The European Commission plans to recommend that member states suspend some of the penalties for fossil fuel importers that breach the EU Methane Regulation for up to three years, according to a leaked draft – in a move that is drawing sharp criticism from climate advocates. 

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is changing how EU importers select which products to buy, with emissions data transparency becoming as core of an issue as price, the CEO of a major European distributor of stainless steel products told a conference on Thursday.

CBAM blame - An official from the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has criticised the EU’s CBAM, arguing that African countries were largely excluded from the policy’s design and implementation discussions. Speaking at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank, UNECA Deputy Executive Secretary Hanan Morsi said African governments were neither adequately consulted nor engaged during the development of the EU measure. She warned that climate-related trade measures risk undermining Africa’s industrialisation ambitions and reflect a broader shift towards using climate policy as a tool for trade, industrial competitiveness, and protectionism. Morsi stressed that Africa contributes only a small share of GHG gas emissions, yet could still face adverse impacts from the CBAM, particularly in export-oriented sectors. While the overall macroeconomic effect is expected to be limited - with CBAM-covered products accounting for around 6% of Africa’s exports, and only 2% going to the EU - certain countries and industries are considered vulnerable. The African Development Bank highlighted risks for aluminium and steel producers, especially in North Africa, due to higher compliance costs tied to exports to Europe. Mozambique was identified as particularly exposed because most of its aluminium production is exported to the EU. The bank also warned that the mechanism could eventually affect downstream manufacturing sectors. Morsi suggested African governments may eventually consider introducing their own carbon-related taxes on domestic producers. The comments also echoed earlier criticism from South Africa, which previously argued that proposed UK CBAM-style measures could breach WTO rules. (African Business)

Burn-ing desire - The Kenyan government is working closely with cookstove developer Burn Manufacturing to advance its projects and bridge a gap between "manufacturing excellence" and climate action, the Office of Kenya's Special Envoy for Climate Change posted on LinkedIn on Thursday, following a meeting between the special envoy, Ali Mohammed, and Burn CEO Peter Scott. Burn has six projects at varying stages of design and implementation, of which four have received Letters of No Objection, and one a Letter of Authorisation. The other two are still under Kenya' review. Kenya is also preparing to host an IEA Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, on July 9-10 in Nairobi.

A clean cooking project developer operating in multiple Latin American countries has already obtained one Article 6 Letter of Authorisation (LoA) and is hoping to gain more, while keeping up with market trends toward high integrity, representatives told Carbon Pulse in Peru.

A major airline wants more Asian countries to authorise carbon credits for use under the aviation sector’s CORSIA scheme, saying the region risks losing out on billions of dollars in climate finance to other markets.

Carbon market group IETA has urged India to move faster on Article 6 agreements and broaden the scope of eligible projects, warning the country risks missing out on billions of dollars in climate finance if implementation remains slow.