Latin American governments are backing large-scale CO2 reduction activities as a sustainable development strategy, scoring several high-profile wins last week, while the voluntary market (VCM) for CO2 removals (CDR) reeled from the announcement of mega CDR buyer Microsoft halting purchases.

News of Microsoft possibly pausing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) buying sent shockwaves through the nascent market late last week.

Australia’s LNG projects risk losing out in an increasingly oversupplied market – even as disruptions from the Middle East conflict have tightened global gas volumes – as long-term export contracts begin to expire, a new report warned on Tuesday.

The first industrial-scale pilot to convert lower-grade iron ore into direct-reduced iron using hydrogen has been completed in Namibia, paving the way for a green steel value chain connecting Australia, Namibia, and Germany.

A Dutch carbon project developer saw forward sales more than double in Q1 2026, reaching around €4.5 million after signing nearly €2.5 mln in new contracts, according to its latest quarterly update.

An open letter signed by almost 30 companies led by Greek shipowner Angelicoussis calls on member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to pursue alternatives to a global carbon pricing framework for shipping, a trade journal reported.

Finance departments across the world must take a central role in driving the global shift to low-carbon economies by deploying coordinated policy packages rather than relying on carbon pricing alone, according to new analysis from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics.

A6 partnership - The Article 6 Implementation Partnership (A6IP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) announced at a meeting last week in Geneva a Joint Declaration laying out their intention strengthen cooperation on capacity-building, policy support, and technical assistance to help countries develop the institutional arrangements required to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of trusted carbon markets and mobilise additional finance for low‑carbon industrial transformation, the partners said. Additionally, Naoki Torii, industrial development officer at UNIDO, introduced the organisation's new initiative, the Carbon Market for Development Partnership (CM4D), which seeks to leverage private sector support by mobilising upfront climate finance and accelerating participation in high-integrity international carbon markets.

Making moves - Singapore’s sustainability minister, Grace Fu, will lead a business mission to South American countries from Apr. 13-22 to boost cooperation on carbon credits, the ministry said on Monday. The trip aims to advance Article 6 carbon credit partnerships and build a pipeline of projects, alongside efforts to deepen trade and investment ties, the minsiter said. Fu will meet counterparts, host business sessions, and visit project sites, accompanied by officials and industry delegates. The mission signals Singapore is moving from deals to building pipelines under Article 6 with Peru, Paraguay, and Chile - countries at relatively advanced stages of bilateral cooperation.

New net zero association in Vietnam - The Ho Chi Minh City Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (HCM-SME) has launched the Vietnam-Asia Net Zero Association (VANZA HCM-SME) to support businesses in accessing emissions reduction technologies and expanding green cooperation. The body is expected to act as a focal point linking enterprises with low-carbon solutions and facilitating collaboration, as Vietnam works towards its 2050 net zero target, HCM-SME chairman Pham Van Triem said. The launch took place alongside the first congress of the Green Agriculture - Food - Health Business Association (Green HCM-SME) for the 2026–2028 term, where Chau Minh Chinh was elected chairman.

Input needed - Bangladesh and Japan have opened a public consultation on a proposed methodology to cut methane emissions from rice paddies in Bogura and Joypurhat districts under the Joint Crediting Mechanism. Stakeholders are invited to submit feedback until Apr. 22 after the submission passed an initial completeness check.

Seed round - Japan-based forest asset manager ForestFolks has raised a seed funding round to develop a digital platform aimed at supporting forest valuation and carbon credit generation, though the funding amount was not disclosed. The round included backing from Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Sparkle, taliki, S-Innovation, and angel investors, with proceeds to support development of its Forester Earth digital forest management platform and pilot projects with municipalities and regional firms.

UK-China MoU - Details of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on climate change and related activities signed between the UK and China last June have been published on the UK government's website. The partnership aims to "further strengthen bilateral dialogue and exchanges as well as pragmatic cooperation on climate change to help avert the climate crisis". Both parties recognise the common climate challenges they face and pledge to hold climate change exchanges at senior official level at least every year. They also state commitment to multilateral climate processes including the UNFCCC, and agree to collaborate further on carbon markets, including emissions trading schemes, as well as measures to control methane emissions.

The volume of carbon credits for the aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA may have doubled in the past year – but the market's true supply will remain constrained without the spread of insurance, according to analysis published on Monday.

A reported pause to Microsoft's carbon removal (CDR) purchasing programme exposes a major demand challenge for the nascent technology-based market, but also represents a "bittersweet" opportunity for the sector to mature, project developers and experts told Carbon Pulse.

South Korea is seeking public input on a proposal that will likely enable allocation of additional free allowances to some of those regulated by the national emissions trading scheme.

An Australian clean cookstove project developer has successfully secured final approval to label credits from its series of projects in Madagascar as CORSIA-eligible (Phase 1), with plans to raise overall market supply by some 2.7 million units.

One of China's major energy companies has started construction of a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) project, the country's first demonstration applying offshore carbon injection technology to enhance natural gas production.

Pressure from buyers caught sellers by surprise last week, sending New Zealand allowance prices to a two-month high.

Bear fruit - Japanese developer Fager on Monday said it had obtained certification for around 225,000 credits from rice paddy projects under the J-Credit scheme, according to the results from the latest certification committee meeting. It obtained certification for 27 credits from its biochar project. Faeger said this marks the first time that over 200,000 credits have been certified in Japan's agricultural sector, and it aims to generate 400,000 credits by 2026.

First step - South Korea has issued a tender to conduct a preliminary feasibility study on the potential of REDD+ projects in Guatemala, with a budget of around 201 mln won ($135,100), according to a notice. The bid deadline has been set at Apr. 22, the notice showed. South Korea aims to accelerate overseas development assistance programmes with countries in Latin America, such as Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to share its expertise in forest restoration. Government agency Korean Forest Service (KFS) has also said it will explore opportunities to expand its REDD projects beyond Asia.      

Biofuel partnership - A Singapore-based bioenergy firm, Aligned Energy, has signed two MoUs with Indonesian partners to develop large-scale biofuel production projects alongside land restoration initiatives, Ecobusiness reported. The company plans to grow sweet sorghum on degraded former mining land in areas like Bintan, using it as a low-emissions feedstock for biofuels such as green diesel, bioethanol, and green naphtha. The projects aim to scale up to around 2,000 hectares initially and could produce up to 500 million litres of green diesel over a decade, positioning the initiative as both a renewable energy solution and a way to rehabilitate damaged landscapes.

A big-four consultation firm has been the first to agree to purchase carbon credits from a novel group of Australian environmental plantings projects seeking to help restore koala populations in New South Wales.