The UK ETS Authority has reduced the total number of free UKA permit handouts for industrial emissions in both 2025 and 2026 by just over 2% since previous figures were published, trimming allocations for this year by around 500,000 tonnes, though keeping the year-on-year cut at 5%.

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

The benchmarks determining how many free allowances industries receive under the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) are coming "shortly", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated in a speech on Monday, following a meeting with other commissioners on the impact of the Middle East war.

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.

ICR opens new consultation - Reykjavik-based International Carbon Registry (ICR) has launched a public consultation on a new methodology for on-site GHG measurements in sustainable land management projects, developed by project developer Carbon Real. Feedback is open from Apr. 8 to May 8 as part of efforts to standardise emissions quantification and monitoring, the registry said in a LinkedIn post last week.

REDD+ tender opens in Madagascar - US-based non-profit Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has launched a call for tenders for technical advisory services on REDD+ revalidation and verification in Madagascar. The work will focus on monitoring and evaluation, including assessing project performance and supporting climate and conservation outcomes, according to a procurement notice published Apr. 9.

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.

The cost of complying with climate regulations for European shipping could exceed that of fuel and reach $200-600 per tonne of CO2 by 2035-40, according to an industry body.

Fuel tax cuts - The German government will cut taxes on petrol and diesel fuel by 17 cents per litre for two months in response to rising fuel prices driven by the Iran war, in a bid to provide fast relief to households and businesses. However, critics say the support for combustion engine car drivers is poorly targeted and does little to reduce the country's fossil fuel reliance. The decision was taken following intense talks over the weekend between the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD). The govt expects the fossil fuel sector to pass the reduction onto its customers. Longer term, Germany needs to increase its energy supply to curb trading dependencies through bolstering electricity interconnections with European neighbours, rolling out renewables, and using domestic natural gas, the coalition partners said. (Clean Energy Wire)  

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.

EV tech bets - European automakers are hedging their bets on range-extended electric vehicles (EVs) that sit between plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars, and can help to quell driver range anxiety. These range-extended EVs have a small engine that acts only as a generator to top up the battery, which is more powerful than their combustion engines, allowing them to run mainly on electric power. Proponents say this means they cut emissions better than hybrids. VW, Renault, and BMW are among those considering offering the technology, following in the wake of China's Leapmotor that is currently the only carmaker selling these models in Europe. Following Brussels easing its 2035 petrol ban, executives also admit the range extender allows them to navigate policy uncertainty while addressing consumer concern about range and charging for EVs. European automakers also face no vast gap with Chinese rivals over the range-extender technology, which isn't the case for EVs where China controls the battery supply chain. Instead, range-extended EVs come with smaller batteries and retain a combustion engine. (FT)

Softening EU fuel costs - Next Wednesday the European Commission is set to adopt a policy paper outlining ways to alleviate the impact of rising fuel costs on businesses and consumers, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Monday. Since the Iran war began, the bloc's fossil fuel import bill has risen by over €22 bln, she said. Rather than introducing aggressive changes to counteract this, the Commission aims to take a coordinated approach including boosting productivity of grid infrastructure and reducing grid charges, with a legislative proposal due in May. It will also flag measures to cut electricity taxation, removing some levies, and ensuring that power is taxed more favorably than fossil fuels. However, it won't go so far as to suggest demand-reduction targets similar to those after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, nor to introduce a price cap, say people familiar. Planned actions include continued coordination of gas storage filling, energy efficiency measures, and a strategy to boost electrification. The policy document may also include some guidelines on windfall taxes, but won't recommend them as a bloc-wide tool. (Bloomberg)

Mounting costs - EU cereal producers are losing up to €500/ha for a third consecutive year, with fertiliser costs driving sustained financial losses, EU farmers’ lobby Copa-Cogeca said in a social media post last week. The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) adds further pressure on input prices by raising the cost of imported fertilisers based on their carbon content, the group added.

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 UK government is poised to introduce legislation next month that would allow it to align the country with new EU regulations, including for the bloc's Emissions Trading System (ETS), without going through a parliamentary vote, according to The Times newspaper.

The UK government has launched a procurement process to purchase carbon credits to offset around 5,165 tonnes of emissions from the construction of a new headquarters for a European weather agency, with a budget of up to £2.5 million.

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.

Europe's carbon market ended Monday marginally lower as EUAs moved mostly in direct opposition to shifts in energy prices, after the US said it would impose its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after weekend peace talks with Iran failed to reach an agreement.

Eight companies have applied for investment aid to develop biogenic carbon capture projects under a Finnish government scheme with a €90 million budget aimed at scaling early-stage carbon capture capacity.

The government of Ireland will defer the planned carbon tax increase on non-ETS sectors, and reduce duties on petrol and diesel under a new package of measures agreed Sunday to alleviate pressure on the transport, farming, and fisheries sectors.

A Danish public-private partnership on carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) last week announced the first batch of projects under its latest funding rounds, with a combined budget of roughly DKK 45.9 million (€6.1 mln) across four initiatives, as part of a broader rollout of 12 projects to be confirmed this month.

Gigafactory boost - The UK government has announced a £380 mln grant to support creation of one of the country's largest gigafactories, set to increase domestic production of EV batteries and deliver economic growth. The Tata gigafactory in Somerset will be built by battery firm Agratas, owned by the Tata Group, and will supply batteries to Jaguar Land Rover and other customers. It's expected to create 4,200 jobs, and thousands more in the wider supply chain, generating a potential £43 bln in economic growth over a 25-year period. Production is expected to start by end-2027. (edie.net)

Late plea - Greek shipowner Angelicoussis Group, plus several Greek tanker and gas companies have urged the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to abandon its carbon price mechanism under the Net Zero Framework (NZF) in favour of alternatives, notably LNG, that wouldn't reduce emissions, Lloyds List reported. Shipping registers Rina and Bureau Veritas have also reportedly joined the anti-tax camp, but the Union of Greek Shipowners were not among the signatories. The next meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84), from Apr. 27-May 1, is expected to focus on finalising the NZF ahead of potential adoption in November.

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.