A non-profit focused on ocean-based decarbonisation published a resource on the responsible development and scale-up of seaweed-based products that could reduce GHG emissions across multiple sectors.

VCS revamp complete - Verra has completed the operationalisation of its VCS Version 5 with the release of updated versions of various templates, it announced on Tuesday. This means that all project proponents can begin using the new version, Verra added. In addition to project description, monitoring report, and validation/verification report templates, the new releases include other new templates and documents related to environmental and social safeguards. The updated templates must be used for all project requests submitted after Jan. 1, 2027, including projects with audits that are already underway, Verra noted. If project proponents anticipate that their initial registration request, verification approval request, or crediting period renewal request will be submitted after this deadline, both project proponents and VVBs must transition to the use of the new templates. The voluntary standard said it will host training sessions on all VCS Version 5 updates, including how to use the new templates, later in 2026.

Farm to Washington’s table - US Senator Edward Markey (D) and Representatives Andrew Garbarino (D) and Chrissy Houlahan (D) reintroduced the Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act on Tuesday, to include natural climate solutions as a high-priority research and extension initiative for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It would ensure that competitive specialised research and extension grants made by the USDA extends to natural climate solutions like wetland restoration, reforestation, cover crop planting, or rotational grazing, helping to lower emissions.

Nuclear know-how – Constellation Energy’s Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania is moving closer to coming back online, according to a waiver granted by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). That document grants the company to transfer grid interconnection rights from its separate, Eddystone gas power station to the former Three Mile Island Unit 1, which will be redeveloped as the Crane Clean Energy Center. Constellation said the project remains on track for a 2027 restart.

Methane match - Non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has filed a lawsuit challenging the US EPA's weakening of methane regulations for the oil and gas sector known as OOOOb/c. The EPA and a dozen other groups have also challenged the EPA's earlier delay of methane regulations, and they filed their brief that case earlier this week.

Must be coal – US Energy Secretary Chris Wright last week issued an emergency order to keep coal generation online in Florida in order to address critical grid reliability issues. Wright directed municipal utility Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) to keep Unit 1 of its Stanton Energy Center, a 465-MW coal-fired unit, available to operate despite its planned June shutdown. The order is in effect through Sep. 1. The federal agency cited the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment for Florida, which forecast an escalated demand in power from new data centres and other sources while transmission growth lags behind. The OUC had planned to place the plan in “cold shutdown”, planning to replace Unit 1 with a peaking plant and to convert the 465-MW Unit 2 to gas by the end of 2027. The DOE has issued five other similar 90-day orders to extend the operation of coal-fired power plants.

Credit crunch - A federal court ruling vacating IRS guidance for wind and solar tax credits is expected to have limited near-term impact on project development, as renewable energy developers are already racing to begin construction before a July 4 safe harbour deadline under the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act, E&E News reported. Developers that meet the deadline can qualify for investment and production tax credits being phased out, while projects that miss it must be in operation by the end of 2027 to qualify. Lawyers and analysts said the ruling’s timing, and the possibility of appeal, mean it is unlikely to materially change market behaviour in the coming weeks.

Rivaling revival - The US Supreme Court on Monday revived a gas industry challenge to Biden-era DOE efficiency regulations, granting the American Gas Association’s petition, vacating a lower court ruling, and sending the case back to the DC Circuit. The order directs the appeals court to reconsider the case in light of the position taken by the US Solicitor General in an Apr. 28 brief, giving the industry another opportunity to contest the rules after the lower court ruling.

Stand up for solar & wind - Four Democratic US senators push for appropriators to place guardrails on the Trump administration’s enhanced scrutiny of renewable energy projects. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) shared a new letter with reporters that the group sent to the Republican and Democratic leadership of the relevant subcommittees on the Senate Committee on Appropriations to ensure federal agencies permit energy projects fairly. Currently, solar and wind projects must receive personal approval from the Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. While a federal court ruled against that policy directive, the Trump administration had promised to fight the decision. The Democrats from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee also want their colleagues in charge of appropriations to act against a separate Trump administration policy to consider a project’s “capacity density”, weighing a project’s footprint relative to the amount of energy produced. (E&E News)

Increasing CO2 capture efficiency -  Developer AnorTech announced a one-year collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada on Monday to research the development of alumina-based catalysts for CO2 capture. The project would build on 2025 testing of AnorTech’s sustainable alumina (Al2O3) used to capture CO2 and convert it into methane via hydrogenation. The material is developed from anorthosite, a rare, igneous rock also used in fiberglass and ceramics, which AnorTech produces from a site in Greenland.

Not so wonderful - Robert Davies, a Utah State University physicist and complex systems scientist, has dubbed the Alberta’s C$70 bln ($50 bln) Wonder Valley AI data centre and 9 GW power plant a “Gigascale AI smelter" in a preliminary technical assessment prepared for legal counsel of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. Davies said the project – backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary and exempt from environmental impact assessment by the province – would emit “something like” 50 MtCO2e per year, or about 7% of Canada's annual emissions. The project would also be one of the largest single-site heat sources on the planet, generating 16-18 GW of continuous heat.

No Quebec natural gas - Quebec’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change has recommended the province prohibit new natural gas connections in a report aimed at decarbonising its building sector, according to CityNews Montreal. The recommendation is a part of the ninth opinion of the committee. It also looked to carbon ratings, dynamic electricity pricing, and reduce energy demand from the building stock.

A diverse group of market actors are playing a decisive role in shaping soil carbon markets, but their growing influence is raising concerns over farmer autonomy, governance, and the effectiveness of carbon farming as a climate solution, according to a new analysis.

Carbon projects, pricing, and trading appeared in a new place on Tuesday: among the proposals to align public and private finance flows with low-emission development, as discussed in a first dialogue on the Paris Agreement goal. 

Migration milestone – A spokesperson for Winrock International confirmed to Carbon Pulse on Tuesday that the migration of both the ACR and Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) to ICE GreenTrace has been completed, transferring approximately 437.8 mln serialised carbon credits and more than 40,000 documents from 1,162 projects and programmes to 857 Registry Account Holders from issuance to retirement. The transition moved over 25 years of emissions reduction and removals data across 857 registry account holders in what was described as one of the most complex registry migrations undertaken in the carbon market.

Mexican carbon project developers are increasingly preparing for a future in which domestic climate goals and the country’s emissions trading system (ETS) take precedence over international carbon credit exports, following fresh signals from the government that authorisations for overseas use may not be a near-term priority.

An initiative aimed at supporting Tribal Nations in the US navigate the growing carbon removal (CDR) landscape launched on Tuesday three guides for ensuring decision-making around the sector reflects Tribal priorities and goals.

California’s proposed carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) and removal (CDR) regulations have drawn competing calls for broader project eligibility, tighter definitions, stronger community safeguards, and lighter-touch treatment of federally regulated geologic storage, according to public comments submitted to state regulator ARB.

REDD+ rating - French nature-based carbon standard Equitable Earth's M002 REDD+ methodology has been rated low risk by UK-headquartered ratings agency Sylvera, the former announced on Tuesday. The methodology's 3/10 score is one of Sylvera's highest ever for a REDD+ methodology, Equitable Earth said.

Fashionable move - Burberry has postponed its net zero emissions target from 2040 to 2050, citing improved understanding of greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain, enhanced data collection and measurement methods, and updated science-based methodologies, Edie has reported. The company stated that broader industry developments and economic conditions also influenced the revision. Alongside the new timeline, Burberry released its first Climate Transition Plan, aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal, reaffirming its commitment to achieving net zero emissions across both operations and supply chains. Under the revised plan, Burberry will maintain its target of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 95% by 2027, compared with 2017 levels, and sustain this reduction through 2050. For Scope 3 emissions, it aims to cut non-Forest, Land and Agriculture emissions by 46.2% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, relative to a 2019 baseline.

The European Commission on Tuesday launched the Trans‑Mediterranean Renewable Energy and Clean Tech Cooperation (T‑MED) initiative, aiming to mobilise up to €25 billion in investments by 2035 to tap into the region’s vast but largely unused solar and wind potential.

About 60% of sustainability teams would like to ramp up their use of artificial intelligence in the coming year, with accuracy concerns posing a more significant deterrent than the environmental impacts of increased demand for water and energy, according to a report published on Tuesday.

US-based standard body Climate Action Reserve (CAR) is seeking feedback on a proposed update to set a standard permanence commitment period of 40 years.

EU carbon allowances fell back towards the €76 mark on Tuesday in a muted session that drew thin trade with the benchmark generally following gas and power movements, as participants pointed towards a broadly neutral configuration across the continent's energy markets.

Risks of 'hot air' credits - The first two projects - PoA 10471 and PoA 10415, both clean cookstove projects in Myanmar - approved for use under Article 6.4, the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) have been found to hugely overestimate their climate impact by Carbon Market Watch (CMW). This is despite efforts to rein in overcrediting, which didn't downsize the crediting sufficiently enough - leaving PoA 10471 likely over-credited by a factor of seven over the authorised monitoring period, the watchdog said. The project's original 1.1 mln credits received a 40% haircut in the adjustment, but a 92% haircut would have been needed to reflect the actual likely climate impact of the project, it said. Issues with over-crediting include the omission of 'stacking' - whereby beneficiaries use other more polluting cookstoves that aren't monitored by the project. CMW urges all countries  to hold off on approving or purchasing credits from CDM transition projects until they pass an independent quality check, and warns that allowing poor-quality CDM credits into the PACM will ultimately undermine the latter's credibility and efforts to reign in climate change.

Italian industry is calling for a fundamental overhaul of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), along with a softening of the whole carbon market structure, warning that the market risks accelerating deindustrialisation unless major reforms are adopted.

The European Commission has published a technical study recommending new approaches to account for electricity-related emissions in imported goods under the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), potentially paving the way for broader carbon charges on imports from third countries.

The European Union is preparing a proposal to expand its carbon pricing system to cover international flights, according to an internal Commission document seen by Bloomberg, a move aimed at strengthening climate action but likely to trigger opposition from international airlines and governments.

EU member states are set to resist the European Parliament’s push to start cancelling carbon allowances held in the reserve of the bloc’s new Emissions Trading System for buildings and transport (ETS2) from 2034, as well as the Parliament’s calls for stronger social safeguards.

PAC priorities - Green political action committee (PAC) LCV Victory Fund - an arm of the League of Conservation Voters - published a memo on Monday prioritising appealing to voters concerned about rising energy costs in midterm elections in the US this fall. In the PAC's view, clean energy is a popular solution to these concerns, and Democratic victories in elections last year in New Jersey and Virginia are evidence of that.

Signed and sealed - The European Commission has approved a €10 mln Austrian scheme to support clean technology manufacturing capacity, in line with the Clean Industrial Deal objectives. Approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF), the scheme will be open to all companies that carry out investments into manufacturing capacity for the production of net zero technologies, with the exclusion of nuclear. This also includes aid to produce new or recovered related critical raw materials needed to produce final products or main specific components. The aid will take the form of direct grants, financed by the Austrian national budget, and may be granted until Jan. 31, 2027.

Virginia wind win - Construction is now underway at the Rocky Forge Wind in Virginia as government officials, community boosters, and project developer Apex Clean Energy gathered on Saturday to celebrate the beginning of the process for erecting 13 wind turbines and mounting blades on them, reported local outlet WVTF. The project has faced years of local opposition and lawsuits, but Apex now expects to finish construction of the wind farm and begin producing energy by the end of the year.

European Aluminium has called on EU finance ministers and ambassadors to address what it describes as critical shortcomings in the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), warning that the current proposal could fail to prevent carbon leakage in the aluminium sector.

L&D money for Kenya - Kenya is set to receive $700,000 in technical assistance from the UN's Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, which will support a comprehensive national assessment of climate-related loss and damage in the country over the past decade, the country's State Department for Environment and Climate Change posted on X. The technical assistance, agreed on the sidelines of UN climate talks underway in Bonn, should provide evidence that can inform policy, planning, and resource mobilisation to strengthen Kenya's climate resilience. This makes Kenya the second country in the world to receive assistance under the Santiago mechanism, and the first in Africa.

Canada's forests are being pushed towards becoming a net carbon source as wildfire activity intensifies, according to a recent study.

Google will target emissions from employee business travel with a new agreement for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) certificates (SAFc), touted as the largest publicly announced SAFc deal between an airline and a single corporate customer to date.

France has opened the final public consultation on the third version of its national low-carbon strategy (SNBC 3), giving stakeholders one month to comment before the climate roadmap is adopted by decree this summer.

Domino effect - Household electricity bills in Europe could rise by up to €120 a year if wholesale power prices increase by 60% above pre-Feb. 2026 levels, according to estimates by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). In new analysis, it found that capacity mechanisms and subsidies are keeping European gas power plants artificially online, and that households in Italy, Ireland, and the UK are most exposed to power bill rises in Europe due to gas's dominant role in power price formation in those countries. To keep a lid on European power prices, IEEFA recommends more energy storage and demand-side flexibility to curb the role of gas plants in setting wholesale power prices. Gas prices remain volatile off the back of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East - still trading around 20% above levels a year ago on TTF - Europe's benchmark gas trading hub, despite progress on ceasefire efforts.

An air traffic controller has agreed to buy £500,000 of durable removal credits from a diverse range of projects, as part of a UK Sustainable Aviation coalition that has pledged £2 million to stimulate the carbon removal (CDR) market.

Singapore and Tanzania have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on carbon credits collaboration, as they aim to strengthen bilateral climate cooperation.

A Danish cement producer has secured up to DKK 16.5 billion (€2.2 bln) in state support for a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project expected to remove up to 1.25 million tonnes of CO2 a year from 2030, it announced Tuesday.

Researchers, environmental organisations, and carbon market experts are urging the industry to look beyond traditional buffer pools and adopt a wider range of tools to ensure the long-term durability of nature-based carbon credits – using a new "unified framework".

The incoming presidency of COP31 has proposed a global target to increase the share of energy demand met by electricity to 35% by 2035, positioning electrification as a cornerstone of efforts to reduce emissions and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

A strong and predictable EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) is essential to achieve Europe's climate targets and support investment, the European Banking Federation (EBF) said in a public statement Tuesday.

A Japanese corporate giant is seeking more partners to pioneer direct ocean capture (DOC), after announcing it was developing a pilot plant following two years of research by an institute in Finland.

Negotiators at the SB64 climate summit in Bonn are transitioning the Kyoto-era Adaptation Fund (AF) to Paris, with UN carbon markets historically contributing large sums to the fund – but financing from the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) is still on standby.

Forestry-based carbon projects that are government-led and factored into national accounting systems can achieve landscape-scale change, with credit prices trading at a premium, say experts.

A European aviation alliance has warned the European Commission against expanding the EU ETS beyond flights within the European Economic Area (EEA), arguing that such a move could hurt European carriers and airports without delivering clear climate gains.

A UK-headquartered carbon and energy trading outfit has opened a new office in Amsterdam, as it looks to expand its presence across France, the Benelux region, and continental Europe.

The UN’s Technical Expert Reviews (TERs) of Article 6.2 initial reports are fully within bounds, and are not erroneously applying Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) norms, a senior member of the UNFCCC has said.

Global data shows early signs that ecosystem restoration rates could exceed those of deforestation, according to the founding chair of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, who is optimistic this milestone could be reached within 30 years.

Zambia has signed a new agreement to advance jurisdictional climate action, formally integrating a major forest carbon project into its provincial framework.

Forest potential - Tokyo-based Archeda, which develops MRV solutions for nature-based carbon projects, has signed an MoU with Aboitiz Group's corporate foundation to promote high-quality forest-derived carbon credit projects in the Philippines, they announced Tuesday. Archeda will support the foundation’s forestry initiatives by leveraging satellite data and AI. Their initial focus will be to explore a forest carbon project in the Southeast Asian country, prioritising the Japan-led Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) as the crediting framework.

What buyers want - Industry preferences drive Japan's blue carbon market, with manufacturers focusing on local projects and service firms prioritising innovation, according to a paper published this month. The research analysed 61 blue carbon projects and 471 certified transactions under the J-Blue Credit scheme, with nearly 40% of these trades happening locally within the same municipality. The paper, written by researchers from the Japan Blue Economy Association (JBE), also found that blue carbon trading in Japan is characterised by low-volume, high-value transactions, averaging 2.3 ± 4.2 tCO₂ per trade at roughly $400/tCO₂.

A United Nations technical review has identified significant weaknesses in Malawi’s reporting and governance arrangements for participation in international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, raising concerns about transparency, accounting practices, and environmental integrity.

Three climate groups have proposed a financial mechanism to support industrial emissions cuts under Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism, citing it could provide the price certainty needed to unlock capital for large‑scale abatement projects.

Carbon credit issuances and retirements bounced up in May year-on-year across the voluntary carbon market while benchmark CORSIA prices fell 22% to end the month around $10/tonne, their lowest level since June 2024.

Sri Lanka climate drive - Sri Lanka has set a new 13% industrial emissions reduction goal, doubling its previous commitment as part of its long-term climate strategy, local media reported. Officials said the move underpins plans to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. The announcement came at the Sri Lanka Climate Summit 2026 in Colombo.

A US climate platform is seeking more than 100,000 carbon removals (CDR) and super pollutant mitigation credits, with a particular focus on projects in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and island nations, it announced.

Green cement - French low-carbon cement producer Hoffmann Green Cement said it has launched a new technology that enables clay to be processed at ambient temperatures for use in its zero-clinker cement products, avoiding energy-intensive calcination process traditionally used in cement production. The company said the technology allows a wider range of clay feedstocks to be incorporated into low-carbon cement formulations, reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions while expanding access to raw materials.

The Brazilian COP30 presidency’s deforestation roadmap, presented in an early form on Monday, has been well received by a coalition of the willing, while the endeavour to draft a fossil fuel transition plan has sparked some backlash, Carbon Pulse heard in Bonn.

Trading activity on Indonesia’s carbon exchange continued to weaken in May, with volumes and transaction values falling to a 10-month low as deals stayed confined to smaller spot transactions, exchange data showed.

Funding received - Malaysia Forest Fund (MFF), energy and infrastructure firm Yinson Holdings, and the Pahang State Forestry Department have launched a forest restoration project at the Chini Lake Biosphere Reserve in central Malaysia. Yinson said it will contribute RM 193,515 ($45,000) to support the first phase of a forest planting programme covering 10 ha. The initiative forms part of a wider 20-ha restoration effort. The project is being implemented under Malaysia's Forest Conservation Certificate (FCC) framework, which seeks to channel private-sector funding into forest protection and restoration.

Missing middle - Australia has seen just 5.6 GW of rooftop solar in the commercial and industrial sector, compared to 22 GW on households, according to a briefing by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), describing it as an untapped clean energy resource. The think tank estimates the sector has the technical potential to host some 40 GW, and more than 80 GW when agricultural sites are included. The report said uptake is being held back by investment barriers, complex network tariffs, slow grid connections processes, and regulatory disadvantages.

A Seoul-listed investment holding company has partnered with a developer to drive down emissions from Vietnam's agriculture sector, eyeing the creation of carbon credits under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Kenya has set a 10-million credit budget capping the volume of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) that can leave the country under Article 6 through to 2030, a senior official told a carbon markets side event at the SB64 UN climate talks.

Concerns raised - Papua New Guinea's Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) clarified it had conducted consultations with stakeholders over several years before introducing the country's Green Fee, responding to concerns raised by the tourism sector. The authority said discussions with the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority began in 2020. CCDA also disclosed that around K2.7 mln ($700,000) collected through the levy remains unspent while details for a dedicated trust fund are finalised. The Green Fee is intended to finance biodiversity conservation, environmental protection, climate resilience, and sustainable tourism initiatives.

Grid without borders- Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda said that countries in Asia and the Pacific must work together to build a cleaner, more secure power system that can move electricity across borders. It is working to address this challenge through the Pan- Asia Power Grid Initiative (PAGI), which aims to expand cross-border electricity trade and accelerate renewable energy integration across Asia and the Pacific. ADB is preparing a $10-mln technical assistance grant to jump-start the initiative.

Jakarta blue economy- The Government of Norway officially launched the Norway–ASEAN Collaboration on Development of Blue Economy in ASEAN in Jakarta on Monday, local media reported. The project, to be implemented over two years, from 2025 to 2027, kicked off with commencement activities to strengthen regional capacity, enhance collaboration, and support the development of sustainable policies and practices in ASEAN's blue economy sector.

Drilling deep - The New Zealand government has completed detailed design work for its GeoShot NZ supercritical geothermal project, it announced. The project aims to access superhot geothermal fluids 4–5 km below the surface—roughly twice the depth of conventional geothermal wells—which could yield around three times more energy than existing geothermal resources if the technology proves viable. Resources minister Shane Jones said Cabinet has approved the release of the remaining NZ$55 mln ($32 mln) from the NZ$60 mln initially ring-fenced for the project under the Regional Infrastructure Fund. The cash will go to pre-drilling activity and the drilling of a deep exploratory well, including securing long-lead equipment, contractors, and other work needed to safely drill and test the well.

California oil - The Trump administration is in active talks to create a petroleum reserve in California, Politico reported Friday. That’s according to a document authored by lawyers of Sable Offshore, a company that owns oil platforms off the state’s coast, which was sent to the US DOE. The company has proposed a West Coast Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bolster supplies, though it is expected to draw opposition from California lawmakers.

Academic economics researchers published a working paper illustrating the impacts of carbon tariffs and domestic taxes, creating a model that disproves the trade-off between global emissions reductions and US GDP.

New Zealand's second government-held auction for the year failed to clear on Tuesday, in line with market expectations.