A fresh wave of quality-marked credits could soon flood the market after the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) awarded Core Carbon Principle (CCP) status to another standard body, approved a new methodology for the badge, and said two other methodologies could meet its high integrity status with tweaks, while failing two more.

Ghana has signed 10 non-binding cooperation agreements with international institutions to support carbon market development, climate finance, renewable energy, and climate-resilient agriculture, a government official said Wednesday.

First German CO2 state - Baden-Wurttemberg is poised to become the first German state to support underground CO2 storage under the country’s revised carbon capture and storage (CCS) framework, according to Clean Energy Wire. Germany updated its CCS rules last year, approving offshore carbon storage beneath the seabed but leaving decisions on onshore storage to individual federal states through an opt-in system. Baden-Wurttemberg, led by the Green Party, now appears ready to take that step. The prospective coalition government under state premier Cem Ozdemir has indicated it plans to use the opt-in provision to enable underground storage projects. The move marks a notable shift for the Greens, who have historically been sceptical of CCS technologies but increasingly view carbon storage as an important climate tool. However, divisions remain within the party, particularly over the use of CCS for gas-fired power plants, where some members continue to oppose the technology despite growing acceptance of its broader role in industrial decarbonisation.

Verra is unable to reach a project proponent that was asked to replace credits from four Chinese projects that were found to have fallen foul of the standard body’s regulations, the voluntary carbon standard body told Carbon Pulse this week.

Carbon investors are increasingly seeking projects that can supply a "golden credit" with multiple routes to market due to uncertainty about how demand will evolve, according to a ratings agency.

Apple's India green push -  Apple on Thursday said it has launched new clean energy and environmental initiatives in India, including an initial $10.6 mln investment to build renewable capacity in partnership with renewable energy provider CleanMax. The program will support more than 150 megawatts of new renewable energy, enough to power 150,000 Indian households annually, with scope for expansion. Apple is also working with WWF‑India, a conservation organisation, to support recycling and waste management systems to reduce plastic pollution, and with Acumen, a global nonprofit impact investor, to back early‑stage green enterprises.

Microalgae-based direct air capture (DAC) systems can sequester CO2 at less than half the cost of conventional technologies while generating carbon credits and biomass revenue, a recent study has found.

Building capacity - The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) said to build capacity across the Indian carbon market, it will host two‑day workshops in the Indian cities of Mumbai (14-15 May), Bengaluru (20-21 May), Thiruvananthapuram (28-29 May), New Delhi (8-9 June), and Guwahati (11-12 June). Saurabh Diddi, director at BEE, in a LinkedIn post, said the sessions will cover greenhouse gas accounting, measurement, reporting, verification, the Indian Carbon Market portal, project design, project design documents, additionality, and offset MRV.

Managed rainforests across the Congo Basin absorb more carbon and account for nearly all net removals in the region, though half of these stocks are at "significant risk of rapid loss", according to new research.

Researchers have pushed back against industry claims that flaws in academic analysis explain apparent over-crediting in avoided deforestation projects, finding instead that "unobserved" local variables are unlikely to account for the large gap between estimated and claimed emissions reductions.

Project partnership secured - Canadian startup Carbon Lock Tech and the rural municipality of Ritchot, Manitoba, announced Wednesday a MoU to advance a municipal demonstration project located adjacent to the Mid-Canada landfill. This will demonstrate Carbon Lock Tech's patented pyrolytic reactor technology, which the startup said converts biomass and organic waste into stable biocarbon products for long-term carbon sequestration and beneficial use. The project is planned to break ground in early summer 2026, with testing and operations taking place through 2027. It also represents the first phase of a broader, two‑phase initiative that could ultimately lead to a permanent organic waste carbonisation facility in Ritchot.

Restoration in Chile – Neya, a spin-off of Italian sustainable infrastructure and mobility company Mundys, has announced a new reforestation project in Chile. The company will invest in the restoration of 170 ha using native species from the Valdivian Forest. In the longer term, the project could be expanded to between 7,500-10,000 ha, with the potential removal of 55,556 tonnes of CO2e over 40 years, the company said. Verra was selected as the certifier.

Restoration initiative – Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro signed a partnership to invest R$10 mln in the restoration of the Atlantic Forest, they announced on Thursday. Each side will contribute half of the funding. Part of the Floresta Viva programme, the project is expected to be carried out over 48 months and is set to involve more than 330,000 plant seedlings in 93 ha. The initiative could involve the generation of carbon credits, according to a press release.

Some 154 million credits are likely to be insured and authorised in time for CORSIA’s Phase 1 deadline for meeting offsetting obligations, according to a data aggregator.

No sales - Acadian Timber this week reported no carbon credit sales in the first quarter of 2026, with its Environmental Solutions segment contributing no revenue during the period. The company said it is in the process of registering additional credits, with issuance expected in the second half of 2026. It flagged that demand and pricing in voluntary carbon markets are expected to remain stable, though the next tranche of credits from its existing Maine project has been delayed due to a transition to ACR’s updated Improved Forest Management protocol. The firm added that it is evaluating further project development opportunities, but remains focused on advancing its current project. Across its core timber business, Acadian posted Q1 sales of C$23.4 mln, down slightly from C$24.8 mln a year earlier, with broadly stable harvest volumes and pricing. Adjusted EBITDA rose marginally to C$4.8 mln, while net income slipped to C$3.5 mln. Free cash flow declined to C$2.5 mln, and the company declared dividends of C$5.3 mln for the quarter. Performance reflected steady demand for sawlogs, weaker pulpwood markets, and higher operating costs in Maine linked to the shift toward internal harvesting operations.

Sign of approval - Ratings agency BeZero Carbon has assigned a BBB rating to two of DelAgua's Rwanda improved cookstove projects - VCS3699 and VCS4150, the developer said in a press release Thursday. This places DelAgua’s programmes in the top 9% of rated cookstove carbon projects globally. The assessment found a very high likelihood of additionality for both projects, and also rated permanence risk as low, while recognising the conservative safeguards embedded in the carbon accounting methodology. Both projects hold Letters of Authorisation (LoAs) with Corresponding Adjustments under Art. 6.2 from Rwanda's govt, ensuring credited emission reductions contribute to the country's NDC.

The first meeting of the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets took place on Thursday, with the EU and Brazil's top climate officials telling Carbon Pulse the initiative aims to reduce fragmentation among emissions trading systems worldwide and boost the uptake of carbon pricing.

The opening schedule for the world’s largest carbon removal (CDR) plant is under review after a facility-related issue was identified during commissioning, marking a further delay for a project once expected to start up in late 2024.

Moves to boost integrity in REDD+ crediting in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) may be unintentionally locking smallholders and traditional communities out of climate finance, according to a new study applying a vulnerability-based avoided deforestation methodology in Brazil’s Amazon region.

Brazil is working on a draft regulation for Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, with the intention of finalising it by mid-2026, according to an official.

Voluntary carbon standard Verra has selected three data service providers to create deforestation risk maps for projects applying its REDD+ methodology and the associated module, it announced Thursday.

Big companies like Microsoft are turning their attention from renewable energy and carbon removal credits towards the up-and-coming technologies needed to decarbonise their own operations – yet they still need standardised measures to show exactly how they are shrinking their carbon intensity, according to a data provider working on the solution.

A possible EU crackdown on the use of certain carbon credits by the bloc's airlines could wipe out more than 90% of the cookstove offsets currently available to European buyers under the CORSIA global aviation emissions offsetting scheme, according to new analysis.

Voluntary cancellations of Kyoto-era carbon credits in Australia fell sharply in April, with activity concentrated in fewer hands than the previous month, registry data showed.

A carbon removal marketplace has raised new capital in a funding round to support expansion of its project development work.

Durable carbon removal (CDR) buyers increasingly anticipate per-unit prices will fall through to 2030, placing them at odds with suppliers across several methods that expect flat or rising prices, according to an industry survey.

Australia’s largest corporates have flagged the serious climate risks their operations face, but are doing little to address it, according to analysis, as questions around carbon credit disclosure are also raised.

Deployment drive – MaRS Discovery District has launched a new programme aimed at helping Canadian cleantech companies finance and deliver their first commercial-scale projects, with backing from Natural Resources Canada and two private foundations, it was announced on Wednesday. The nine-month First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) Lab will support five ventures developing technologies spanning carbon nanofibres, low-carbon critical minerals, battery-grade graphite, carbon recycling, and ocean alkalinity enhancement. The selected companies are expected to complete development of their first-of-a-kind projects by early 2029.

Regen ag - UK-Brazilian developer NaturAll Carbon has partnered with Nova Piratininga Farm - said to be the largest farm in Latin America - for a new carbon project, the companies announced on Tuesday. Located in the states of Goias and Tocantins, Brazil, the farm will host a carbon project applying regenerative agriculture practices across an initial area of 12,300 ha. The partners estimate a potential issuance of 30,000 carbon credits, according to the press release. They did not disclose the financial terms of deal.

A study of tropical karst forests in Thailand has highlighted both the potential and the constraints of bringing these ecosystems into carbon markets, finding that while they store substantial amounts of carbon – primarily in soils – fire risk and methodological challenges could limit credit generation and long-term project viability.

Global airline trade body International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a deferred payment facility on its Aviation Carbon Exchange (ACE), aiming to ease liquidity constraints for carriers facing mounting compliance demand under CORSIA.

BP is seeking to offload significant stakes in two major carbon capture and storage (CCS) developments in northeast England, marking another potential shift in strategy for the energy giant as it reassesses its long-term UK portfolio, according to media reports.

A mixed picture emerged for voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants in April, with lower overall supply and demand figures but positive data for units with either a CORSIA or Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label, while benchmark indices showed healthy price increases across the most popular projects.

Voluntary carbon market (VCM) standard body Verra has launched a month-long consultation on a proposed forestry methodology designed to improve measurement of sequestration gains through experimental controls.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has opened up $11 million in funding for pre-commercial direct air capture (DAC) projects, aiming to help scale technologies in the emerging carbon removal (CDR) field.

An initiative launched to support the carbon removal market by offering an open-source credit purchasing agreement framework, has unveiled a version for the Swiss market.

Denmark's €4 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) subsidy scheme has ended, awarding a single contract to a large cement producer.

CCP rules - The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has opened a public consultation on the proposed rule architecture for how the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and the CCP Assessment Framework are interpreted and applied over time. Feedback is sought on the design and operation of the proposed architecture, including the overall structure and guiding principles and how transition measures should be designed and implemented. Responses are welcome from across the carbon market, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, policymakers, academics and other stakeholders. The consultation is open from May 5 to June 7, further info here and respond here.

Tokenised carbon - The UK Carbon Registry is joining forces with Archax for tokenised carbon credit-linked securities, it was announced Wednesday. Under the partnership, Archax will support custody and distribution through its regulated digital asset and securities infrastructure, allowing institutional and professional investors to access the product via established market frameworks. The first issuance is from Pure Carbon, a high-impact water conservation and emissions reduction project, with emissions data captured at source, securely processed, and structured in collaboration with GenTwo into a regulated note, issued as a tracker certificate with an ISIN and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The structure supports corporate compliance and reporting requirements - including the ETS and EU/UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement - by opening access to in-boundary verified carbon mitigation activity across reporting scopes. Read more here.  

India’s agrarian carbon market is currently dominated by corporate-led, low-carbon intensity projects like regenerative agriculture that rely on enrolling vast numbers of farmers, while smaller, high-intensity initiatives like agroforestry remain niche, according to a study.

The European Commission’s provisional approach to CORSIA credit eligibility for its operators has provoked a strong reaction across the carbon market, with participants warning that the tight criteria under consideration would dramatically tighten supply for European airlines and create a bifurcated market.

Sweden and Switzerland have signed a new cooperation agreement on international trading of negative CO2 emissions.

Carbon backing- In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, the Malaysia Carbon Market Association (MCMA), a non‑profit consortium, said it received RM 250,000 ($63,694) at its first annual general meeting. The contribution was made by former CIMB CEO Nazir Razak, and Yinson CEO CY Lim to the MCMA Exco. The support came as ASEAN countries' push towards establishing common carbon market frameworks is in place.

The quality of issued credits in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has continued to weaken in the second quarter of 2026, with both issuance and retirement integrity declining sharply, according to indices provided by a rating agency.

Turning carbon to credit – The Jharkhand forest department launched its first-ever workshop to identify and develop potential carbon credit projects, aiming to monetise the eastern Indian state's ongoing carbon-reduction initiatives, the Times of India reported. The initiative, launched on Tuesday, aims to provide a structured roadmap for departments that are already reducing carbon emissions but have not been able to register or claim carbon credits. State official Ravi Ranjan noted that while multiple programmes are being implemented across departments, the lack of clarity has prevented them from being converted into carbon credit projects, and the workshop seeks to bridge this gap. The forest department has partnered with Climatex, a Jharkhand-based organisation, to identify and design carbon credit projects for different stakeholders.

Cities risk missing out on the benefits of nature-based solutions (NBS) due to a lack of practical tools to guide investment decisions, but a new study proposes an integrated framework combining spatial analysis and economic evaluation to help prioritise projects and allocate scarce public funds more efficiently.

A new modelling study projecting the evolution of the Southeastern US forest sector to 2070 warns of a gradual decline in the region’s carbon sink, with potential implications for the offset market.

Carbon credit registry ACR has updated its carbon capture and storage (CCS) methodology to include a wider range of carbon removal (CDR) projects eligible to generate credits, including direct air capture (DAC), bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS), and certain CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.

Mind the gap - A new study found a persistent gap between the willingness of tourists to offset emissions and their actual behaviour. Voluntary carbon offsetting schemes can improve environmental awareness, but their voluntary nature and credibility concerns significantly limit their impact, according to the systematic review that analysed 27 empirical studies involving 147,087 participants. Therefore, relying on offsetting schemes alone is insufficient to achieve substantial emissions reductions, the review concluded. Complementary policy measures, such as carbon levies and default opt-in mechanisms, could help bridge the gap between environmental goals and behaviour, it said.

CORSIA prices dropped last week amid the global jet fuel crisis, although the latest leaked memo from Brussels about tightening carbon credit restrictions for the international aviation offsetting scheme has also played a role, analysts said.

Case dismissed - A court in Kenya has dismissed a case filed by Green Planet Initiative 2050 Foundation against Earthbanc over a contractual dispute linked to the Regeneration Kenya Project. The High Court in Eldoret ruled in favour of Earthbanc and its subsidiary Earthtree Company Limited, rejecting all claims and reliefs sought by the plaintiff and ordering it to pay legal costs. The judgement stated that the case lacked merit and legal basis, adding that a party that fails to meet its contractual obligations cannot enforce the agreement. The dispute came to light after the contractor's engagement in the project was terminated in Apr. 2025 following concerns about compliance and performance standards. (AllAfrica)

A New York-headquartered market infrastructure provider and a Texas-based energy data platform have expanded their partnership to deliver consolidated exchange and over the counter (OTC) price and transaction information for environmental commodities, they announced on Tuesday.

mCDR money – Research Nova Scotia (RNS), a Canadian provincial research funding agency, said last week it will invest C$2.1 mln to support eight projects under its first Ear to the Ground (E2G) competition, including three targeting marine carbon removal (mCDR). RNS CEO Stefan Leslie will attend a Carbon to Sea Initiative convening to discuss their development. The agency said that the remaining five span clean energy, life sciences, and marine transport.

Colombian initiatives to reform carbon market infrastructure stepped into the spotlight last week, with regulations, private partnerships, and project methodology updates all finding purchase in the REDD+ powerhouse, the same month as general elections.

A project developer in Brazil has raised R$75 million ($15.1 mln) and attracted new partners for the expansion of its agroforestry business, it announced on Tuesday.

First injection - Octavia Carbon has achieved their first injection of CO2 underground captured by a direct air capture (DAC) plant, making them the world's fourth DAC company to do so. Octavia Carbon has so far captured around 0.5 tonnes of CO2 in Kenya, which is "just the start" and signals what's possible for the technology in emerging markets, said Catalyst Fund on LinkedIn, an investor in Octavia Carbon. The injection was done in partnership with Cella Mineral Storage, which borrows established practices from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to mineralise pure‑phase CO2 in basalt rocks while reducing water requirements.

Think tanks, NGOs, and scientific bodies have warned the EU over the planned use of international carbon credits in its climate policy framework, while a large number of companies endorsed their inclusion, also in the bloc's carbon market, in response to a public consultation.

Gold Standard has announced updates to four major methodologies covering clean cooking and thermal energy projects, in a move aimed at aligning its carbon crediting rules with the Paris Agreement.

Hurry up - Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung called for fast issuance of a decree on forest carbon services to remove legal bottlenecks and unlock the country’s carbon market, state media reported this week. The regulation would establish a framework for carbon absorption and storage services, decentralise credit issuance to local authorities, and enable trading of emission reductions. Authorities aim to begin issuing credits for 2021-22 by second quarter of this year, with more volumes to follow, alongside negotiations for an emissions reduction deal under the LEAF Coalition. A draft of the decree was published last year.

A Dutch carbon removal developer has launched a €20 million equity raise to fund what it says will be the country’s first 'made-in-the-Netherlands' negative emissions energy plant.

UN officials are considering whether to repurpose an existing voluntary carbon credit cancellation platform to support the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 mechanism, as the current system under the Kyoto Protocol approaches closure at the end of 2026.

Environmental NGOs and carbon market advocates remain divided over how far the EU should rely on carbon removals, international credits, and other market-based flexibilities for the next phase of its climate policy, according to submissions to a European Commission consultation on post-2030 national targets.

Market volatility, changing regulation, and lack of harmonised standards are dulling investor and developer interest in carbon markets, according to legal firm polling.

Soil synergy – The non-profit Arbor Day Foundation and startup Funga said on Monday they are expanding a partnership to scale forest carbon removal (CDR). The collaboration builds on a previous 2025 investment by the Arbor Day Impact Fund and pairs Funga’s soil microbiome restoration technology with the Foundation’s corporate buyer network to help connect supply with demand in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). The groups said their collaboration aims to expand native soil restoration across more forests while helping companies access scientifically rigourous, nature-based CDR projects.

J-REDD+ ahead – The Natural Climate Solutions Alliance (NCSA), a collaboration between the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Economic Forum, said in a guide released last week that jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programmes are emerging as a key mechanism for generating high-integrity carbon credits while addressing deforestation at scale. The guide said that jurisdictional approaches can complement project-level REDD+ through nested systems that combine policy action with on-the-ground implementation to maximise emissions reductions and co-benefits. It also highlighted growing private sector engagement via upfront finance, forward purchase agreements, and spot buying. The guide aims to boost confidence, transparency, and investment in J-REDD+ as a key tool to tackle deforestation and climate change.

Delta dynamics – The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and researchers from California State University, East Bay and the University of California, Berkeley are testing a culturally-informed burn on Twitchell Island to assess its potential to enhance long-term carbon sequestration in Delta wetlands, it was announced last week. The pilot, which has been ongoing since February, combines traditional ecological knowledge with modern science, with experts examining whether future burns can stimulate plant growth despite short-term CO2 emissions. The work may also underpin future carbon credit generation in the voluntary carbon market, the DWR noted.

Amazon REDD+ – Representatives of the Amazonian states in Brazil; the Legal Amazon Consortium; and the judiciary, including the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU), met to discuss ways to strengthen dialogue on the implementation of REDD+ policies across the region. As a next step, participants emphasised the importance of establishing permanent forums for technical exchange and joint training between state authorities and the judiciary. Such measures would foster a shared understanding of the issue and support the advancement of environmental public policies in the Amazon, according to a statement released by the state of Para on Sunday. States such as Para and Tocantins are being questioned in different spaces about their Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation (FPIC) process.

Jamaica plans to finalise its carbon markets framework this year, as the government seeks to draw new clean technology investment and widen access to climate finance, the country’s environment minister told parliament.

A Canadian offset developer reported a sharp rise in revenue and a return to profitability in 2025, with results heavily weighted toward a strong fourth quarter.

Massachusetts will likely need to rely on out-of-state carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and further emissions cuts to meet its 2050 net zero target, despite having strong potential to deploy and lead innovation in several removal pathways, according to a state-commissioned study.

Xpansiv saw operating losses double and gross revenues fall last year, but the group continued to keep net revenue steady year-on-year as it strengthened its position in global renewable energy certificate (REC) markets, and pivoted towards infrastructure technology.

New VVB approved - SGS has been approved as a validation and verification body (VVB) by the International Carbon Registry. The certification allows SGS to independently assess carbon reduction and removal projects under the registry’s standards, ensuring they meet requirements for environmental integrity, transparency, and methodological rigour before carbon credits are issued. The International Carbon Registry, founded in 2020 and based in Iceland, provides a framework for issuing carbon credits aligned with international standards. SGS said the approval strengthens its position as a trusted partner for project developers and buyers, while enabling it to expand services across a wider range of carbon projects.

A “carbon removal budget” (CRB) could help governments and companies avoid delaying climate action by quantifying how much carbon removal (CDR) capacity is available, according to a new academic paper.

Industry stakeholders are presenting proposals to revive Colombia’s domestic carbon market to presidential candidates, including the elimination of an offsetting cap, and instituting a carbon credit price floor.

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has launched a carbon crediting programme to provide cotton farmers with additional income streams, the group recently announced.

Not now, DAC - A new study in Communications Sustainability finds that investing in renewable energy delivers greater climate and health benefits than direct air capture (DAC), a technology designed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Researchers modelled 22 US power grids and found that wind and solar expansion consistently outperformed DAC in reducing emissions and improving air quality. The study highlights that DAC is highly energy-intensive and can indirectly generate pollution if powered by fossil fuels, limiting its overall effectiveness. In contrast, renewables cut both greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollutants, offering immediate public health gains, according to the researchers. While the authors do not dismiss DAC entirely, they argue it should play a later role, after emissions are significantly reduced. Under current conditions, it remains less cost-effective than clean energy deployment. Most experts, as well as DAC proponents, do not see the technology as a near-term solution.

Solar credits - Canada-based DevvStream on Monday said it has signed an exclusive agreement with Indonesia’s PLN Power to manage and monetise carbon credits from a portfolio of 45 solar plants. The deal grants the environmental assets company rights over the creation, certification, and sale of credits, with revenues to be shared between the parties. Separately, DevvStream said it raised $250,000 via a private placement to support working capital.