Chipping away – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a €146-mln loan to Kronospan, to help the wood-panel manufacturer decarbonise its operations. Specifically, the cash will be used to install solar panels and battery storage at Kronospan’s Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia sites, the EIB said in a press release Wednesday. It will also enable the roll-out of EVs, the bank added. The overall project is estimated to cost €196 mln, according to project documentation on the bank’s website. Kronospan is subject to the EU ETS.

Ag partners – Ireland and New Zealand have agreed to advance their collaboration on research to cut agriculture emissions, the Beehive said on Wednesday. This follows a NZ$34.5 mln ($20 mln) Joint Research Initiative (JRI) pilot, launched in 2022 to bolster climate change research. The second phase of the JRI will identify projects to advance, building on the 11 under the pilot. The two countries also launched the 2026-30 strategic plan for the Global Research Alliance (GRA) on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, which has flagged advancing scientific research, strengthening capacity and knowledge sharing, building effective collaboration and partnerships, and leveraging financial and other resources as its priorities. The GRA supports research on cutting emissions from livestock, cropping, and paddy rice.

Uganda will aggregate clean cooking projects into a national Programme of Activities (PoA), aiming to generate some 50 million carbon credits to be sold into the voluntary market (VCM), the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), and the CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme.

Voyage volatility – A multi-year study has found that hydrogen-fuelled ships need a design-based safety approach, as the fuel poses distinct hazards compared with other marine fuel alternatives. DNV, in a report commissioned by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), recommended secondary enclosures across all hydrogen-carrying components and additional technical barriers to manage leakage and explosion risks. The study also flagged occupational safety risks for crews, saying seafarers will need specialised training, clear procedures, and safety management systems to handle hydrogen-specific hazards.

SAF stake – France's Technip Energies has taken a minority equity stake in a French synthetic aviation fuel project, advancing plans for industrial-scale eSAF production backed by EU and national funding, it announced Wednesday. Technip will support Verso Energy's DEZiR project in Rouen using its carbon capture technology to supply biogenic CO2, while its joint venture Rely with Belgian company John Cockerill is delivering FEED work. The plant is expected to produce around 80,000 tonnes of eSAF annually by 2030, with partners aiming to standardise and replicate the model across a broader portfolio of seven sites in Europe and the US.

A UK-based provider of nature and climate intelligence has secured funding to expand its platform that translates environmental risks into financial insights, amid growing demand from large corporates to integrate natural changes and dependencies in decision-making.

Linear disturbances linked to oil and gas exploration and resource mining could be significantly increasing methane emissions from boreal peatlands, according to new research.

Global investment in clean energy technologies reached a record $1.96 trillion in 2025, but a sharp drop in manufacturing spending, driven largely by China, points to a market correction after years of rapid expansion, according to a report published Wednesday.

The EU Court of Justice has upheld rules allowing forest bioenergy projects to qualify as “sustainable” under the bloc’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, dealing a blow to NGOs that sought to overturn the regulation.

Eye on EOI - Carbon Done Right Developments has announced that its afforestation and reforestation project in Sierra Leone is seeking additional investment to expand beyond the 2,500 hectares already planted under a 2023 pre-purchase agreement. The RML project has been validated under Verra’s VM0047 restoration methodology and has received a pre-issuance rating from Sylvera. The initiative involves restoring degraded land with native tree species, supported by local communities through a Free, Prior and Informed Consent process overseen by an independent NGO. While 5,000 hectares have been mapped, the project could scale to at least 25,000 hectares, Carbon Done Right said. The company highlighted strong market demand for tropical forest restoration credits and is inviting potential investors to express interest, with a process that may close quickly depending on demand.

European carbon prices weakened modestly on Wednesday after a largely unsurprising Commitment of Traders report and the expiry of March options, with sustained bidding during the afternoon providing a floor for the market as traders awaited new from Brussels, where EU leaders are set to meet to discuss energy costs and potential reforms to the EU ETS.

A Canadian biochar project developer has locked in a new partnership to deliver pyrolysis technology in Western Canada.

Welsh renewables - The Renewable Energy Sector Deal has been launched as a strategic partnership between the govt of Wales and industry, focused on unlocking the country's clean energy potential. Renewable electricity generation in Wales in 2024 equated to 54% of its power consumption. By 2030, the goal is for renewable electricity to meet 70% of its consumption and 100% by 2035, whilst also delivering at least 1.5 GW of locally owned renewables capacity by the latter date. The sector deal aims to deliver on these targets by speeding delivery across wind, solar, marine, and hydro, stated the press release Wednesday.

Oil prices spiking to $140/bbl for two months alongside a large rise in natural gas prices would send the world into recession, according to analysts.

Long-term, patient investors and larger economies are likely to drive a bigger share of global climate spending, according to a new paper from think tank Bruegel.

The war in the Middle East has exposed the world's fossil fuel dependency, which will stoke a "resource nationalism" where countries recognise the value of domestic renewables and improve circularity for better energy security, a webinar heard.

A new AI-powered platform aims to help carbon project developers identify compliance gaps early, potentially shortening certification timelines which often stretch for months or even years, its co-founder and CEO told Carbon Pulse in an exclusive interview ahead of the Wednesday launch.

Ten EU countries have called on the European Commission to bring forward its planned review of the EU ETS to the end of May "at the latest", urging a package that also lowers carbon costs for industry in the near term.

Joining the call - Almost 50 large industrials, clean-tech scaleups, and investors have also backed a letter last week by the Business for CBAM Coalition calling on EU leaders to maintain a robust EU ETS, bringing the total number of signatories to 148 in total. The signatories urge EU leaders to keep a meaningful carbon price signal to guide industrial low-carbon investments, to use ETS revenues more effectively to support affordable industrial decarbonisation, and to stop blaming the scheme for the bloc's structural competitiveness issues. New signatories include Moeve, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Unilever, and NorgesGruppen. They warn that diluting the ETS risks penalising early movers and that investors need policy certainty to deploy capital.

A London-based company which specialises in supplying low-carbon materials used in concrete manufacturing has raised $15 million in Series A funding, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

A carbon removal marketplace has opened for submissions for a new procurement initiative aimed at securing long-term offtakes on behalf of buyers.

Shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz will remain slim though to early April, with LNG production in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates gradually returning to full capacity by the second half of May, according to an analyst groups' base case scenario forecast.

More than 30 companies have committed 0.1% of their annual revenue to a new platform mobilising private finance for clean energy in emerging markets.

Burkina Faso has strengthened its proposed benchmark for calculating forestry emissions under REDD+, although there are still inconsistencies with its wider greenhouse gas emissions inventory, leaving a risk of double counting, according to a UNFCCC review.

Compliance carbon markets are expected to become the primary source of revenue for carbon removal (CDR) projects around 2030, according to a report published this month.

Extending emissions trading systems to cover more sectors and types of greenhouse gases comes with significant benefits beyond emission reductions, as long as policymakers tackle challenges such as where to set the cap on pollution permits early on, according to a report. 

A Paris-based carbon investment platform has raised €3.6 million to expand its offering beyond EU carbon emission allowances (EUAs) and into a broader range of energy transition-linked assets, it announced Wednesday.

France has moved to clarify its position on reforming the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), arguing that the bloc’s annual emissions cap should be softened “so it does not reach zero in 2039”, but leaves around 200-300 million allowances in the system by then.

German worries - Germany's net zero transition is slowing down, new government data showed this week - but that slowdown is actually more pronounced than the figures suggest, said NGO Climate Action Tracker (CAT) on Wednesday. Over the past year, the German government has mainly adopted measures that slow down the energy transition, it explained, yet these measures have not been factored into the projections. The Federal Environment Agency's latest GHG projections include information up to Nov. 2025. CAT noted that they do not factor in measures like a loosening of EU car CO2 standards for 2035 (supported by Germany), a new buildings proposal that allows for more fossil fuel heating than before, greater uncertainty around renewables buildout (e.g. solar subsidies are to be scaled back), more support for gas than electricity (e.g. to reduce gas prices, a new gas fleet, etc.), opening the EU's door to international carbon credits, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz's suggestion - quickly reversed - of deep reform or even a "postponement" of the EU ETS. According to CAT, the only planned policy with the potential to reduce GHG emissions in Germany right now is the planned reinstatement of electric car subsidies. The German government is due to unveil a new climate policy package on Mar. 25. (Climate Action Tracker)

Permission to blow - The UK government has opened a public consultation on its proposals for permitted development rights for onshore wind in England, DESNZ announced on Wednesday. The consultation, open until June 10, sets out a new permitted development right that would allow small-scale, non-domestic wind turbines to be installed without the need for a planning application, subject to certain constraints. These could be used by businesses, farms, and public sector organisations to help reduce energy bills, improve energy independence, and decarbonise operations.

Resilient renewables - Europe's wind and solar plants are helping the continent weather the turmoil caused by the war in the Middle East, with German and French power prices falling last week despite a surge in oil. Even as gas prices rise in response to geopolitical tensions, Europe's growing renewable capacity is helping to cushion the blow, especially as solar starts its seasonal ramp-up after winter. Without renewables, plus the seasonal drop in demand, European power prices would already be around a third higher, according to Rabobank. Still, evening prices - when solar output fades and demand stays high - have risen to around three times their usual levels in some countries. EU leaders are meeting on Thursday to discuss the energy market and how to shield industry from higher prices, with possible moves including allowing lower grid fees and energy taxes, as well as a targeted adjustment of allowances in the EU ETS, and possibly capping gas prices. (Bloomberg)

A chemical recycling method can convert nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) waste into materials capable of capturing CO2, according to research published Wednesday.

Companies often retire offsets from the same countries where they operate, even though carbon is globally fungible, according to new academic research that questions how effectively voluntary carbon markets allocate climate finance.

A UK sustainability-focused bank has delivered a £3.3-million loan to a Scotland-based natural capital developer to scale biodiversity recovery projects across the country.