The construction of the “cornerstone” of Paraguay’s Article 6 ambitions is moving rapidly, aiming for a 2026 timeline amid a push to unlock its first international transfers, government officials said.

Verra opened a public consultation on proposed revisions to its methodology for the accelerated retirement of coal-fired power plants, according to a Friday announcement.

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.

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.

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 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.

Empanelled - Noida-based developer and consulting firm Compliance Kart said it has been empanelled as an industry partner in the carbon credit programme for agriculture in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which is aimed at scaling farmer participation in carbon markets. The initiative, developed with the government and IIT Roorkee, will begin with pilots and focus on deploying MRV systems and mobilising farmers. The programme seeks to generate carbon credits from sustainable farming practices, with allocation of 50% of proceeds upfront to farmers.

First issuance - Singapore-based Biochar developer Arukah Capital completed the first issuance of CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) in Cambodia, Puro.earth announced on LinkedIn, marking a national first for the registry. The project converts agricultural residues such as rice husk into carbon for storage. At least 50% of gross carbon revenue is shared with smallholder farmers, the company said.

Australia on Friday opened consultation on draft national guidelines to standardise how agricultural emissions, which account for roughly 18% of national emissions, are measured and reported.

Blue carbon - Japan’s environment ministry on Friday opened applications for a subsidised programme to support large-scale demonstration of blue carbon projects. The scheme aims to accelerate deployment of emissions absorption measures and support their early social implementation. Applications will be accepted from Mar. 27 to Apr. 30, with the government covering part of project costs. Eligible projects in this round are limited to blue carbon initiatives, such as coastal and marine-based sequestration efforts. Japan is also interested in developing blue compliance credits in addition to its government-backed J-Blue scheme.

Textile manufacturers in South Asia are accelerating efforts to decarbonise under growing pressure from international buyers, though carbon credits are expected to play only a limited role as brands prioritise direct emissions cuts in their supply chains, according to experts.

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 market researchers have raised concerns that proposed revisions to Washington state’s forestry offset protocol risk failing to ensure the environmental integrity of credits issued under the scheme.

A national jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programme covering at least 480,000 hectares, with expansion potential to 3 million, is on the verge of being officially launched by the Paraguay government, which has told Carbon Pulse that its main target market is the international aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA and other international markets.