The World Trade Organization (WTO) has become a constructive forum on climate policy and border carbon adjustments (BCAs) despite a global downturn in climate and trade multilateralism, according to a policy expert and ex-WTO negotiator speaking to Carbon Pulse from the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $960.3 million for 18 projects supporting developing countries, it announced this week.

March headlines for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were dominated by US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, followed by the Gulf country’s retaliatory closure of the Strait of Hormuz – impacting Asian emissions, European carbon markets, and global energy security.

Pension pushback – The Church of England Pension Board plans to vote against directors at NatWest, Santander, and HSBC, arguing the banks have weakened or stepped back from earlier climate commitments, the Financial Times reported this week. The Pension Board said the actions of the banks raise concerns about governance, risk management, and long-term strategy. The move highlights growing pressure from investors over climate risks, even as some companies scale back environmental pledges. The non-profit Pensions Board oversees £3.5bn in assets.

ICE Futures Europe will launch next month new futures and options contracts for the mandatory Phase 2 of UN aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA, it announced on Friday.

Maritime markets – Aurora Hydrogen, a Canadian clean hydrogen technology company, and Oldendorff Overseas Investments, the investment platform of Germany’s Reederei NORD Group, announced a $3 mln investment and strategic alliance focused on maritime decarbonisation, it was announced this week. The funding will support commercialisation of Aurora’s microwave-driven methane pyrolysis technology and includes a long-term commitment from OOI to buy Aurora units for shipping and logistics operations. The companies said the deal creates a commercial pathway to deploy Aurora’s hydrogen systems across ports and maritime markets, especially in Europe. Aurora has secured $14 mln from investors including OOI, EIC Rose Rock, Energy Innovation Capital, Williams, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Shell Ventures, alongside roughly $10 mln in Canadian public funding and grants.

Nuclear nexus - The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday advanced the US-European Nuclear Energy Cooperation Act (HR 2504) in a 43-3 bipartisan vote, aiming to strengthen collaboration between the US and Europe on nuclear energy development, E&E News reported. Introduced by Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), the bill seeks to counter Russia’s influence in the sector, including its actions involving nuclear facilities during the war in Ukraine, by bolstering allied capacity, supply chains, and standards. The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), said the measure would help curb Moscow’s role in the global nuclear market, as lawmakers framed the legislation as part of broader geopolitical and energy security efforts.

A new manual highlights the need for European countries to plan forest restoration strategies around full lifecycle costs.

European carbon allowance prices ended Friday almost unchanged but recorded a 5.9% weekly increase, after briefly regaining levels last seen at the start of March, as traders continued to adopt a watching brief ahead of next week's European Commission reform proposals that include the Market Stability Reserve, while crude oil rose further amid expectations for an extended conflict in Iran and gas weakened due to forecasts of sufficient supply by the end of the summer.

IEA says decouple - Fatih Birol, the IEA's executive director, has suggested decoupling gas and electricity prices in the EU to limit the fallout from the Iran war, according to unnamed EU diplomats reported by Bloomberg. Gas is the fuel that effectively sets the price in the European marginal pricing system - a model that's been critiqued by governments concerned about rising energy bills. Electricity markets have been more shielded from the extreme price swings seen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, thanks to stronger French nuclear and overall increased renewables, but gas still sets price at times, especially in the evenings, which pushes up costs for consumers. The IEA has described the market turmoil as unprecedented - moving to release emergency oil stocks and call for demand reductions.

The Hormuz Strait crisis is costing the maritime industry €340 million a day - highlighting the industry's vulnerability to oil and gas price volatility, according to a new report.

Carbon partners - Participants at a UK Parliament event about climate partnership with Ukraine discussed how voluntary carbon markets and Article 6.2 mechanisms of the Paris Agreement can help finance low-carbon energy and digital infrastructure. Within the framework of the 100 year partnership agreement between both countries, they explored ways to deepen partnership on carbon markets and green finance. Aleksandr Krasnolutskyi, the deputy minister of economy, environment, and agriculture of Ukraine, gave an address stating how Ukraine is building infrastructure integrated with international markets and working on launching a national emissions trading system. The country is also exploring implementation of Article 6 mechanisms as part of its green recovery plans, he said.

France will ask the EU to temporarily suspend its carbon border tax on fertilisers, citing rising prices linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict, the country's agriculture minister Annie Genevard said on Friday.

Increased demand for LNG from Asian buyers should squeeze European natural gas prices, boost coal in the EU power mix, and feed some support for EUAs over the spring and summer, according to analysts, though any fuel switching demand from electricity production would also likely come in the face of a tough conditions for industrials amid high energy costs.

The European Commission is weighing three options to tackle CO2 emissions from municipal waste incinerators, with a potential inclusion in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) not envisaged until 2030 “at the earliest”, a senior EU official has said.

French hydrogen – The European Commission on Friday cleared a €144 million French state aid package to support a renewable and low-carbon hydrogen project. The HyforSeeds project will install and operate a 50 MW hydrogen production unit on the site of fertiliser and industrial chemicals producer LAT Nitrogen in the Ottmarsheim-Chalampe industrial zone, in eastern France. The grant-funded electrolyser will replace up to 15% of fossil-based hydrogen used in ammonia production, cutting GHG emissions by at least 70% and avoiding more than 46,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Luxembourg cleantech – The European Commission has approved a €500 million Luxembourg scheme to boost cleantech manufacturing capacity under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF). The programme will grant direct investment aid across Luxembourg for projects adding manufacturing capacity for technologies such as solar, wind, heat pumps, batteries and related critical raw materials, including via secondary raw materials. Support can be awarded until Dec. 31, 2030.

Biochar is already technologically ready for large-scale carbon removal (CDR) deployment but remains constrained by limited demand and underdeveloped application markets, according to a global report released Friday.

Frequent flyers - Aviation industry groups including Airlines for America, Airlines for Europe, and the International Air Transport Association are deploying lobbying strategies to resist stricter regulation, according to InfluenceMap. These tactics, used since 2007, aim to delay extending the EU ETS to long-haul flights, the organisation claimed. First, the industry argues aviation emissions should be governed globally, not regionally. Second, it promotes the ICAO as the sole authority in decarbonising the sector, as well as its offsetting scheme, CORSIA. Third, it frames CORSIA as the only necessary global mechanism, opposing additional regional measures. This playbook risks delaying meaningful emissions cuts in aviation and undermining alignment with the Paris Agreement, the civil society group said. However, growing cross-sector corporate support for the EU ETS suggests increasing resistance to industry lobbying and stronger backing for European climate policy.

EU member states signaled international carbon credits should be recognised as a CO2 price paid in foreign countries when calculating importers’ Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) liabilities, according to a draft joint position that also proposes a two-year limit for any temporary suspension of goods.

The European Commission will propose changes to the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) on Apr. 1, two officials told Carbon Pulse, saying the plan will be presented alongside updated benchmarks steering the allocation of free CO2 permits to industry.

Corporate buyers are increasing investment in carbon management software as compliance pressures grow and priorities shift from reporting to operational decarbonisation, a webinar heard Thursday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last week she believes a national energy decree reimbursing gas power plants for their carbon costs will be approved by the European Commission, but experts say it is unlikely to get the green light under EU state aid rules.

Greener guinness - Global beverage giant Diageo has released its first Climate Transition Plan, developed in alignment with many of the key recommendations of the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT). On mitigation, the owner of brands including Guinness and Baileys has set a 2050 net zero target for its full value chain, and interim targets to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and reduce Scope 3 emissions 26% by then. Scope 3 emissions account for more than 90% of its total climate footprint and Diageo sets out plans to collaborate with suppliers on decarbonisation. The company has conducted scenario analysis at three temperature pathways, and is also drawing up risk assessments for all operated sites globally. It's also set long-term executive remuneration linked to several emissions and water targets, and created an executive working group to review progress against sustainability targets. (edie.net)

The European Commission is calling for stakeholder feedback on a draft legally-binding act to develop a common EU scheme for rating the sustainability of data centres in Europe.

Green job boom - Jobs in the UK's green economy have risen by 27.8% over the last decade, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). There were an estimated 652,100 full-time equivalent (FTE) green jobs in 2024, nearly half of which (47.9%) were concentrated in three industries; energy-efficient products, waste-related work, and renewable energy. Renewable energy added 38,500 jobs over the period, followed by nuclear power with a rise of 28,500, while low-carbon transport added 24,900, and waste-related roles increased by 18,100. Low-emission industries also employed much of the wider workforce. In 2024, around 12.6 mln FTE roles, or 46% of all jobs, were in the 10 industries with the lowest GHG emissions, which together produced just 4.6% of UK emissions. Another survey found that 40% of people who don't currently consider their job green would consider such work - almost double the amount who said they weren't interested. (edie.net)

The Paris Agreement has become an aspiration rather than a target, according to an oil and gas company that is now looking to revisit a 2050 carbon neutrality plan, as it also aims to build up a stock of 50 million carbon credits by 2030 to help meet interim climate goals.

A US-based non-profit has shared four policy recommendations and a series of existing methane reduction strategies that it says should be embedded in the EU Livestock Strategy expected later this year.

Keep calm and carry on - New draft legislation on decarbonised gas and hydrogen markets in Germany discourages the decommissioning or dismantling of natural gas networks. The draft amendment to the Energy Industry Act, unveiled this week, transposes an EU Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Package adopted in May 2024. It lays out requirements for market design, infrastructure, and labelling to facilitate the uptake of renewable and low-carbon gases. It includes provisions to avoid the dismantling or permanent decommissioning of existing natural gas pipelines, to avoid "enormous" costs and because of the potential for alternative uses, for example to transport hydrogen. Gas distribution network development plans would be subject to local or regional state approval. To protect consumers, any gas grid disconnections would require at least ten years' notice and be inadmissible if foreseeable that there would be no alternative heat supply. The draft amendment also includes new regulations for biomethane plants, notably priority grid connection (Draft legislation)

Corporate climate excellence - Germany is inviting companies that prioritise climate action to join a Climate Protection Companies Excellence Initiative to exchange and promote low-carbon business practices. The national network is an initiative of the German ministries of economic affairs and energy, and environment, plus the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). Application are invited until Aug. 31, 2026, from companies of all sizes. The rationale behind it is that climate action is key to boosting competitiveness. An advisory board will decide on admissions (Apply here)

Assurance - Amid rising fuel prices given the Middle East crisis, India said on Friday it cut duty on petrol and diesel by INR 10 ($0.11) per litre each for domestic use to cushion consumers. The government also imposed export duties of INR 21.5/l on diesel and INR 29.5/l on aviation turbine fuel to boost local supply. The move aims to shield consumers from rising fuel prices. The petroleum ministry yesterday said fuel and LPG supplies remained secure, dismissing reports of shortages as misinformation. Crude supply disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz have been offset by diversified imports, it added, with refineries running above full capacity. As for stocks, India currently holds around 60 days of fuel.

Carbon markets, widely promoted as a scalable means of financing biodiversity conservation, are structurally ill-suited to deliver durable ecological outcomes and should be treated as a supplementary rather than central solution, according to a new analysis.

Carbon tax policies can effectively drive emissions reductions across supply chains, but may simultaneously erode profitability and weaken incentives for deeper decarbonisation in markets dominated by complementary products, according to new academic research.