A nature-based carbon project developer has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise up to €700,000, as smaller firms in the voluntary carbon market explore alternative financing routes.

More than 73% of the credits retired from the voluntary carbon market (VCM) have stayed inside the country, found a new report presented Friday during the Colombia Carbon Forum, signaling high dependence on the offsetting mechanism of the carbon tax and a need to enter new markets.

A global shift toward cross-border due diligence rules in environmental value chains has not missed Colombia or its carbon market, creating legal vulnerabilities for financial institutions and potentially carbon credit buyers, according to a Colombian environmental attorney.

Two Canadian banks are stepping back from previously announced emissions reduction targets, citing policy uncertainty and rising energy demand that they said have complicated earlier assumptions.

It’s official – The delegated regulation setting out methodologies to certify permanent carbon removals in the European Union was published in the EU’s Official Journal on Apr. 17. The delegated act aims to measure the sequestration of CO2 from three permanent carbon removal techniques: direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and biochar carbon removals (BCR). The act was passed after a failed attempt by the Greens and left-wing groups to block the methodologies in the European Parliament.

The United Nations Environment Platform (UNEP) Copenhagen Climate Centre is set to launch a digital platform this summer to help host countries implement Article 6.

Colombia’s left-wing government is not anti-carbon markets but resists unrestrained “market logic”, advocating instead for a strong regulatory framework, according to a top official – even as critics claim the government has failed to perform the oversight functions it already has.

Colombia’s supply of carbon credits faces several near-term factors that will generate price volatility, according to a senior carbon trader at majority state-owned oil firm Ecopetrol.

Belize has sharply revised its forest carbon baseline after a UN review process, abandoning a controversial “zero” benchmark in favour of a negative reference level that better reflects historical trends and enables access to results-based climate finance.

Brokers in the voluntary carbon market are seeing a growth in multi-year offtakes from corporate buyers who have become more selective in their procurement, and are seeking nature-based removals in particular, they told Carbon Pulse.

Irrigated agriculture in the US could deliver deep emissions cuts at little additional cost by shifting away from diesel and deploying solar-powered electric pumps, but achieving full net zero would require a sharp rise in spending and infrastructure, according to a new study.

Trials begin - Indonesia has opened trials for its new Carbon Unit Registry System (SRUK) ahead of a planned July launch, inviting project developers to begin submitting data, national news agency Antara reported, citing officials. The trial phase will help the start of carbon trading and ensure the system functions smoothly once operational. Earlier this week, the Southeast Asian country issued a new regulation designed to allow local forestry carbon projects to trade internationally, with a major project now expected to be issued a record amount of carbon credits.

A French ministry official expects the EU to purchase as many as 716 mln international carbon credits in 2036-40 to help meet the bloc's new climate target, an official told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of the European Climate Summit in Barcelona.

Recent progress - The Japanese government has published the feedback it recently gathered for methodology revisions under the J-Credit framework. As well, the methodology for cattle feed additives (AG-007) has been amended with a calculation formula for projects using 3-NOP in feeds. A new methodology (IN-008) for the introduction of natural refrigerants has been established and will become effective on Apr. 20, according to a govenment notice.

On path - Japanese developer Green Carbon said on Friday its industrial biochar project in India has passed a pre-screening audit by Isometric, paving the way for issuance of carbon removal (CDR) credits from this year. It plans to operate four biochar plants across India, targeting around 300,000 tonnes of CDR credits over the next decade, with initial issuance expected from mid-2026. The projects will use agricultural waste such as cotton stalks and peanut shells, aiming to deliver carbon removal alongside soil benefits for local farmers.

US-based e-signature firm DocuSign has maintained its CarbonNeutral certification into FY26 while signalling a strategic pivot toward higher-integrity carbon credits and long-term removals, as it prepares to transition to a net zero-aligned approach.

A US-based non-profit has released a global, high-resolution dataset tracking aboveground biomass over more than two decades, in a move that could strengthen monitoring, baselining, and verification across carbon markets and nature-based solutions.

Biochar credit generation in Latin America is constrained by fragile demand signals and high investment barriers, local developers have said, where a potential time-out from major carbon removals (CDR) buyer Microsoft could exacerbate both conditions.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has approved a Verra methodology for the improved management of rice systems for use in the first two compliance phases of UN aviation sector offsetting scheme CORSIA, the standard announced on Thursday.

Over 50 million credits were retired over the first three months of 2026, the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2025, while the price of allowances under the UN's offsetting scheme for global aviation have dropped by around 25% since the turn of the year.

A Canadian cleantech firm has struck a deal to acquire a Quebec-based biocarbon pilot facility and associated intellectual property, alongside securing a five-year offtake agreement, as it moves to scale production of low-carbon fuels for heavy industry.

A Bolivian-based biochar producer has clinched a three-year deal to sell 500,000 carbon removal credits.

A Paris-based carbon project developer launched a request for proposals (RFP) on Thursday, seeking applications from restoration and reforestation projects, as well as Article 6-aligned cookstove and water initiatives.

A large REDD project is set to receive its first issuance in three years, the developer has told Carbon Pulse, flooding the market with millions of carbon credits, after Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry allowed local forestry projects to trade internationally.

A pause in Microsoft’s carbon removal purchases should galvanise corporates to buy into a market that sorely needs them, the market’s second largest buyer told Carbon Pulse. 

Russian offsets – Moscow-based petrochemical company Sibur and an online retailer have launched a tool aimed at enabling consumers to offset carbon from home deliveries. Retailer Wildberries & Russ now offers customers the option to make their order 'carbon neutral' with Russian carbon credits, according to the Russian Carbon Units Registry. Demand for offsets from Russian companies has increased since the start of 2025, according to analysis from AlliedOffsets.

A carbon insurance company has announced a new underwriting partnership with a division of an insurance marketplace.

A Toronto-headquartered digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) company announced the acquisition of holdings in a digital biochar project development platform on Thursday.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council has approved two more programmes as eligible under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) for its first phase, covering 2024 to 2026.

Carbon registry Gold Standard has open a call for feedback on several tools and tweaks to its crediting framework this week.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry has issued a new regulation designed to allow local forestry carbon projects to trade internationally, with a major project now expected to be issued a record amount of carbon credits.

Verde with envy - US-based biochar developer Verde Resources announced on Wednesday the next stage in the pursuit of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its biochar-integrated asphalt. Verde is undertaking a life cycle assessment for its carbon sequestering road infrastructure product, BioAsphalt, via consulting firm WAP Sustainability. Verde seeks to obtain the first EPD for fully-integrated engineered biochar within asphalt, which would disclose BioAsphalt’s environmental impact and durable carbon storage benefits across its full lifecycle through a third party. The developer completed BioAsphalt’s proof of concept in Dec. 2024, and has since developed a live roadway demonstration, which resulted in eight tonnes of verified CDR credits issued by Puro.earth. Verde announced a deal in March to supply up to 38,500 t of biochar through the US manufacturer Biochar Solutions.

Large-scale, capital-intensive carbon removal (CDR) projects would likely be the hardest hit by a potential Microsoft purchase slowdown, according to a Wednesday analysis by a carbon data company.

Wildfires are still an underestimated risk among carbon project developers, despite increasingly sophisticated satellite data that can warn developers about where risk is likeliest to occur and alert them as soon as any fire breaks out, experts said at a conference Wednesday.

A senior European Commission official said that the EU will favour a centralised purchasing framework to acquire international carbon credits to help meet its 2040 climate target, rather than rely on individual companies to procure them directly.

Carbon sensitive chocolate  - Food producer Olam Food Ingredients (Ofi) and corporation Mars have announced a new five-year strategic collaboration is helping to reduce the carbon footprint for cocoa in Ecuador, extending a 10-year deal. More than 960 farmers across major cocoa growing regions in the South American country are expected to implement climate-smart and regenerative agriculture such as agroforestry and biochar, across more than 9,000 hectares of farmland, an area roughly the size of the Greek island of Santorini. Farmers will also be equipped with tools to use low carbon fertilisers, improved crop residue management, and biochar applications, according to a press release. Mars plans to achieve net zero emissions across its full value chain by 2050.

British body BSI has unveiled a revised version of its environmental management systems (EMS) standard, with the ISO also updating its international version, aiming to help organisations better align with rising climate commitments, ESG priorities, and tightening regulatory requirements.

A US-based forest carbon project developer has announced the sale of 100% of the credits from its biomass burial carbon removal (CDR) project in Montana.

Switzerland-based Gold Standard has launched a public consultation on a new analytical tool designed to tackle the risk of lock-in to high-emission or suboptimal technologies under its carbon crediting framework.

Airlines preparing for compliance under the UN's international aviation offsetting scheme are running into a shortage of host country approvals needed to use carbon credits, even as project supply continues to grow.

Technology developers have launched a 12-month pilot of a methane removal system aboard a bulk carrier, marking what the companies say is the first deployment of the technology under normal commercial shipping conditions, with ambitions to generate Gold Standard-certified carbon credits from the mitigation.

Inconsistent methodologies and uneven data for calculating national greenhouse gas inventories are emerging as a constraint for the development of international carbon markets, a UN technical expert warned.

New estimates from a ratings agency evaluating 15 Brazilian REDD+ projects transitioning to Verra’s updated VM0048 methodology could see credit issuance fall by up to 90%, while increasing chances of being rated BBB and above.

A carbon removal (CDR) non-profit has launched a responsible development framework for the sector, saying the field’s greatest risk is the loss of public trust.

A US-based carbon offsets consultancy launched on Tuesday an online platform to improve transparency, project quality, and investment in early-stage afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) carbon credits.

Innovative methods of restoration such as intercropping could offer a way to reconcile biodiversity goals with carbon outcomes in restoration projects, as developers face trade-offs between the two, a webinar on Tuesday heard.

A clean cooking company looking to generate carbon credits has entered into the Zambian market, in what it hopes will mark a new push to expand access to modern, affordable cooking solutions for households across the country.

Afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects have been enjoying a spell of popularity with experts suggesting demand for nature-based removal credits will likely climb higher, but, amid this week's uncertainty over Microsoft's future as a major buyer in the carbon removal (CDR) sector, it remains to be seen whether such predictions hold true.

The EU’s criteria for accepting international carbon credits are too stringent and risk “overcorrecting” mistakes made in the past decade with units issued under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), experts have warned.

The average cost of engineered carbon removals today can cover the carbon footprint of many consumer products, and most shoppers appear willing to pay a premium for lower- or zero‑carbon options, speakers said at an industry event.

A Sweden-headquartered eco-friendly burger chain has delved into buying domestic biochar credits for the first time as it seeks to diversify away from tree planting to meet its climate positive targets.

A shift towards issuing carbon credits only after verified outcomes is needed for forest offset markets, said a study released this week as an early access paper.

Microsoft will continue to support its existing portfolio of carbon removal projects, the company said Tuesday, which could mean an expansion of its credit buying in future, as the firm sought to clarify speculation that its procurement programme had been shut down.

Demand for offsets from Russian companies has increased since the start of 2025, with both the number of unique buyers and the volume of retirements from Russian entities in the voluntary carbon market higher - analysis from a data firm shows.

An Asian airline has just retired 150,000 credits to comply with its obligations under the aviation sector’s international offsetting programme.

Participants in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) have floated the idea of creating a body that resembles a European Central Bank, currently being discussed by some in Brussels, to classify CO2 credits into different asset classes according to their environmental integrity, saying this could boost transparency and scale up demand.

A new carbon crediting framework aimed at cutting methane emissions from rice farming has been released for public consultation.

New project - LG Electronics is expanding its voluntary carbon credit business through the promotion of high-efficiency heat pumps. The South Korean electronics giant on Tuesday said it will push to register a fuel switch project using high-efficiency heat pump technology with Gold Standard, without disclosing more details. It also plans to reinvest the carbon credit revenue in GHG reduction projects.

A new analysis has warned that the world is experiencing a “twin fossil shock” that could reshape the global energy system more profoundly than the oil crises of the 1970s - while simultaneously speeding up the transition away from fossil fuels.

UN agency ICAO has reaffirmed that the CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme remains the "only global market-based measure" to address the sector's international climate impact and that countries and other organisations must stop exploring additional aviation-related taxes.

Public consultation - Swiss standard Carbon Standards International (CSI) has opened a public consultation on amendments to its Global Artisan C-Sink Standard, it said on social media. The proposed changes include a new standardised method for assessing biochar dry matter to improve carbon content estimates and sequestration metrics, with feedback due by May 9. The organisation will host a webinar on the proposed changes on Apr. 30 at 13:00 CET.

Australian buyers of carbon credits aren’t engaging beyond a small core group, with transactions stalling due to pricing confusion and structural supply constraints, according to the head of an intermediary.

Koko Networks Rwanda enters insolvency - Clean cooking firm Koko’s Rwandan subsidiary Koko Networks Rwanda has initiated insolvency proceedings and applied for reorganisation through the Commercial Court. A provisional administrator was appointed effective Apr. 2, with creditors asked to submit claims by Apr. 15 ahead of a first meeting on Apr. 16 in Kigali, a public notice said.

BluSky amends debts - Canadian biochar firm BluSky Carbon has increased a loan facility to $5.68 mln with a six-month maturity, subject to lender due diligence, it said on its website. The company also extended a secured debenture to Sep. 30, 2026 for $400,000 in payments plus a $150,000 fee, and raised a convertible debenture to C$900,000.

A carbon ratings company has established a new entity in Japan and is already serving local corporates and market participants, it announced Tuesday.

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.

A biomass carbon removal and storage plus renewable natural gas (BiCRS+RNG) project in the US has secured a route to market via a procurement platform, it was announced on Monday.

Moving ahead - Dib v. Apple is proceeding on a revised briefing schedule after a short-lived mediation referral did not result in a settlement. The case was released from the court’s mediation programme on Apr. 7, indicating no resolution at that stage. Subsequent filings show procedural activity continuing, including a disclosure statement from Apple on Apr. 8 and a request by appellants for more time to file their opening brief. The court granted that request on Apr. 9, setting a revised briefing schedule with the opening brief due July 15, the answering brief due Aug. 14, and an optional reply brief due 21 days after service of the answering brief.

Foreign plaintiffs could use a long-standing US human rights statute to bring claims against companies involved in harmful carbon offset projects, despite recent court rulings narrowing its scope, a recently-published legal analysis argued.

Advanced market commitment in carbon removal (CDR) has doubled nearly every year since 2022 from buyers other than Microsoft or the carbon buyers group Frontier, a market platform reported on Monday.

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

Ricey methane - The Global Carbon Council (GCC) has put its proposed methodology for methane emissions from rice paddies up for a public consultation, closing on May 7. The methodology – GCCNMT007: Methodology for Reduction of Methane Emission through Adjusted Water Management Practice in Rice Cultivation – sets out a structured framework for improved water management practices, in order to protect reduce emissions from anaerobic soil environments, which are created from the continuous flooding of rice paddies. The methodology applies to project activities that transition rice cultivation from continuous flooding to more sustainable approaches like intermittent and shorter flooding, alternate wetting and drying, aerobic rice cultivation methods, and a shift to direct-seeded rice rather than transplanted rice.

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.

Protocol overhaul - The Climate Action Reserve (CAR) has proposed a new modular protocol structure splitting overarching requirements into a Common Protocol and jurisdiction-specific modules, it said on its website last week. The proposed change aims to streamline updates and support expansion across regions. The changes also introduce technical guidance modules where needed, with public comments on draft Program Manual updates open until Apr. 27.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.