A climate registry director said the update to its biochar protocol could be published as early as May, conference attendees heard on the final day of North American Carbon World (NACW) 2026.

The voluntary carbon market is building the data and governance infrastructure needed to reward high-quality projects, but buyers and developers continue to rely on weak disclosure and simplistic procurement strategies that risk undermining progress, experts said this week.

Companies facing increasing pressure to track and disclose their Scope 3 emissions shouldn’t lose sight of mitigation as their ultimate goal, attendees of the North American Carbon World (NACW) 2026 conference heard.

Team expansion - Brazilian carbon offset project developer Joias Ecologicas has hired three technical experts from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), it told Carbon Pulse this week. The arrival of Fabio Oti, Luan Rocha, and Erick Pinho aims to strengthen the company’s operations across conservation, carbon, and community development in the Amazon, coinciding with its decision to focus on three operational hubs. Oti will lead operations at the Belem hub in the region of Salgado Paraense, which involves a mangrove project. Meanwhile, Pinho will coordinate the Santarem Hub in western Para, and Rocha will lead the Rio Branco hub, which covers areas of Rondonia, Acre, and southern Amazonas.

Woodlands windfall – Project developer Finite Carbon announced on Thursday the registration and issuance of forest carbon credits under ACR’s Improved Forest Management v2.1 methodology for its 212,800-acre (86,100 hectare) Northeast Carry Woodlands project in Maine, with all credits bearing the Core Carbon Principles label. The company said the project is among the first and largest registered under the updated methodology, which refines baseline assessment and monitoring to improve transparency and accountability. Finite added the project is intended to deliver long-term carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, water quality protection, and local economic benefits. The project is also certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).

Disbursement update - Brazil's national development bank (BNDES) announced Thursday it has completed a first disbursement totalling R$26 mln ($5 mln) to startup Symbiosis Florestal as part of a wider R$77.6 mln in support first unveiled in May 2025. The financing aims to support the expansion of a silviculture project using native species in southern Bahia, focused on the sustainable production of tropical timber, the productive restoration of the Atlantic Forest, and the generation of carbon credits. The support is part of BNDES' Floresta Credito, the bank's arm focused on financing ecological and productive restoration projects with native species within the broader BNDES Florestas strategy.

Goodbye, Verra – Biofix has removed its 180,000 ha REDD+ project in Maranhao, Brazil, from the Verra certification process and transitioned it to Equitable Earth, founder and CEO Ana Milena Plata Fajardo said in a LinkedIn post. The decision was taken due to delays by Verra in publishing its risk map for the state, which Plata said posed a risk to the project. Equitable Earth has developed its own risk maps, published Maranhao’s on time, and is now advancing towards approval under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), Plata said. She also highlighted the registry’s independence, adding that Equitable Earth will continue working across other standards, including Gold Standard and Cercarbono.

The research arm of a renewable energy company has outlined an expansive vision for scaling African carbon markets into a $100 billion-plus opportunity by the end of the decade, centred on sovereign control of natural capital and the deployment of digital infrastructure to underpin credit generation and trading.

A local authority in southern France has launched a €13.7 million tender for a long-term biochar production facility, signalling growing municipal interest in carbon removal-linked waste management solutions.

A Brazilian developer well known for its reforestation projects has generated its first carbon credits for enhanced rock weathering (ERW) in agriculture, marking a step in diversifying its carbon removal (CDR) portfolio.

A new carbon removal (CDR) portfolio launched on Thursday aims to simplify how companies source credits for 2030 net zero targets by combining multiple high-durability pathways into a single offering.

Where is the friction? - Removals database CDR.fyi is launching the first survey to understand how carbon removal market actors experience the contracting process, from signing term sheets to completing deals, in order to identify where friction exists and where shared infrastructure can support. The survey will also gauge how the Open Standard Carbon Removal Agreement (OSCAR) developed by CDR.fyi can best support suppliers in the contracting process. Stakeholders can take the survey here.

The global carbon removal (CDR) market closed the first quarter of 2026 with a sharp uptick in activity, as March saw significant growth across offtake agreements, credit issuance, and retirements, according to new data.

African governments are coalescing around the idea of a continent-wide “mother registry” to link national carbon markets, but friction is emerging with major independent standards who ultimately control the countries' carbon credits and market infrastructure.

A Swiss sensor manufacturer has partnered with a carbon removal (CDR) procurement platform to secure a portfolio of durable credits across three pathways, the companies announced Thursday.

Biogenic emissions from sources such as farming and deforestation emit more than nine times what temporary removals currently store, according to a new report, which noted the EU policy gap in addressing the issue.

Vietnam this week issued a decree setting out detailed rules for carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, setting caps on exports and clarifying government oversight.

Thailand and Switzerland have completed new issuances of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) from an electric bus programme in Bangkok, the organisation mandated to procure Article 6 credits for the country announced Thursday.

Deliveries of CORSIA credits ticked higher in March, the ICE exchange said, ahead of launching new contracts for hedging exposure to the market later this month.

New board members - Verra has appointed three new members to its board of directors: Derek Walker, El Hadji Mbaye Diagne, and Jennifer Park. Derek Walker joined on Jan. 1 and brings with him over 25 years of experience in climate and energy. He is currently senior advisor at the Health Effects Institute and chair of the board of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, and previously held senior leadership roles at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and served as executive director of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth College. El Hadji Mbaye Diagne joined on Apr. 1, and is a carbon and international climate policy expert, with more than two decades of experience supporting governments under the UNFCCC. He currently serves as director general of Afrique–Énergie–Environnement (AEE) in Senegal and has been a member of Senegal’s official UNFCCC negotiation delegation since 2000, among other roles. Jennifer Park also joined on Apr. 1, and is a climate finance and diplomacy expert, currently serving as partner at ALTÉRRA Management Limited in Abu Dhabi, and previously as a senior adviser in the executive office of the UN Secretary-General. The new leaders are expected to help guide the standards body in advancing its integrity and impact in carbon markets.

A carbon market insurer has teamed up with a modeller to strengthen how physical climate risk is incorporated into its underwriting, it announced Thursday.

Ethiopia has established a legal framework for forest carbon trading, laying out rules for the generation, verification, and transfer of credits from conservation and reforestation activities, according to local media reports.

A new academic proposal to overhaul how carbon markets value non-CO2 emissions could materially increase credit issuance for methane projects while sharpening incentives for near-term abatement, according to a study.

The first tranche of cash under the World Bank's $1-billion forest programme in Central Africa has been approved, to support efforts leading to a 17.6 million tonnes of CO2e reduction in GHG emissions each year, the funder announced Tuesday.

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is unlikely to get over its "midlife crisis" in the short-term, stakeholders said at the North American Carbon World 2026 conference Wednesday.

Colombia has debuted its first biochar-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits, as the issuer expands beyond its traditional stronghold in neighbouring Bolivia.

Warming-driven soil carbon losses could be significantly amplified under drought conditions, while wetter climates may instead see gains, according to new research that highlights a key but underrepresented driver of land-based emissions in climate models.

Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how voluntary carbon markets function – from project design and monitoring to certification and pricing – but its growing role is exposing both new efficiencies and new integrity risks.

Regulations for Mexico’s long-delayed ETS could be put on the back burner until the recent global energy crisis subsides and a trade agreement review with the US is concluded, a national carbon industry representative said this week during North American Carbon World (NACW).

Ethanol expansion – Gevo announced this week it is planning a major expansion of its North Dakota ethanol facility that could double output and boost carbon capture volumes, as it eyes growing demand for low-carbon fuels. The US-based company said it will add a second plant at its Richardton site, targeting up to 75 mln gallons per year of additional capacity alongside an existing expansion already underway. Combined, the projects could lift total output at the site to around 150 mln gallons annually and enable capture of more than 400,000 tCO2, supported by revenues from voluntary carbon markets and low-carbon fuel programmes.

The new, far-right government of Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast has approved renewable energy projects worth just over $1 billion in investment – even as it rescinds other mitigation measures, subject to further review.

Market confidence in soil organic carbon (SOC) is building as standards agencies get behind the project type, accelerating carbon removal approach into a new era of trust and growth, credit managers and developers said Tuesday.

Argentina has registered its first domestically-focused agricultural land management (ALM) carbon project under Verra, marking a further expansion of land-based crediting activities in the country’s growing voluntary carbon market.

Cuba’s proposed benchmark for forest-sector emissions has been revised upward following a UN technical assessment, with reviewers commending improvements to transparency and scope but flagging data gaps that could affect the country’s eligibility for results-based payments under REDD+.

A carbon project developer reported $0.2 mln in net income for 2025, while advancing credit issuance across its portfolio, with initial CORSIA-linked sales were completed by a project partner in early 2026.

Old UN certified credits under the soon to close Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are changing hands in large volumes for as little as $0.20, an exchange has revealed.

A large volume of food waste carbon credits that have been certified by Verra are soon to be sold on the CBL platform.

Efforts to scale technologies that remove CO2 from the atmosphere are being held back by financing issues, a paper released this week has found.

A new framework to assess the environmental performance and costs of direct air capture (DAC) projects could improve comparability and support investment decisions, a recent report found.

First of a kind - Mombak has generated its first carbon removal credits for enhanced rock weathering (ERW) from Project Cajueiro in Brazil using Isometric's ERW protocol, and registered its reforestation projects with Isometric. The development makes it the first supplier with both engineered and nature-based carbon removal projects listed on the Isometric registry. Mombak has previously secured offtakes for over 1.8 Mt of removals with buyers including Google, McKinsey, and Microsoft, while members of the Symbiosis Coalition have bought 215,000 tonnes of removal from its Amazonian reforestation project.

Pakistan and Norway have signed a bilateral agreement under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, aimed at scaling up carbon market cooperation and supporting emissions reduction efforts.

Methodology update - Social Carbon has opened a public consultation on an updated version of its methodology SCM0006 for the conservation of areas of biodiversity importance. The consultation is open from Apr. 1 to June 1, and stakeholders can submit feedback here. Version 3 sets a new integrity threshold for conservation-focused GHG methodologies, introducing an evidence-based, removals-focused approach grounded in net ecosystem productivity (NEP). It aligns crediting with measured ecosystem performance, not projections; introduces risk-based crediting to prevent over-crediting; and embeds biodiversity and social safeguards.  

Deepening ties - Indonesia and Japan will deepen cooperation on forestry and carbon markets following ministerial meetings in Tokyo, national news agency Antara reported. Talks between Indonesia’s forestry minister and Japanese counterparts covered sustainable forest management, carbon trading, and conservation initiatives, alongside support via JICA projects and expert deployment. Both sides also pushed to expand cooperation under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), including mangrove restoration and the proposed World Mangrove Center.

Researchers at South Korea's Kookmin University (KMU) have launched a government-backed project to develop ecosystem restoration solutions with the use of new technology, in order to increase carbon sinks.

Existing approaches to ensuring additionality, leakage, and permanence in nature-based carbon projects may fail to support biodiversity conservation, a new study argued.

A new climate advisory firm has launched with a focus on integrating fragmented carbon market systems, targeting growing demand for coordination across voluntary and compliance frameworks, particularly in Southeast Asia.

A coalition of buyers has launched a second procurement round for nature-based (NbS) carbon removals, introducing a rolling application process and piloting a pre-purchase mechanism, it announced Tuesday.

Russian carriers should be able to purchase carbon units for CORSIA use from domestic projects, a government minister said Wednesday, following the recent application of a national carbon standard for approval to supply Phase 2 of the international offsetting scheme.

Eight southern African countries have formally launched a regional alliance aimed at strengthening coordination on carbon markets and climate finance, as interest in Article 6 cooperation continues to grow across the continent.

An Indigenous tribe has had its forest protection project certified, enabling it to join a voluntary carbon market (VCM) project located on a vulnerable small island developing state, the project coordinator announced on Wednesday.

An Israeli-founded startup has lobbied the New Zealand government for changes to local regulations so it can proceed with marine carbon removals (mCDR) in the country’s waters, local media reported on Wednesday.

A major prediction market operator has launched a suite of contracts on which voluntary carbon standard will face the next integrity controversy, with sub-markets created to bet on the affected project category, country, and reversal type.

A project developer’s choice of methodology – once the cornerstone of commoditised carbon markets – is now just one of several rounds of bespoke due diligence processes, an expert said on Tuesday while providing recommendations on how to quicken the process.

A US university has dropped its carbon neutrality claim after using carbon offsets to meet its 2024 target, shifting spending toward on-campus emissions reductions aligned with a 2050 net zero goal.

Two companies focused on carbon projects in Latin America announced on Tuesday a merger that has resulted in a new vehicle dedicated to scaling forest restoration and nature-based carbon removals (CDR) across the Americas.

Carbon removals and avoided emissions projects are showing similar trends to renewable energy projects in their nascency, a panel of financiers said on the first day of the North American Carbon World (NACW) 2026 conference.

Carbon neutral mining – Soma Gold has renewed carbon neutrality certification for its Colombian subsidiary for a second consecutive year, covering emissions from its latest reporting period, the company announced on Tuesday. It said Operadora Minera SAS retained certification under the PAS 2060:2014 standard, with verification by Bureau Veritas – BVQI Colombia Ltd. Soma reported emissions of 1,367 tCO2e for 2024, all of which were offset using credits from the Galilea Ame forest conservation project on the Biocarbon Registry. Operadora remains the only mining company in Colombia to hold the certification, the company said.

Register your interest – Remove, a carbon removal (CDR) accelerator, said on Tuesday it plans to expand its support for CDR startups into Latin America, with backing from Milkywire’s Climate Transformation Fund. The organisation said the move is intended to support local innovation, ecosystem growth, and broader CDR market development in the region. Remove is inviting CDR startups in Latin America to register interest in its accelerator programme ahead of the application launch, with further details expected in the coming months.

Sales dip – Brazil-based low-carbon fertiliser firm Verde AgriTech reported lower 2025 revenue and sales volumes as tight agricultural credit conditions in Brazil weighed on demand. Revenue fell to around C$16.6 mln (USD$ 4.7 mln) from C$21.6 mln in 2024, with net loss narrowing to roughly C$11.7 mln, while the company maintained margins of about 72% and cut expected credit losses, according to its Q4 & FY 2025 earnings results. Verde AgriTech produces a potassium-based fertiliser from silicate rock that captures CO2 in soils via enhanced rock weathering (ERW).

A carbon exchange that claims to be mopping up Clean Development Mechanism trade before the UN body closes, has slashed its fees, and announced it will be opening up for an fresh investment round.

Offset project financier Carbon Streaming Corp. on Monday reported sharply reduced losses for 2025 and signalled a continued shift towards portfolio optimisation and asset sales, as the company seeks to stabilise its balance sheet following a turbulent period marked by project setbacks and legal disputes.

At least two European creditor countries are willing to undertake ‘debt-for-carbon swap’ deals with West African countries, which would involve a partial write-off in exchange for the transfer or generation of carbon credits, according to a senior official at a development bank.

After years with only one eligible supply source, credits approved for CORSIA use in its current phase have begun to steadily flow onto the market, reaching above 30 million earlier this year, but in light of an escalating war in the Middle East that has disrupted international air travel and jet fuel flows, as well as a lack of legislated penalties for non-compliance, some participants are now questioning whether the global aviation offsetting scheme has a growing demand problem.

A new draft corporate climate framework, put forward for consultation by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, could signal a major shift in how companies disclose climate action, separating inventory reporting from how carbon credit use is communicated.

A project developer has said assisted natural regeneration (ANR) can deliver significantly stronger permanence than traditional reforestation, positioning the approach as a high-integrity option in carbon markets.

A European semiconductor firm plans to enter the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to offset residual emissions, targeting the purchase of around 814,000 carbon credits over 2026-27, according to its latest annual report.

Singapore and Thailand on Tuesday launched a call for carbon credit project applications under their bilateral Article 6 implementation agreement, marking the operational phase of the deal.

Making progress - Malaysia has endorsed nine forest conservation projects under its Forest Conservation Certificate (FCC) programme, with plans to raise about MYR 30.2 mln ($7.4 mln) to support reforestation, river rehabilitation, and forest protection efforts across several states. The projects, selected from 29 applications, are part of efforts to address a wider MYR 1.4 bln funding gap in conservation financing, officials said. The FCC functions as a performance-based, non-market mechanism that channels private sector funding into verified conservation initiatives, while allowing companies to meet sustainability goals and benefit from tax incentives.

Integration - Carbon EX, which operates a marketplace for trading of carbon credits and renewable certificates, said it has started API integration with Tokyo's carbon market, operated by the metropolitan government. This integration will make some of the credits handled by Carbon EX's platform available for purchase on the megacity's carbon market by connecting private platforms with government infrastructure, the company said.

Working with farmers - Japanese project developer Green Carbon has concluded a demonstration on the application of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique in paddy fields in collaboration with farmers and domestic universities. The company said it aims to develop a new J-Credit methodology based on the results, which showed a higher methane emission reduction effect under the condition of implementing AWD after mid-season drainage. The developer recently also launched a support programme for dairy farmers to decarbonise manure management and create carbon credits based on a J-Credit methodology (AG-002).

A Singapore-based carbon markets expert who headed Asia sustainable finance at WWF will now work on the city-state’s Article 6 deals at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she announced Tuesday.

The head of BP's Asia Pacific carbon and Australian power origination in Singapore has resigned, they confirmed in a social media post Tuesday, one of several carbon traders at various organisations finishing up their postings in recent weeks.

The Papua New Guinea government has approved the first carbon project in the country aligned with its new market system, it said.

Blue Cercarbono – Standard body Cercarbono published its blue carbon methodology for restoration and revegetation of coastal wetlands, it announced Monday in a LinkedIn post. CM-LUCW-001 covers reduced and removed emissions from mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows, and shifts focus on planting-based interventions to broader ecological functions, such as rewetting and storage of soil organic carbon, the standard said. The methodology, which was published for consultation last December, is designed to support Article 6 traceability and to be compatible with Cercarbono's REDD+ framework.

Over the past week, developments across Latin America showed forest-based carbon supply being channelled into different market pathways, with countries diverging on whether credits are exported, retained for domestic compliance, or supplied to voluntary markets.

CORSIA prices ticked higher last week, reflecting the market having found a wide trading range either side of $13, and there were signs that airlines are now readying to retire for compliance.

Climate Impact X (CIX) will cease publishing price assessments for older vintage forestry and cookstove projects in the voluntary carbon market, the Singapore-based exchange said Monday. 

Swedish BECCS - Sweden-based energy firm Stockholm Exergi plans to allocate around 185k tonnes of permanent carbon removals annually from its bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) operations to neutralise residual emissions across its value chain, according to its latest annual report. The company is also exploring CCS at its waste-to-energy plants in Hogdalen and Brista, with feasibility studies underway and potential CO2 capture starting around 2033 and 2035 respectively, with combined permanent storage of around 710k tonnes of biogenic CO2, according to the company's annual report. Stockholm Exergi targets net zero across its value chain by 2035, relying on both emissions reductions and permanent removals.

Biochar methane emissions - Flame curtain pyrolysis in kon-tiki kilns used to produce biochar emits less methane and carbon monoxide than open burning of crop residues, a study by European researchers published in GCB Bioenergy found. Methane emissions were around 2.6 grammes per kilogramme of feedstock, compared to more than 4.4 g/kg for open burning, and rose more than tenfold when moisture exceeded 25%. Higher flue gas temperatures were linked to lower methane output, while the process produced around 200 kg of biochar per tonne of straw, enabling more than 500 kg of CO2e removal when applied to soils, the analysis said.

A new soil porewater extraction technique could improve the accuracy and consistency of carbon removal estimates from enhanced rock weathering (ERW), according to a recent study.

Mazda NZ drops green claim - Mazda New Zealand has removed a claim from its website that planting five trees per vehicle would “mitigate any environmental impact from CO2 emissions” over a five-year warranty period, following a complaint filed earlier this month by Lawyers for Climate Action NZ. The Advertising Standards Authority accepted the complaint, but closed the case as settled after Mazda New Zealand withdrew the statement tied to its partnership with Trees That Count.

Japan forest deal - Japan-based automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has signed an agreement to purchase locally generated Forest J-Credits from Tenryu Forester, marking the first issuance of such credits from Japan’s Hamamatsu region, the company said last week. The credits were created through forest management activities in the Tenryu area, historically known for timber production but facing pressure from imports and demographic decline. Suzuki said the deal supports conservation of local forests while contributing to its goal of achieving carbon neutrality across its domestic operations by FY2035, with plans to expand use of locally generated credits.

Ghana mangrove push - Ghana’s Forestry Commission and US-based developer Terraformation will collaborate to scale forest restoration projects aimed at boosting climate resilience, jobs, and local livelihoods, the organisations announced last week. The collaboration builds on a large mangrove restoration effort at Keta Lagoon in the Volta Region, where more than 3.2 mln trees have already been planted and hundreds of jobs created, many held by women. A second phase is set to launch later this year with additional planting and employment expected, while the broader programme aims to expand restoration across the country and link carbon revenues to community development, they said.

A global fast fashion retailer has received its first deliveries of permanent carbon removals (CDR) in 2025 and is preparing to source jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+) credits, according to its latest sustainability report.

Two tech companies and a consultancy have collectively committed to purchase over 130,000 nature-based carbon removal credits from a US-based reforestation project.

A jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+) programme in Colombia has completed its public consultation period, bringing it closer to issuing (Core Carbon Principles) CCP-eligible voluntary carbon credits, the project developer said last week.

US airlines could face a hefty bill for 2024 emissions under the CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme, but it remains uncertain whether their participation will be enforced, according to a new analysis.

Integrity premiums are emerging in Australia’s carbon market, with higher-quality credits commanding sustained price differences, while project-level risks remain uneven, a recent analysis has found.

Carbon rating agencies are split on whether they fall in scope under upcoming EU rules on ESG rating activities, which could potentially help unlock more bank finance for the sector and reduce risk of integrating credits in compliance schemes, stakeholders told Carbon Pulse.

Sub-Saharan Africa saw a surge in Article 6 activity in March, with multiple countries accelerating bilateral carbon market deals and project authorisations, particularly with Switzerland.

A new guide that aims to help governments safely test emerging carbon market approaches has launched, as policymakers face growing pressure to unlock climate finance while maintaining market integrity.

Four key themes helped move agricultural soil carbon from a nascent category to the high-integrity climate solution that it is today.

A Seoul-headquartered carbon trader and project developer has appointed a new CEO, with plans to expand its presence in the international voluntary carbon market.

Blue green - Japanese developer Green Carbon has signed an MoU with Indonesian NGO PT Pesisir Indah Lestari to collaborate on mangrove restoration and emissions reduction projects. The partnership will assess at least 1,000 ha for restoration, estimate blue carbon stocks, and project sequestration over up to 35 years. The five-year agreement will also emphasise local community engagement and sustainable development alongside biodiversity protection, the companies said.

Port credits - The VOC Port Authority in India’s Tamil Nadu has began generating carbon credits from its renewable energy portfolio, targeting revenue of around $5.3 mln through the monetisation of emissions reductions, it has announced. One of India’s 13 major ports and an important gateway for the nation’s southern region, it plans to generate carbon credits by adopting sustainable practices such as renewable energy use, energy efficiency measures, and reduced fossil fuel consumption across its operations. The port has registered five renewable projects under for the generation of carbon credits, with a collective installed capacity of 12.4 MW, it said.

Zefiro Methane Corp. and its founder have declared separate victories in their high-stakes legal battle for control of the offset project developer.