The largest companies listed on the German stock exchange reported 4.84 million carbon credits under the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) last year, but not a single one disclosed details about the projects they came from, and those identified were judged of poor quality, according to analysis of disclosures by companies in the DAX40 Index.

An independent advisory has launched a carbon removal catalyst that has already helped to secure a £1 million financing deal to support a biochar developer in southwest England.

Terra tech - Terra Global said it’s working with carbon tech firm BlueLayer to scale its portfolio of nature-based projects. Terra said the BlueLayer platform would strengthen its ability to streamline credits issuance amid its expanding pipeline of afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) and jurisdictional REDD+ programmes, with multiple projects targeted to issue credits this year.

A carbon removal (CDR) portfolio manager has published guidance on how corporations can navigate changing government regulations and civil society frameworks to make credible net zero claims.

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.

The European Commission is preparing for a “pragmatic implementation” of the EU Methane Regulation, with a chance that the executive will propose further guidance to companies in an upcoming unofficial paper, sources told Carbon Pulse.

EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) allowances are currently trading significantly below the value implied by fundamental demand and supply factors, analysts told an industry conference on Tuesday, as the market awaits the scheme's summer review.

EU member states will auction 12% more EUAs in the second half of 2026 than originally scheduled, after the exchange that handles the sales updated its calendar for the six months from June.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has called for a “pause” in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), warning that rising carbon costs over the coming years will undermine the sector’s ability to invest in decarbonisation as manufacturers lack viable options to cut emissions.

EU carbon prices weakened on Tuesday afternoon along with equities, after the market had spent the morning consolidating most of its gains from Monday, while numerous participants focused on an industry event in France and a stakeholder meeting in Brussels, and energy markets unwound early gains even as the stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz continued to block shipping lanes.

The carbon removal (CDR) market has a demand issue, despite the EU's new certification framework providing a "very positive signal", market stakeholders told an industry conference Tuesday.

The UK government has awarded research and development funding to 15 direct air capture (DAC) carbon removal projects in the country, for a total of just under £55 million, it announced on Tuesday. 

Progress in decarbonising EU buildings remains too slow and uneven to put the bloc on track for net zero by 2050, according to the latest Buildings Climate Tracker (BCT), though European Commission officials still see the bloc's carbon pricing system as secure.

Bulgaria's new government could seek to slow parts of the EU's climate and energy agenda, following a sweeping election win that raised concerns over Sofia's future stance on Russia – but the country's reliance on EU funds may limit the scope for systematic obstruction, experts told Carbon Pulse.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing open revolt following disastrous local elections for his governing Labour Party, and, depending on the timing, a possible exit from government could have implications for linking the British carbon market with the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), market participants have warned.

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.

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.

Running out fast - Saudi Aramco has warned that global stocks of gasoline and jet fuel could reach "critically low levels" ahead of the summer months if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Since the Iran war started, the world has lost a cumulative 1 bln barrels of oil supplies, with another 100 mln barrels lost every week the strait stays closed, said CEO Amin Nasser. Onshore inventories have been materially depleted, he said, adding to growing concern that the oil shock driven by the conflict could be entering a new and more disruptive phase. Oil prices rose as high as $126/barrel in late April before falling back towards $100/barrel as the Trump administration signalled it's seeking a long-term conflict resolution. Commercial oil stocks could "approach operational stress levels" by early June, which may force an agreement between the US and Iran, JP Morgan analysts have said. If the strait stays closed by mid-June, oil markets could stay unstable into next year, said Nasser. Aramco is considering expanding its oil export capacity at Yanbu on the Red Sea in a sign the company is looking to curb its reliance on exports via Hormuz, he added. (FT)

A major carbon removal buyer coalition has approved a Paris-based carbon registry as a credit issuer, allowing suppliers in its portfolio to use the platform for credit issuance if the relevant protocols are also approved.

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.

EU risks killing battery factories - Softening the EU's CO2 reduction targets for carmakers could cause domestic battery production capacity to shrink by more than two-thirds in 2030, according to the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). That's equivalent to 34 Northvolt-sized battery factories, and could support up to 47,000 jobs. Lowering the 2035 targets, as the auto industry group ACEA is calling for, would reduce expected battery EV production by 46% by 2035, compared to current projections, it found. Additionally, it would cost the EU an extra €50 bln on oil imports, compared to needs under the current CO2 targets. It would also lead to weakening of local batter offtake, just as the EU is pushing to shore up the battery industry as part of its industrial policy.

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.

Compliance costs – International Airlines Group’s (IAG) cost of complying with emissions trading schemes and CORSIA rose to €148 mln in the first quarter of 2026, up from €70 mln in the same period last year, the airline group said in its Q1 results published May 7. The increase was linked to the end of free allowances in the EU and UK, as well as updated assumptions on CORSIA-related costs, while fuel consumption, emissions, and related costs continued to benefit from investment in newer aircraft, IAG said.

The bigger picture - More than 70 GW of renewables were added across Europe last year, led by Germany, Spain, and France, but this rising renewable output has not consistently translated into lower emissions, with several markets seeing rising fossil fuel generation despite strong solar and wind growth. This is according to a new Montel study that found Germany remained Europe's largest emitter in absolute terms, despite adding more than 20 GW of renewables in 2025. In Spain, gas-fired generation rose almost 23% last year, overtaking both solar and nuclear to become the country's second-largest power source - pushing Spain's carbon intensity up 14.6% year-on-year. Conversely, Finland cut power sector emissions by over 40% last year, driven by rising wind generation and increased nuclear.

Old hands - Climeworks has appointed two new advisors from large financial and technology organisations to its advisory board. These are Celine Herweijer, former group chief sustainability officer of HSBC and Mark Kroese, former general manager of sustainability solutions at Microsoft, both of whom will support the direct air capture (DAC) company with commercial strategy, customer engagement, and market priorities. Herweijer is also vice chair of the We Mean Business Coalition and holds a PhD in climate modelling and policy from Columbia University, while Kroese is strongly experienced in positioning carbon removal portfolios for large corporate buyers. They will support Climeworks in scaling its diversified carbon removal portfolios, said the press release Tuesday.

A senior European Commission official said allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) will continue to be auctioned well into the 2040s, with flexibilities in the bloc’s carbon market allowing industries to emit for longer.

Paris will back a faster phaseout of fossil fuels at an informal meeting of EU energy ministers starting today in Cyprus, arguing that the conflict in the Middle East must not slow Europe’s energy transition or be used as an excuse to exempt gas-fired power plants from paying for their carbon emissions, as Italy plans to do.

A UK-based firm has carried out the first trade in EU ETS2 allowances with an end-user, as the market ramps up towards its launch in 2028.

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.