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.

Paraguay's government expects investments from Singapore in its carbon credit projects to exceed $1 billion, a minister said on Wednesday.

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 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.

Solid state batteries – Greater Bay Technology (GBT), a Chinese battery manufacturer, aims to launch the world’s first mass-producible all-solid-state battery this year, according to Electrek. The company has announced its first A-sample all-solid-state battery cells are ready to roll off the production line. The A-sample battery cells contain no liquid electrolyte and successfully passed needle penetration, extrusion, and thermal shock tests without a fire or explosion. With a single cell energy density of 260-500 Wh/kg, considerably higher than traditional liquid lithium-ion batteries, the cells enable a longer driving range, faster charging, and more interior space. GBT has previously set the world record for the “fastest charging technology for electric vehicles” in 2024 with its Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) batteries, which recharged from 0% to 80% in just 7.5 minutes.

A large utility in Japan has teamed up with an agricultural project developer to conduct a feasibility study, which could potentially create the foundation of a new methodology under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Switzerland has started reporting industrial carbon removals for the first time in its greenhouse gas inventory, which will be submitted to the UN Climate Change Secretariat in mid-April 2026.

Power generated by China's thermal power plants in the first quarter of the year expanded 3.7% from a year ago, while momentum in the wind power sector slowed, according to data released Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS).

Barely budged - New Zealand published its latest GHG Inventory for 1990-2024, showing gross emissions between 2023-24 fell by just 0.1% to 75.8 MtCO2e, while net emissions decreased by 2%. The data showed fractional emissions reductions across waste, agriculture, industrial processes, and land use, land-use change and forestry, were offset by an 0.8% increase in energy due to lower hydro-electricity generation. Greater use of nitrogen fertiliser and higher milk production from cows also drove emissions increase, the data showed.

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.

Power of data - Amazon has signed power purchase agreements with nine renewable energy projects across New South Wales and Victoria to supply its Australian data centres, boosting its renewable capacity from about 430MW to nearly 1GW, the Guardian reported. The projects include wind, solar, and battery storage, such as Victoria’s Golden Plains 2 wind farm and a solar-battery site on a former coal mine, with Amazon saying this supports its goal of net-zero emissions by 2040 and helps stabilise the grid. However, the expansion has raised concerns about data centres’ high energy and water use, with critics questioning whether these deals add new renewable supply and calling for greater transparency on their overall impact.

Bad timing - A major fire broke out at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery in Victoria on Wednesday in the gasoline production unit, prompting a large emergency response but causing no reported injuries, Reuters reported. The refinery—one of only two in Australia and supplying over half of Victoria’s fuel and about 10% nationally—was forced to cut operations to minimum levels, with petrol production expected to be impacted more than diesel and jet fuel. Authorities are still assessing the damage, but the incident has raised concerns about fuel supply and prices, particularly given existing global oil market disruptions.

This week’s release of surrender data for the second year of Australia’s reformed Safeguard Mechanism has highlighted both the positives and drawbacks of the scheme, depending on who you ask.