An international carbon standard has released a methodology to value blue carbon ecosystems' impact on avoided flooding damages and trade climate-risk reduction assets.

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) standard on Wednesday set out plans to revise its rules, align with the Paris Agreement, and update methodologies in 2026.

The global tech giant’s reported pause on the procurement of carbon removal (CDR) credits represents a wakeup call for the nascent market, but one that could ultimately help it mature, according to a whitepaper published by a US-based project developer.

Issuance and retirement levels of voluntary credits both dropped in the first quarter of the year, as well as investment in carbon projects – although carbon credit prices climbed higher, a webinar heard Wednesday.

On the back of reports that major carbon removals (CDR) buyer Microsoft may be temporarily halting its CDR purchases, nature-based CDR developers have highlighted the significance of its ‘partnership’ model of project investment.

Indonesia’s reopening of its forestry carbon market is unlikely to deliver an immediate surge in credit supply, with analysts saying that projects will still need to clear multiple hurdles before units can reach buyers.

Colombian forest – The consultancy Climate Impact Partners has teamed up with Aviva Investors on a large-scale afforestation and reforestation project in Colombia called Llanos Vivos to be registered under Verra's VM0047 methodology. The project covers up to 13,600 ha of currently degraded and under-productive grassland and will create a forest the size of Paris. The initial phase will sequester 2.4 Mt of carbon removals and at full scale, the project should store more than 6 Mt of carbon over its lifespan. Llanos Vivos will also create more than 110 local jobs during peak planting, and areas of land will be dedicated to community-run farms. Climate Impact Partners is the project originator and delivery partner to Aviva Investors, while &Forest is the on-the-ground developer. Aviva Investors is funding the project through its Carbon Removal Fund, and shall receive rights to a share of the future carbon credits.

Reports from earlier this month that Microsoft may be easing away from new investments in the carbon removal (CDR) sector caused alarm for developers, though some pathways stand to be relatively more exposed to a drop-off in forward buying from the tech giant.

A US environmental non-profit said Wednesday it will launch a new research programme to assess whether phytoplankton stimulation can remove atmospheric carbon and what impacts it may have on ecosystems and communities.

On Earth Day 2026, a new Gold Standard methodology challenges the “one-size-fits-all” approach to ARR projects, proposing a flexible framework that reconciles integrity with accessibility to unlock carbon finance.

Business & Science Poland (BSP) has urged EU policymakers to delay the launch of the bloc’s new Emissions Trading System for buildings and road transport (ETS2) “by several years”, while also calling for more “flexibilities” in the EU’s wider climate policy architecture.

Seek and ye shall plant - Search engine Ecosia that puts all of its profits into climate action has reached the milestone of having planted 250 million trees worldwide - making it the world's largest planter of native trees. Its portfolio covers 1,600 native species, of which 144 are on the endangered or vulnerable list, through the financing of 125 organisations that work with over 200,000 tree planters globally. The tech company has invested over €100 mln into climate action including €1 mln in renewable energy projects, and is now expanding its climate work into holistic landscape restoration, beyond just reforestation.

US tech giant Amazon has agreed to buy 685,000 carbon credits from smallholder rice farmers in India, backing a large methane reduction programme led by a German multinational.

Greenwashed - An investigation by AFP and The Gecko Project found that timber from Indonesia was linked to large-scale rainforest clearance, including orangutan habitat, which then entered the supply chain of pulp and paper firm Asia Symbol. The wood was traced to mills supplying “carbon-neutral” packaging used by UK pharma group Haleon, known for brands like Panadol and Sensodyne, despite the company’s no-deforestation commitments. Haleon said it would cut ties with Asia Symbol following the findings, which relied on satellite data, trade records, and ground reporting.