Prairie carbon – A federal investment of more than C$4.4 mln ($3.2 mln) will support 10 projects aimed at strengthening the forest sector in the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba, the Canadian government announced on Friday. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) said the funding will advance manufacturing and processing, diversify forest products and export markets, and support Indigenous groups and forestry businesses. Among the initiatives, the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement will receive C$200,000 for its Paddle Prairie Carbon project in Alberta, which will work with lands-holding Indigenous groups to pursue economic opportunities linked to forest carbon and related regulatory frameworks.

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.

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.

Consultation open – Gold Standard has opened a consultation on formal procedures to address and remediate over-issuance or erroneous issuance of certified products. The procedure applies to cases where Gold Standard Verified Emission Reductions (GSVERs), verified SDG impacts, or other Gold Standard-labelled products are found to have been issued in excess of the correct amount, including cases caused by calculation errors, protocol breaches, or misreporting. The rules apply across all GS4GG-certified products, apart from land use and forestry (LUF) projects. The deadline to respond is Apr. 9 at 18:00 CET.

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

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.

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.

Japan has revised five methodologies under its domestic J-Credit carbon offset scheme, updating rules for agricultural methane reductions, biochar soil carbon, and energy-efficiency technologies.

Step up - Indonesia last week urged the international community to step up action in the forestry sector to halt and reverse global forest loss and land degradation by 2030, officials said following a meeting in Kenya, EcoBiz Asia reported. Indonesian officials said it had policies in place such as timber legality verification, social forestry, and land rehabilitation as examples of sustainable forest governance. Jakarta also emphasised the need for stronger international collaboration, including harmonised standards, capacity building, and technology transfer to support a low-carbon forestry economy. Deforestation tied to Indonesia’s industrial palm oil sector remained steady last year, even as new plantation expansion slowed.

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.