The New Zealand government has given the nod to lowering ETS annual charges for foresters, as well as introducing several new service fees, it announced Wednesday.

Colorado confirmed the schedule for the 2026 annual auction under its GHG trading programme for industry in a Wednesday notice.

China’s emissions plateau continues, though CO2 output rose by 2% in the first quarter of 2026 as the country struggled to integrate new wind and solar capacity, a new analysis has found.

Sustainable investments – Omers, one of the largest pension funds in Canada, will divest its final remaining fossil fuel asset, sustainable investor advocacy group Shift Action said. Omers announced last month an agreement to sell its stake in Exolum, a European distributor and transporter of refined oil and aviation fuel, and Shift confirmed that was the pension fund’s last known privately-owned fossil fuel asset.

Pulp progress – Valmet and Linde have announced a collaboration to offer electrically driven carbon capture technology for the pulp and paper industry, they announced last week. The companies said the offering integrates Linde’s HISORP carbon capture technology with Valmet’s process expertise to enable CO2 separation without the need for steam or other thermal energy. The solution is intended for pulp and paper mills with limited excess heat availability and increasing electrification requirements, they added.

Scorpio score – US developer Carbon Ridge said on Wednesday that classification society DNV had verified peak CO2 capture rates of more than 98% for its onboard carbon capture technology during a trial on a Scorpio Tankers vessel. The five-month pilot marked the first maritime deployment of a centrifugal onboard carbon capture system, the company said. It added that the trial results support plans to scale the technology across the global shipping fleet.

Europe’s power sector and major technology companies have launched a new cooperation framework aimed at ensuring that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and data centres supports, rather than undermines, the continent’s clean energy transition, as policymakers prepare to unveil a wider strategy on digitalisation and AI in the energy sector.

Byte back – Enchant Energy signed a letter of intent with Creekstone Energy to explore a CCUS project in Utah, aiming to capture CO2 from on-site power generation and convert it into low-carbon fuels, it was announced last week. Captured CO2 would be converted into liquid fuels rather than stored underground, creating a potential revenue stream while producing water as a byproduct. The companies added that Enchant projects are designed to qualify for federal 45Q tax credits.

Ontario could soon launch a carbon management framework for public consultation, alongside two deployment tools aimed at carbon removal (CDR) and storage rollout.

Ocean finance has grown over the past decade, but funding remains concentrated outside some of the sectors most directly tied to decarbonisation and climate resilience, according to a new analysis.

Geothermal green light - The US House passed on Tuesday the Geothermal Energy Advancement Act, a bipartisan public lands bill that includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act and would let the Department of the Interior (DOI) recover reasonable administrative and other costs from geothermal lease applicants and holders through Sept. 30, 2033. The measure would allow recovered funds to be used for processing geothermal lease applications and related approvals, as well as inspecting and monitoring exploration, drilling, well plugging, facility construction, operations, termination, and reclamation, while also requiring (DOI) to report within five years on the impact of the cost-recovery changes. The wider bill would require geothermal applications under valid existing leases to be approved or denied within 60 days after federal legal and regulatory requirements are completed unless a federal court has vacated or enjoined the relevant authorisation, direct DOI to update the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Gold Book” guidance for geothermal development, establish a geothermal ombudsman and permitting task force within BLM, amend geothermal royalty provisions, and extend certain National Environmental Policy Act review provisions to geothermal exploration and development.

Recommendation to reinstate - A group of US Democratic state attorneys general and local legal officers urged the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) to reinstate a removed climate science chapter from the fourth edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, arguing in a Tuesday letter that the peer-reviewed guide is needed by courts handling a growing number of climate-related cases. The signatories said the chapter’s removal, which they linked to pressure from Republican attorneys general, would leave judges and litigants without impartial technical guidance on climate science and could raise concerns about the FJC’s non-partisan role.

The climate ambition of host countries and the stability of their regulatory frameworks are increasingly emerging as factors that could influence the price of internationally-traded carbon credits, as buyers and proponents seek to manage sovereign risks beyond the control of project execution, legal experts said this week during the Latin America Climate Summit (LACS) in Mexico.

Minor modifications - Verra has published VMR0018 methodology (Methane Avoidance Through Separation of Solids from Wastewater or Manure Treatment Systems v1.0) under its VCS programme, it announced Wednesday. The voluntary carbon standard said this constitutes a minor revision to its CDM methodology AMS-III.Y. (Methane avoidance through separation of solids from wastewater or manure treatment systems, v4.0), which applies to project activities that avoid or reduce methane production from anaerobic wastewater treatment systems and anaerobic manure management systems through the removal of volatile solids from the wastewater or manure slurry stream. Updates are being made to: allow the use of separated solids from animal manure as bedding material in barns; provide quantification procedures for projects using biofiltration systems to separate the solids; and require the use of newer VCS tools to establish baseline scenarios. AMS-III.Y. will be inactivated as a standalone methodology on July 1, 2027, Verra noted.

A coalition of seven states in the US Northeast sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over a deal to cancel an offshore wind lease in the New York Bight, arguing the agreement unlawfully redirects a major power project into fossil fuel investment and undermines state energy planning.

The EU should consider creating a 'Carbon Bank' to fund the scale-up of carbon removals (CDR) along with setting a separate deployment target for the nascent technology by 2040, new analysis suggests.

EU carbon prices briefly topped a key psychological level after the weekly Commitment of Traders data showed a strong build in bullish bets by speculative participants, before renewed selling took the market back down to familiar territory near an important technical mark, leaving the price finely balanced as another supply adjustment approaches.

EU member states want installations covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) to keep receiving free carbon allowances even if they are temporarily removed from the scope of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), according to a leaked draft compromise on extending the scheme.

Off the grid – NatureGrid, a data management platform developed by Open Forest Protocol, was launched this week, with the aim of helping NbS projects organise field data, manage workflows, and consolidate data for reports. The platform was designed as a single source of truth for managing project documentation across regenerative agriculture, conservation, and ecosystem restoration projects alike. Open Forest Protocol added that the new platform is to make it easier to collect, validate, and monitor field data, as well as to share impact.

Canada’s financial regulators remain concentrated on disclosure and climate-risk research while leaving stronger tools largely unused, even as physical damages and transition risks grow across the financial system, according to a new report.

New guidance published this week seeks to improve the consistency and transparency of spatial data used to monitor deforestation-linked commodity supply chains.

Gold Standard has opened a public consultation on a proposed green hydrogen carbon methodology that would quantify emission reductions from replacing fossil fuel-based hydrogen production with water electrolysis.

Up and away - UpEnergy has announced its project (VCS2676) in Tanzania has now become eligible for CORSIA Phase 1 under Verra's VM0050 methodology. The cookstove operator said on Linkedin that 142,504 credits have now been tagged as eligible for the international aviation offset scheme on the Verra registry, and they have already found a buyer. But further volumes are expected from the project this year and throughout the remainder of the CORSIA Phase 1, which runs from 2024-26.

California solar+storage PPA - EDF power solutions North America and clean energy company Masdar have signed 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for output from the BigBeau Solar+Storage project in Kern County, California, they announced on Wednesday. The PPAs cover electricity generated by the 128MW-alternating current solar installation and its associated 40MW/160MWh battery energy storage system. Output from the facility is expected to CO2 emissions by more than 315,000 tonnes annually, according to the companies.

The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled a technology sovereignty package aimed at reducing the bloc’s dependence on foreign suppliers of semiconductors, cloud services, and artificial intelligence – while NGOs call to ensure that a rapid expansion of digital infrastructure does not undermine Europe’s climate goals.

A Global South-focused carbon crediting standard is partnering with forestry researchers to strengthen the environmental integrity of nature-based credits in carbon markets, the two sides announced on Wednesday.

On track – ACR and ART remain on track to transition their registries to the ICE GreenTrace platform as planned, representatives confirmed to Carbon Pulse this week. GreenTrace is a registry system used to manage carbon credits from issuance through to retirement. Under the previously announced schedule, participant onboarding was due to run from January-March, followed by a transition rehearsal in April and training sessions in May ahead of the June migration. The platform was also demoed in a recent online session by ACR.

The voluntary carbon market's (VCM) era of private sector registry-centric governance is over, according to an investment bank which claims  sovereign registries will assume the leading role in driving market changes now that Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is up and running.

High sustainable fuel costs, policy uncertainty, and limited long-term offtake agreements are holding back private finance for the decarbonisation of EU aviation and shipping, despite growing policy support for cleaner fuels, according to a report published Wednesday.

The bottleneck in host countries approving projects for CORSIA, the international aviation offsetting scheme, is holding back nearly 600 million eligible credits to date, a ratings agency has found.

A developer of modular direct air capture (DAC) technology has partnered with a regional utility in the Netherlands as it aims to provide fossil-free CO2 to a cluster of greenhouses, and guarantee localised delivery for optimal crop growth.

A US carbon removal company has secured investment from a Japanese trading firm to expand a facility in Arkansas, while separately signing a credit purchase agreement with a major shipping group, it announced Wednesday.

Taiwan has successfully collected its inaugural carbon fees, with semiconductor giants shouldering the largest share of the payments.

European carbon capture stakeholders are urging Brussels and London to set out a clear timetable with key milestones for linking the EU and UK carbon markets, warning that continued uncertainty risks delaying billions of euros in planned CO2 transport and storage projects and undermining Europe’s industrial competitiveness.

Hydrogen breakthrough – A University of Aberdeen spin-out has unveiled technology to produce green hydrogen directly from seawater, targeting off-grid coastal users and cutting freshwater demand and infrastructure costs. Hychor, founded in 2024 by electrochemist and Aberdeen graduate Jani Shibuya, has closed an equity round, formally spun out, and opened a new R&D facility in Aberdeen. Backed by the university’s Technology Transfer Office and a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship, the company plans industrial pilot projects from 2027. Shibuya said Hychor aims to be “globally impactful” in hydrogen and renewables, addressing energy security and water scarcity while creating high-quality jobs in Scotland’s energy transition.

Capital for AI controls - Gigaton, an AI company replacing control software in energy-intensive industries, has raised $26 mln in a Series A funding round to support team expansion and growth into the steel, glass, and chemicals sectors. So far deployed in global cement producers including Adani Cement, Heidelberg Materials, and Holcim, the company aims to strengthen industrial control and reduce emissions on a gigatonne scale. The round was led by Plural, and included participation from 2150, Semapa Next, and existing investors Planet A Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, UCL Technology Fund managed by AlbionVC with UCL Business, and Clean Growth Fund, bringing Gigaton’s total funding to over $35 mln. Gigaton's self-learning technology operates within plant infrastructure, adjusting key parametres to lower energy and fuel costs and reduce emissions, said the press release on Wednesday. Gigaton was formerly known as Carbon Re.

New contract - Malaysia's MISC Berhad, in partnership with Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), has secured a second long-term time charter party (TCP) from Northern Lights, it announced Wednesday. The agreement was signed for an additional newbuild liquefied CO2 carrier supporting the expansion of Europe’s first open-access CCS  transport and storage infrastructure. Co-owned through the existing MISC and K LINE joint venture, the purpose-built 12,000 cubic metre vessel will support Northern Lights’ growing CCS network.

Cement CCS pact - The Global Cement and Concrete Association and think tank Global CCS Institute signed an MoU to advance carbon capture and storage across the global cement and concrete sector on Wednesday. The two-year partnership will work to accelerate industrial decarbonisation through shared outreach, thought leadership, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement.

Solar waste gets funding- The Cook Labor Government will invest A$17.8 mln ($12.74 mln) in the 2026-27 State Budget to boost Western Australia’s recycling capacity for solar panels and embedded batteries, the WA Government said on Wednesday. As part of the investment, A$13 mln is earmarked to establish end-of-life solar panel collection and recycling pathways, A$3 mln is allocated for the rollout of embedded battery collection at local government facilities, and A$ 1.8 mln is set aside to support ongoing program delivery.

Buyers in the voluntary carbon market are paying more for biochar carbon credits when they are marketed with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) co‑benefits, according to a study.

Well stored - Several Japanese companies, including Itochu and Mitsubishi Estate, have started building a utility-scale battery energy storage facility in Japan's Fukuoka prefecture. The project, with a rated output of  67 MW,  is scheduled to commence commercial operation in FY2027. Itochu plans to deploy its energy storage system and AI-based optimal operation technology for the project.

Initial progress - Japanese beverage group Suntory Holdings and agritech startup Towing on Wednesday said their joint pilot programme for high-performance biochar development had delivered around 30% yield improvement. Based on the results, the two companies plan to scale up biochar production and establish a regional circulation model in the Kyushu region. Outside of Japan, they have been conducting a similar project in Thailand, where high-performance biochar produced from rice husks is applied to sugarcane fields.

Singapore-based intermediaries have a growing presence in Australia’s carbon market, according to data published by the Clean Energy Regulator, largely due to surrendering credits on behalf of clients. 

Rooftop renewable energy installations have reached record levels in the first quarter of the year, aided with the globally significant rollout of batteries across the country, according to a report from the Clean Energy Regulator, published Wednesday.

Tally-ho – Australian renewable fuels company Hamr Energy has launched a pilot project to trial the use of tallow-based biofuel for shipping. In partnership with BHP and the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, the pilot saw a tallow-based biodiesel-fuelled ship chartered by the mining giant depart Western Australia to deliver iron ore to China, Hamr said in a press release. The fuel was a B100 blend, made up of 50% waste tallow and 50% used cooking oil and is expected to produce 79% fewer lifecycle emissions on a well-to-wake basis. Hamr was recently shortlisted for the second round of the Australian government’s hydrogen funding programme as well as a fast-track investment pilot. In February, it closed its Series A funding, having raised A$10 mln ($7.2 mln).

A co-founder of a California-based carbon offsets developer and fintech startup has been sentenced to 14 years in a US prison after admitting to a years-long fraud scheme that prosecutors said caused $248 million in losses to lenders and investors.

New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission (CCC) is seeking feedback on how to update its advice on the country’s fourth emissions budget, covering 2036-40, following last year’s lowering of the biogenic methane target, it said on Wednesday.

Keep it separated - Isometric announced a draft module for book and claim for public consultation until July 1, underpinning the carbon standard’s expansion into Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs). The new module establishes requirements for credits where the environmental attributes are decoupled from the physical product, including low-carbon materials, low-carbon energy, and sustainable fuels. With the module and the upcoming release of sector-specific protocols, Isometric is poised to become the first certifier to support CDR, superpollutant reduction, and EACs under one set of standards, on a single platform. The first EAC protocol will be released for low-carbon materials – Microsoft and Meta have both signed EAC-based agreements, and Isometric expects demand to expand. The module will ensure that every EAC issued by Isometric is additional, tied to verified physical production, and protected against double counting, in compliance with the ISO 22095-3 Chain of Custody Standard.

Peru has become the first country in Latin America to register a cooperative approach project on the UNFCCC Article 6 platform, with the clean cooking programme expected to provide Switzerland with more than 726,000 Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) by 2030.

Traders and analysts polled by Carbon Pulse ahead of Wednesday's Q2 Washington carbon auction said they expect the auction to clear all available supply at prices within a couple of dollars of the 2026 Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) Tier 1 trigger, although views were somewhat split on whether that would be at, above, or below that level.