2026 for international GHG emissions reporting to the UN and EU. The 2025 values will be used for national reporting this year. And the 2026 values will be used next year for emissions reporting by companies taking part in the EU ETS that have communicated in their monitoring plans they intend to use the Dutch list. (Updated list)

Capture partners - Saipem and Capsol Technologies have entered into a non-exclusive cooperation agreement on carbon capture, focused on the joint development of projects in the hot potassium carbonate (HPC) segment. The partnership aims to combine Capsol’s CO2 capture technology with Saipem’s expertise in delivering complex energy projects, in order to provide large industrial emitters with an easily implementable solution. It also builds on the experience gained from the large-scale bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) plant project for Stockholm Exergi, currently under construction, for which Saipem is EPC contractor and which uses Capsol’s technology.

Milestone marked - Cement maker Lafarge France has signed a front end engineering design (FEED) contract with Air Liquide to install a CO2 capture installation at the Le Teil plant's cement kiln. Engineering teams will this year design and model the future facility, which is expected to enter service in 2029. Once operational, the system will capture 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, to be transported by rail to the Roches‑Roussillon platform in Isère, where it will be combined with renewable hydrogen and converted by Elyse Energy into 150,000 tonnes of low‑carbon e‑methanol annually - equivalent to about 20% of current French demand. (Carbon Capture Magazine)

Shipping executives reiterated calls for the adoption of a global climate framework at a conference in London, but said that decarbonisation is an underlying trend regardless.

Spearheading growth - Asset platform Rubicon Carbon has appointed Flora Ji as its head of Asia and head of asset management, based in Singapore. Ji has most recently served as vice president of nature-based solutions at Shell and will apply her expertise in carbon markets to the company's expansion across Asia, said CEO Tom Montag on LinkedIn.

Next step - Japanese machinery maker Kubota and its partners have agreed to pursue the 'full-scale commercialisation' of an emissions reduction project using the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique, expanding the project area to around 40,000 hectares by 2029 from the current level of 14,000 ha. Kubota has been working with project developer Creattura and gas supplier Tokyo Gas for the AWD project, implemented under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) to reduce methane emissions from rice paddies in the Philippines. The project is expected to be registered as the first private JCM project in the agricultural sector.          

What we wait - Ahead of the European Commission's new SMR nuclear strategy due on Mar. 10, Renew Europe has put forward an eight-point priority list of essential measures to take at European level to ensure that the region takes the lead in the race for the development of these small reactions through innovative designs. Among them are the need of a predictable, modern, and harmonised regulatory framework through an SMR Act, the development of an optional European SMR pre-licensing certification, an attractive financing environment that encourages innovation, investment, and industrial leadership as well as the crucial support of a European supply chain, technologies, and strategic autonomy. Renew, the centrist, liberal faction of the European Parliament, said is believes that with an ambitious strategy, SMRs can become a key pillar of Europe’s carbon-neutral energy system.

UK CBAM survey - The UK's HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is developing a new online service to support the launch of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and is asking affected businesses to take part in user research to help shape the service before it goes live. Research sessions will run Mar. 16-20, with further opportunities up to July, and will take place in person or via Teams, with participants asked to try early-stage designs of the service and provide their feedback. Those keen to take part should complete this form before midday UK time on Mar. 11. The UK's carbon border fee is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, with fees collected by HMRC and dropped into the pot with wider tax revenue.

Trading activity on Indonesia’s carbon exchange slumped in February as deals dried up following a brief rebound at the end of last year, exchange data showed on Thursday.

Australia’s carbon market should find a way to credit Indigenous landholders for maintaining intact ecosystems, as opposed to only rewarding those that have been degraded and are only now being restored, according to research published Thursday.

China is targeting a total 17% cut in its emissions per unit of GDP in the current five-year period (2026-30), according to a government work report submitted Thursday to the country's top legislature for deliberation.

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) on Thursday approved a French carbon standard as eligible under its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), bringing the total number of programmes allowed to issue the high-integrity voluntary credits to nine.

New alliance - South Korea's startup and climate ministries have launched the "Climate Tech Innovation Alliance" to drive the development of the sector in the country, according to Yonhap. The government aims to promote public-private partnerships, expand financial support, establish a dedicated climate tech fund, build tech demonstration clusters, and implement institutional reforms to support the emerging industry. The climate industry also plans to develop a strategy that reflects the financial investment, technological support, and system improvements proposed based on discussion with industry.

Canada and Australia have formed a clean energy partnership with a focus on trade, investment, and supply chains, as part of a state visit to Canberra on Thursday.

A European development bank is aiming to channel a minimum of €150 billion in cumulative green finance over the next five years, it said on Wednesday.

Australia’s carbon price has retreated in recent weeks amid a flurry of Safeguard Mechanism Credit (SMC) trading following issuance by the Clean Energy Regulator. 

The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy issued a draft Class VI Well Permit to a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the northern part of the state that would have multiple wells.

Fines cheaper than fixes – New York City co-operative apartment buildings are weighing steep fines against the cost of electrification upgrades required under Local Law 97, the city's building emissions law, with only 43% of affected buildings currently meeting 2030 compliance requirements, City and State reported. The law, which covers 63,000 buildings larger than 25,000 square feet, requires a 50% reduction in emissions below 2024 levels by 2030 or fines calibrated to excess pollution. Some co-ops have found that paying fines is cheaper than making upgrades, with one Brooklyn co-op estimating electrification at $30 mln against lower fine costs. Compliance efforts have been complicated by the federal rollback of clean energy tax credits, while New York state's grid remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels and is running eight years late to meet its 2030 goal to cut emissions by 40%.

Palo Alto falls short – Palo Alto city council approved a two-year climate action workplan on Monday while conceding its goal of cutting GHG emissions 80% by 2030 relative to 1990 levels is likely out of reach, Palo Alto Online reported. The California city reduced emissions by 50.2% in 2024 compared to the 1990 baseline – or 66% when accounting for natural gas offsets – despite a 22% population increase over that period. About one-third of remaining emissions come from natural gas in buildings, with the rest from vehicle traffic. City staff said relying exclusively on incentive-based electrification programmes would become too expensive, and the new workplan focuses on developing alternative financing strategies.

A major California refiner warned it may close its in-state operations if California regulator ARB does not equalise compliance costs between domestic producers and fuel importers under the cap-and-invest programme.

Pulp friction – A British Columbia pulp mill is set to test renewable hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas in its lime kiln, in a C$21.7 mln ($15.9 mln) project expected to cut GHG emissions by 7,000 tonnes per year, Fuel Cells Work reported. The 10-MW Kamloops Clean Energy Centre, developed by New York-based Elemental Clean Fuels alongside Kruger Kamloops Pulp and an Indigenous economic development corporation, will use electrolysis powered by BC's grid – which draws about 98% of its power from renewable sources – to produce hydrogen and oxygen on site. The project is seeking financing from Natural Resources Canada through a clean energy fund requiring at least 50% Indigenous ownership.

Brazilian industry representation – Brazil’s Ministry of Finance published on Wednesday the results of the selection process for organisations eligible to join the Permanent Technical Advisory Committee (CTCP) of the national emission trading system, SBCE. The committee will include representatives from the following sectors: energy; industry; urban mobility; waste; transportation; agriculture, livestock, forestry and land use; as well as financial institutions operating in environmental markets.

Eight “systemically important” energy utilities in Asia are not doing enough to cut emissions, said a report by an investor group released on Thursday.

Bolivia has begun work on its previously absent Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) mitigation pillar through a large-scale regenerative agriculture and livestock initiative that is laying the ground for extensive monitoring of soil carbon sequestration (SOC) projects, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Canada’s carbon pricing systems are reducing emissions, but several contain policies that put them at risk, according to a new report.