Driver’s seat – The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has been tapped to deliver the government’s A$1.1 bln ($796.4 mln) Cleaner Fuels Program, it said in a press release on Wednesday. The programme, announced in Sep. 2025 and included in Tuesday’s 2026-27 budget, will provide production-related incentives over 10 years for low carbon liquid fuels, in a bid to scale domestic production. It is a key step to support the net zero transition and build resilience, ARENA CEO Darren Miller said.

A small group of major airports accounted for a disproportionate share of global aviation emissions in 2023, with the three highest-emitting hubs producing three times as much CO2 as the city of Paris, according to an updated airport emissions tracker and accompanying report released Wednesday.

Taiwan and Wyoming signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering carbon capture (CCUS) and advanced energy technologies during a visit by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) to Taipei, as both sides look to expand cooperation on energy security, industrial resilience, and supply chains.

Companies worldwide are scrambling to prepare for the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), but many still do not know whether they will be able to use verified plant-level emissions data or be forced to rely on punitive default values – a distinction experts say could determine whether exporters remain competitive in Europe at all.

Australia’s latest federal budget sent mixed signals on the energy transition on Tuesday, coupling billions of dollars in fossil fuel support with backing for green technology.

A carbon platform has launched a specific ITMO registry ahead of the closure of the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), while also claiming voluntary players will have the “lowest cost” for trading credits that have been granted approval for Article 6 trade under the Paris Agreement.

Red flag - A legal mechanism allowing foreign investors to challenge government decisions in international arbitration has been flagged as a key obstacle to speeding up the fossil fuel phaseout. The issue of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) came through clearly in scientific discussions at the Santa Marta conference, though the event's final takeaways failed to robustly flag ISDS as a barrier to climate action. The mechanism has often been used by fossil fuel companies to resist climate action, such as Rockhopper Exploration's 2022 claim against Italy when the country introduced a ban on new oil and gas projects near its coast, and RWE's claim filed in 2021 seeking compensation from the Dutch govt passing a law to phase out coal-fired power by 2030. There has been a rise in ISDS fossil fuel cases over the last 30 years, and even when governments win, the result can be policymakers dampening down climate measures to avoid risk of being sued. Many policymakers are still unaware of the risks ISDS creates, and the softer framing of the issue after the Santa Marta conference reflects the difficulty in raising awareness of the issue. Investors should be more outspoken on ISDS by integrating the measure into exclusion criteria and engagement policies, said Triodos Bank.

Southeast Asia’s forestry and agricultural concessions, long associated with deforestation and biodiversity loss, may also hold untapped potential for conservation and carbon finance, according to new research.

Registry change - Thailand-based biochar project Enable Earth, Chiang Rai has moved to Puro.earth after being de-listed from the Isometric registry on Apr. 20, following validation-stage non-conformities with Isometric’s Biochar Production and Storage Protocol, according to an Isometric notice. A preliminary assessment under Puro.earth found the project aligned with Puro’s Biochar methodology.

Delhi carbon storage - Researchers from New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Delhi report that urban forests in the national capital, one of the world’s most polluted cities by AQI, store 346.9 tCO2e per hectare, valued at over INR 0.4 mln (USD 4187) in carbon credits. Soil accounts for 43% of storage, locking in 149.7 tCO2e worth INR 174,000 (USD 2,100). Neem and babool trees emerged as top absorbers, while biodiversity, litter, and microbial activity further boost retention, placing Delhi’s forests as key buffers against worsening climate conditions.

Incubation - A Singapore-backed blue carbon accelerator has selected 10 startups from seven countries for its inaugural cohort, aiming to scale technologies supporting mangrove and coastal ecosystem restoration in Southeast Asia, it announced. The Blue Catalyst Challenge, led by World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore and Hatch Blue with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board, focuses on tools such as geospatial mapping, biodiversity monitoring, and digital MRV systems. Participants include Singapore-based Arkadiah Technology and Kumi Analytics, alongside firms from the UK, France, Indonesia, Switzerland, Australia, and the US. The programme aims to improve the integrity and scalability of blue carbon projects, particularly those involving mangroves, seagrasses, and coastal wetlands.

REC Power Development & Consultancy (RECPDCL), a unit of India’s state‑run power financier REC, has invited expressions of interest (EoI) to empanel agencies for verification and validation under the country’s new carbon credit trading scheme.

Local CCUS - India inaugurated its first integrated CCUS field laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, in a bid to develop indigenous carbon removal technologies, the government said. The facility combines carbon capture, industrial utilisation, and geological sequestration in basalt formations, including pilot drilling to assess CO2 storage potential in the Deccan Traps - one of the world’s largest volcanic formations covering much of west-central India and formed around 66 mln years ago. The technology is being commercialised by UrjanovaC, a startup incubated at IIT Bombay, and uses non-potable water to capture emissions from air and industry before converting them into carbonate and bicarbonate salts.

Potential - Indonesia’s forestry and land-use sector is expected to deliver around 60% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2030 under its FOLU Net Sink strategy, national news agency Antara reported, citing a Forestry Ministry official. Indonesia’s emissions could reach 2.8 bln tonnes of CO2e by 2030 without mitigation, but measures under the scheme aim to cut that to 1.2 bln tonnes, the official said. Authorities estimate the programme will require IDR 204 trillion ($12.7 bln) in funding through 2030, far above the ministry’s annual budget of around IDR 6 trillion.

Pay and go for PNG – The Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the UN Development Programme have signed an MoU to mobilise climate finance in Papua New Guinea. The collaboration, under the Australia-funded Climate Finance Initiative for Resilience and Sustainable Transition project, will also see the two organisations support capacity-building in the Pacific nation and advance green growth initiatives, GGGI said in a press release Monday.

Planned amendments to New Zealand’s core climate change law to limit tort claims arising from climate impacts has been criticised, with one legal observer telling Carbon Pulse it marks an “egregious departure” from government norms.