Reform of the EU ETS and CBAM, and measures to lower electricity prices are key pillars of a plan to bolster the German chemicals industry jointly presented by the German government and sector representatives in Berlin on Thursday.

ICE Futures Europe has proposed changes to the trading calendar and delivery timelines for its CORSIA-eligible and nature-based carbon credit futures, in a move aimed at aligning the contracts more closely with established compliance market conventions.

Paraguay’s government is ramping up efforts to finalise and operationalise Bilateral Agreements (BAs) with existing partners, while holding discussions with major buyer countries in international trade under Paris Agreement Article 6.2, two senior officials told Carbon Pulse.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) operator listed its California carbon series on the London Stock Exchange, the company confirmed on Thursday.

European carbon prices shrugged off Wednesday's headline-triggered dip and resumed their recent climb amid relatively light trading, while energy markets also surged higher amid contradictory reports about peace talks with Iran and continued military strikes on targets on either side of the Persian Gulf.

The European Union risks losing sight of its 2040 climate target as it prepares to negotiate plans this summer to soften the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), an NGO has warned.

A global carbon management platform has raised $7 million in fresh capital, doubling its total funding, as investor appetite grows for tools that can translate corporate emissions data into operational decision-making.

CRCF challenge rejected, again – The European Parliament on Thursday voted down a draft motion for resolution to reject the EU’s proposed permanent carbon removal methodologies under the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation. The motion had already been rejected last week in the Parliament’s environment committee, but left-wing parties (Left, Greens and S&D) had resubmitted the motion for a vote in plenary.

Carbon credit registry Isometric has certified Version 2.0 of its core standard, expanding its crediting scope to super pollutants.

Great British winds - Great Britain hit record wind energy generation, producing nearly 24 GW, or enough to power over 23 mln homes. Wind generation hit a new high of 23,880 MW between 1330 and 1400 GMT on Wednesday, surpassing the previous record of 23,825 MW on Dec. 5. Solar and wind together produced 34 GW a little earlier on Wednesday. This squeezed the more expensive gas supply to just over 1 GW, the lowest level since Apr. 2024.

Kenya cement collab - DAC developer Octavia Carbon has partnered with local cement manufacturer Bamburi Cement to explore CO2 mineralisation in concrete, it announced on social media. The collaboration will assess how captured CO2 can be permanently stored in building materials, as part of efforts to decarbonise cement production, which is among the hardest-to-abate industrial sectors.

The UK government has awarded a £64 million grant to back Port Talbot's bid to become the first port in the Celtic Sea specifically designed to support floating offshore wind.

Stakeholders across the UK’s carbon and nature markets hold differing views on whether the government should use voluntary integrity initiatives as best practice guides, the government said on Thursday.

China’s grip on clean energy technologies has left other countries exposed to supply chain shocks in key manufacturing sectors like solar PV, wind power, heat pumps, and batteries, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Carbon removal (CDR) should be treated as a limited global resource with its own allocation rules, rather than being folded into overall net emissions targets, a study published Thursday has found.

RECs for energy access - The African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a $5.65 mln reimbursable grant to pilot the Peace Renewable Energy Certificate (P-REC) Aggregation Facility, which will deploy renewable energy certificates to fund a portfolio of mini-grids across Africa’s poorest countries. Co-financed with the Nordic Development Fund, which committed an equivalent amount, the $11.3 mln facility will be managed by fund manager Camco Clean Energy and US non-profit Energy Peace Partners. The certificates come solely from small-scale mini-grid projects in conflict-affected and energy-poor areas, and are voluntarily purchased by global corporates seeking to drive socio-environmental impact. Hard currency will then be sent back to project developers. Some 856,000 people across 14 African countries are expected to gain electricity access as a result.  

Dumping the pumps - Lawyers at environmental charity ClientEarth have warned that companies in the UK gas industry may have breached competition law by coordinating efforts to slow the uptake of heat pumps. In legal letters sent to 10 firms in Feb. 2026, the organisation points to evidence suggesting that some companies may have worked together to influence the home heating market, including by shaping public perceptions and discouraging adoption of heat pumps. The concerns centre on three main areas:

• alleged dissemination of misleading or negative messaging about heat pumps, including PR activity designed to generate hostile media coverage
• coordinated promotion of hydrogen as a future heating solution, despite expert consensus that it is unsuitable for domestic use, potentially encouraging consumers to delay switching away from gas
• a reported agreement among major boiler manufacturers to align pricing of future “hydrogen-ready” boilers with conventional gas boilers, raising concerns about price coordination

ClientEarth argues that such behaviour, if coordinated, could constitute anti-competitive conduct, even where companies also operate in the heat pump market. The warning comes as the UK government expands financial support for heat pumps, including a £7,500 grant, to accelerate low-carbon heating. Despite their higher efficiency, lower running costs, and environmental benefits, heat pump uptake in the UK remains the lowest in Europe. The Climate Change Committee has identified misinformation around cost and performance as a key barrier to adoption. ClientEarth contends that industry messaging may have contributed to this, limiting consumer access to accurate information and slowing the transition away from gas heating.

Existing clean cooking solutions can help to close the massive gap in access by 2030, but only a fraction of the necessary investment has been mobilised so far, and uptake of available finance is limited, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

A dynamic, two-way relationship often emerges between coal and EU Allowance (EUA) prices during instances of acute geopolitical conflict, as the war in the Middle East continues to show signs of further escalation, according to peer-reviewed analysis.

EU member states’ agricultural imports are still responsible for a significant amount of deforestation, equal to approximately 112,000 hectares annually, a new analysis has found.

The first transaction under the European Union’s new carbon removal framework has been publicly disclosed, involving carbon removal credits tied to a bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project in Sweden.

Conclusions adopted by the European Council on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) mark a step towards longer-term progress but fall short of addressing immediate industry challenges, the European ceramic sector said this week.

Scotland's new Climate Change Plan sets out over 150 policies and proposals aimed at reaching net zero emissions, in response to criticism that the draft plan lacked details on how it would achieve its longer term carbon budgets.

The European Energy Exchange (EEX) has announced plans to expand its environmental markets offering with the introduction of new UK carbon derivatives, responding to increasing demand from traders and compliance participants.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Gabon’s government will move forward with a nature conservation $200 million financing project, aimed at helping the Central African country meet its 30x30 target.

The EU risks missing an opportunity to create lead markets for low‑carbon steel and other materials under its Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) unless the proposal is reinforced with tougher standards and assigned dedicated funding, a German climate think tank has said.

The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) has urged Brussels to avoid locking Europe’s nascent CO2 transport and storage industry into a rigid, gas-style market model, as the European Commission prepares a sweeping infrastructure package for the third quarter of 2026.

Carbon pricing schemes deliver significant emissions reductions, but their effectiveness can be more than doubled when combined with well-aligned climate policies, according to a new study.

Ireland’s Court of Appeal has upheld the government’s approach to climate planning under national law, rejecting a legal challenge that argued the country’s flagship decarbonisation roadmap lacked sufficient detail and certainty to meet binding emissions targets.

A new satellite-based monitoring tool aims to detect early-stage risks in forest carbon projects, offering developers and investors faster visibility into project performance.

The UK Transition Finance Council's final guidelines for financial firms, designed to steer climate conscious investments, recognise the value of carbon credits to offset residual emissions and support wider environmental outcomes.