An increase in high-quality and large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credit supply, growing buyer participation – even speculators – and the emergence of financial and technological infrastructure suggest the engineered removals market may be approaching a turning point, according to the president of a leading carbon removals standard.

Rock on – A new study published in the journal AGU Advances last week showed that injecting CO2 into underground rocks can trigger mineralisation that locks the GHG into solid minerals for potentially millions of years. Researchers found that mineral build-up in narrow channels sharply reduced the rock’s permeability, making it harder for fluids to flow through it. However, the rock’s overall porosity remained largely unchanged, and fluids continued moving through it at a lower rate. The findings suggest that even when mineralisation slows flow, rocks may still keep forming minerals and storing carbon underground.

Austria wants to improve transparency about which power plants set EU electricity prices and how Emissions Trading System (ETS) costs affect them, so countries can then opt to reduce the carbon price pass-through to lower electricity prices.

Escalating conflict in the Middle East and the resultant energy disruption could upset the region's carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects, with CO2 capture capacity by 2030 almost halving as a result, analysts have forecast.

In defence of the EU CBAM - Finnish stainless-steel producer Outokumpu has said it supports the European Union’s new carbon border tax, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), arguing it can protect Europe’s steel industry while encouraging global decarbonisation. Outokumpu’s sustainability chief, Heidi Peltonen, told the WSJ in an interview that carbon pricing helps “level the playing field” between European producers and foreign competitors that use more carbon-intensive production methods. Peltonen argued the policy should be strengthened by calculating emissions where steel is produced and extending the mechanism to downstream products to prevent loopholes. Although demand for green steel remains limited, she believes stable climate policies and incentives will drive investment, innovation, and long-term competitiveness in Europe’s steel sector.

CORSIA prices stabilised last week, but there was a general-sell off in much of the avoidance complex amid uncertainty about the impact of the war in the Middle East on the economy.

EU coal-fired power is set for a boost in 2026 and should maintain demand for EUAs even while global recession fears mount and Brussels mulls political intervention in the bloc's ETS, as surging natural European gas prices due to war in the Middle East have weakened that fuel's electricity generation margins, according to profitability spreads and market analysts.

European carbon traded in a narrow range even as energy prices opened significantly higher on Monday before drifting lower, after more Middle Eastern energy production was halted amid the continuing Iran conflict, with EUAs caught between the opposing forces of fears of a regulatory watering-down of the EU ETS, and the fundamental pull of increased coal burn in Europe's power fleet.

Shipping ETS up for a vote  - The UK's House of Lords will debate and vote this Thursday on the government's plan to extend the ETS to domestic maritime emissions, including CO2, methane, and NO2. Some policymakers have expressed concerns about the potential financial impact on the shipping increase, and possibly greater impact on Northern Ireland.

The engineered carbon removals (CDR) market saw a softening in investment and fewer forward purchase deals in February, with biochar projects again dominating new issuance and retirements, according to registry data and figures from two analytics firms.

Vital to security – Rising oil and gas prices caused by the war in the Middle East show how vital the EU's climate efforts are for independence and security, according to Pierfrancesco Maran, an Italian centre-left lawmaker who was elected chair of the European Parliament's environment committee last month. The green transition is necessary for climate reasons but also for Europe's security and autonomy, Maran told Politico. He advocated for increasing renewables and supporting industries "that can produce more while consuming less" in the interview. Maran previously worked on environmental issues as a city councillor and recently served as the internal market committee’s lead lawmaker on recycling rules for cars.

EU ETS shipping routes – Container shipping alliances have redesigned Asia-Europe routes in 2026 in ways that reduce the sailing distance subject to the EU ETS by about 11% compared with 2025 networks, according to analysis by Danish maritime research firm Sea-Intelligence. The EU ETS requires shipping lines to surrender allowances for 100% of emissions between EU ports and 50% of emissions between EU and non-EU ports. The study found carriers increasingly use non-EU ports close to the bloc to reset ETS distance calculations and reduce reportable emissions exposure. Most of the reductions are driven by the Gemini Cooperation and Ocean Alliance, whose redesigned networks cut reportable sailing distances by nearly 20% compared with 2025, while MSC and the Premier Alliance made little change to their ETS-exposed sailing distances, Sea-Intelligence said.

Green victory – The German Greens have defeated chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives (CDU) in a state election in Germany’s wealthy region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, home to car industry giants such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Bosch. Preliminary results show the Greens won just over 30% of the vote on Mar. 8, narrowly ahead of the CDU, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took nearly 19% and the centre-left SPD – the CDU's partner in the current federal government – just over 5%. The Greens will continue their coalition with the CDU as junior partner. After his victory, Green candidate Cem Oezdemir urged Berlin to “unite climate action and the economy”. The election focused first and foremost on the state's growing economic troubles, partly caused by competition from Chinese EVs. Despite the Greens' victory, there was a a shift to the right, with the CDU up almost six percentage points and the AfD doubling its result, while the Greens dropped two percentage points and support for the SPD halved, compared to the last election in 2021.

Global installations of long-duration energy storage (LDES) exceeded 15 GWh in 2025, rising 49% from the previous year, though the declining investment and strong competition from lithium-ion batteries is creating growing challenges for the sector, according to analysis released Monday.

A reporting framework established under the Paris Agreement provides an opportunity to improve coordination between climate and biodiversity agendas, according to a new paper.

The EU's incoming Emissions Trading System for road transport and heating (ETS2) will drive bigger emission reductions and spur the shift to cleaner fuels and technologies – as long as it comes alongside early financial support for the most vulnerable, national policy backing, and clear communication, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).

France has called for its overseas territories to be exempted from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) fees on certain products, arguing that the measure would otherwise disproportionately impact their economies.

A carbon crediting registry has released updated Article 6.2 procedures for projects seeking eligibility for international transfers of mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), including potential use under CORSIA, alongside an updated list of approved methodologies.

Only 30% of Swiss voted in favour of a national climate and nature fund over the weekend, with the majority rejecting the idea to invest 0.5-1% a year of the country’s GDP in environmental protection measures.

Trading rush - Newly founded trading firms are cropping up in the Western Balkan power market, taking large financial positions to gain from wide spreads created by the EU's carbon border fee, stakeholders told Montel News. Market participants have reportedly started to embed the CBAM costs into spot and forward power prices, which has reduced liquidity, and new firms are appearing to focus on exploiting the spread between these prices. Most transactions are reportedly settled physically rather than via exchanges. There's concern that new firms could cause market fluctuations by unexpectedly withdrawing from the market.

The Central African Republic aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 17% by 2035 compared to business as usual, contingent on international finance and technological support, according to its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted to the UN.

The adoption of a global carbon price for shipping is now in question, as some countries are proposing a new Net-Zero Framework (NZF) that would remove the financial levy and weaken incentives for clean fuels.

The EU’s new methane emissions regulation, due to apply in 2027, risks triggering extreme gas price spikes, widespread coal-switching, and oil refinery closures – unless policymakers urgently “stop the clock”, according to a study published on Monday.

€103 mln for EU’s LIFE programme – The European Commission will channel more than €103 million from the EU’s LIFE programme into seven strategic climate and environment projects in Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, it announced on Monday. The initiatives target climate and water resilience, nature restoration, circular economy and sustainable land use, and are expected to leverage further public and private capital. Spain’s LIFE HumedalES, the largest LIFE project to date, will restore about 26,200 hectares of wetlands across 107 Natura 2000 sites.

Stockpile alert - The UK should be stockpiling food given it produces far less food than required to feed itself and is thus particularly vulnerable to climate shocks and war, advised the University of London. Britain is only 54% food self-sufficient, making it one of Europe's least food self-sufficient countries, with the Netherlands at 80%, Spain at 75%, and France at 100%. The UK's food system is highly concentrated among a few large companies that are 'fed' by just 131 distribution centres - making it extremely vulnerable to cyber or drone attacks. The UK govt has said it would like to boost domestic food production, but has not set a defined target and there are no binding laws on local governments to ensure people are fed. (the Guardian)

Cost-cutting - A European Commission paper, circulated ahead of a Friday meeting of officials, proposes short-term measures to ease energy costs for the most affected industries and regions while preserving long-term climate policies aimed at transitioning to cheaper, low-carbon energy, Reuters reported over the weekend. Because legislative changes would take time, the Commission suggests a temporary 'bridge' over the next 2-5 years until the clean transition lowers electricity prices. It is considering adjustments to network charges, national taxes and levies, and carbon costs. The paper notes that governments are underusing tools such as state aid to offset carbon costs and contracts for difference to stabilise prices, and it warns demand-reduction measures may be needed if energy supply disruptions worsen. No further details were immediately available. The document confirms prior Carbon Pulse reporting that the EU executive is preparing measures that would seek to bring power prices in Europe down, including reforms to the carbon market.

Stay committed - Clean energy companies could gain fresh momentum despite the Iran war driving a surge in oil and gas prices, with investment bank Jefferies urging investors to stay committed to the sector, Bloomberg reported, citing a note to clients. Jefferies said the conflict is likely to reinforce government efforts to boost energy security and accelerate investment in renewables, maintaining its view that clean energy is entering its “glory days". Closure of the Strait of Hormuz has upended up to a fifth of global oil and gas supplies, threatening to raise emissions in the EU and Asia if the conflict is protracted.

Qatar-based Global Carbon Council (GCC) has launched a public consultation on a new validation and verification framework designed to support carbon credit generation from energy access projects, including clean cooking and distributed renewable energy systems.

The global steel industry is unlikely to align with net zero emissions pathways this decade, even under optimistic assumptions about technology deployment and electricity decarbonisation, a new analysis of plant-level data has found.

Scaling up CO2 removal technologies to meet global climate targets could create significant new pressures on mineral resources, ecosystems, and agricultural inputs, even as the methods help reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, researchers have warned.

A French trade association has published the methodology and project list behind its new mapping initiative, which assesses the potential for CO2 removal deployment across regions of the country.