Building together - Canadian officials and entrepreneurs representing the province of Alberta met with their counterparts in the Chinese province of Hubei earlier in April, as part of a three-day visit focused on sustainable industries and carbon governance. China Daily reported that the Canadian delegation, led by Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack, discussed carbon capture, green fuels, and low-carbon industrial transformation, visiting a cement plant in Tianjin. Tianjin, an industrial city, has accelerated its transition for low-carbon growth and green manufacturing, while Edmonton has advanced its clean energy and carbon capture sectors. The visit is a continuation of the trade and energy cooperation between Canada and China.

Standard body Verra has released a revised methodology for grid-connected renewable electricity generation under its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), marking a significant overhaul of the legacy Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) approach.

South Korea’s finance ministry, alongside the UNFCCC and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), launched on Wednesday a carbon market initiative aimed at aligning voluntary markets globally with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM).

Current net zero pledges could bring global warming closer to a well-below 2C pathway but leave a persistent emissions gap, while limiting temperature rise to 1.5C without overshoot is “increasingly unlikely”, according to a study published Tuesday.

Airlines are yet to deliver meaningful demand for CORSIA-eligible credits, despite repeated assurances of commitment, leaving a growing pipeline of eligible carbon credits in search of buyers and raising concerns among project developers, insurers, and analysts about the pace of investment.

A London-based think tank analysed 30 oil and gas companies, finding their emission reduction targets remain generally incompatible with the Paris Agreement despite some improvements on methane.

UK oil major BP suffered a heavy shareholder defeat at its annual general meeting on Thursday that could set back its plans to pivot back to fossil fuels.

Nigeria has boosted Phase 1 CORSIA supply by almost 4 four million credits, a developer said Thursday.

Governance challenges are emerging as the main barriers to scaling investment in conservation projects, with market participants warning that financial risks increasingly stem from social and institutional factors rather than carbon accounting.

Restoring degraded soils could help rebuild natural water cycles that play a major role in regulating the planet’s temperature, according to experts highlighting the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) beyond emissions cuts and carbon sequestration.

Stakeholders have urged the UN to allow for new nitric acid plants to generate carbon credits under a draft Article 6.4 methodology, as excluding greenfield facilities could undermine incentives to cut N2O emissions.

Costs under India’s intensity-based emissions trading system (ETS) are likely to remain “manageable” in the first year of compliance, but could turn into a “material financial risk” for cement and aluminium producers if decarbonisation efforts lag, according to an analysis.

A carbon removal financier has agreed to purchase more than 425,000 carbon credits from biochar facilities in southern India, it announced Tuesday.

The CORSIA futures curve now has shape out to the end of the decade after a single lot on the Dec-30 contract was bought on the ICE exchange.

South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment has teamed up with the country's main exchange to establish infrastructure for the development of carbon futures.

China has issued guidance on how to advance the country's energy conservation and carbon reduction efforts, pledging to curb "unreasonable growth of energy consumption".

Green mining push - Indonesia’s state utility PT PLN has signed power supply deals with multiple coal miners to support “green mining” through electrification of operations, the company announced. The agreements include infrastructure partnerships to build substations and high-voltage installations. Electrifying heavy equipment, particularly hauling, could cut emissions and save up to IDR 2 bln ($115,000) annually per unit versus diesel, the utility added.

The New Zealand government is seeking ways to identify and scale innovative carbon removal solutions to meet the country’s long-term climate goals.

Pilot to profit - PepsiCo on Thursday launched the 2026 edition of its APAC Greenhouse Programme, moving from pilot projects to integrating startup solutions directly into its supply chain, the company said. The company said it will now focus on scaling proven technologies, with five startups selected for a seven-month programme aimed at securing commercial agreements and operational deployment. Selected startups span logistics optimisation, waste recycling, electric farm machinery, biochar production, and soil analytics, with potential emissions and efficiency gains.

Hand over - New Zealand's Climate Change Commission (CCC) has delivered its 2026 ETS price controls and settings advice to the government on Thursday, it announced on a LinkedIn post. The advice will be published on the the commission's website once it has been formally tabled in Parliament, along with technical annexes, modelling, and data that underpins the report, it said. The NZU price has risen in recent days as the market anticipates the commission will call for tighter settings to align the scheme with New Zealand's climate targets.

Empowering up - The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing A$11 mln ($7.8 mln) to support two First Nations-led microgrid projects in remote Northern Territory communities, aimed at improving energy reliability, affordability and security, it announced. The projects in Borroloola and Ltyentye Apurte will use solar and battery systems to reduce reliance on diesel, deliver cleaner electricity, and enable communities to design and lead their own energy solutions, the agency said. If successful, they are expected to create local economic opportunities and serve as scalable models for other remote communities seeking community-led renewable microgrids.

 

An Australian biochar project developer has signed a research partnership with a university to advance biochar applications in low-carbon concrete use in data centres, it announced Thursday.