The California regulator issued over 155,000 compliance-grade offsets over the most recent reporting period, including one project tagged with direct environmental benefits (DEBs) to the state, according to data released on Wednesday.

Decarb to be determined - US Steel plans to invest up to $2.5 bln into upgrades at its Mon Valley Works plant in Pennsylvania, backed by new owner Nippon Steel. Some of that is expected to go into new technology that will reduce emissions, though the precise pathway is not yet clear. (Pittsburgh's Public Source)

Canadian geoenergy - Jasmin Raymond of the National Institute for Scientific Research (French: Institut national de la recherche scientifique, or INRS) has been appointed to the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Geoenergy Systems Analysis, according to an INRS announcement. As chair, Raymond will receive C$1.4 mln ($1 mln) in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to accelerate the energy transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels by advancing innovative geoenergy solutions.

GM batteries - Major US automaker General Motors (GM) announced it is expanding into batteries outside its EVs, according to Axios. The Detroit automaker said it would invest in sodium-ion batters to capitalise on the growth of energy storage and AI demand.

A rock and - The City of Boulder, Colorado, updated its Climate Action Plan Tuesday, reaffirming its goal to reduce emissions by 70% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035. It also includes localised climate projections and heat vulnerability mapping for the first time.

Canada’s pullback on climate policies in pursuit of energy and economic security doesn’t have to be at odds with its signal to ramp up its carbon removal (CDR) sector, industry players said at a recent event. 

Empire State energy report - The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) released its annual Power Trends report last week, finding that rapid load growth is occurring with tighter reliability margins. This is driven in large part by generator deactivations outpacing new capacity, with new sources such as wind, solar, and short-duration storage offering benefits but not the capacity to sustain the grid during stress events. However, behind-the-meter solar is an asset that can shift and lower peak demand, according to the report, which also found that New York is transitioning toward a winter-peaking system with winter peaks rising more quickly than summer ones. Additionally, Utility Dive reported that solar generation met around 29% of New York’s electricity demand with more than 5.6 GW of generation during the noon hour on June 3, a new record for the state.

The Dominican Republic has reaffirmed its intention to engage voluntarily with international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, while explicitly ruling out their use to meet its own climate targets under its recently submitted Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0.

SAF surge – Technip Energies, Airbus, Safran, and Tereos have agreed to form a joint venture to develop a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in northern France which they dubbed Rebound. The plant targets an annual output of 160,000 tonnes, positioning it among Europe’s largest facilities. The partners said Tuesday that they will fund engineering and other pre-FID work for the project, which aims to convert advanced ethanol from agricultural and forestry residues into SAF as EU blending mandates drive demand growth. Separately in SAF news, it was also announced Tuesday that Syzygy Plasmonics and World Fuel Services have signed a capacity reservation agreement covering future SAF output from planned NovaSAF facilities in Central and South America.

Fusion forward - The US DOE released on Tuesday its Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, outlining a strategy to support commercial fusion power in the US by the mid-2030s, with a focus on public infrastructure, AI-enabled modelling, public-private partnerships, supply chains, and workforce development. The roadmap identified six technical challenge areas – structural materials, plasma-facing components, confinement approaches, fuel cycle and tritium processing, blanket science, and plant engineering – and sets near-, mid-, and long-term milestones to close gaps needed for fusion pilot plants, including fuel self-sufficiency, fusion-relevant materials testing, and delivery of electrons to the grid. The DOE said the plan is intended to align federal research and infrastructure with private-sector timelines, but noted future funding depends on Congressional appropriations.

First for solar - Kingston will become the first municipality in New York to adopt automated residential solar and storage permitting, with residents set to use the free SolarAPP+ platform starting in July to streamline rooftop solar applications, reported Solar Power World. The platform will allow local installers to submit applications and receive same-day permits for projects that meet city code requirements, replacing manual reviews that can take weeks. City officials and solar industry representatives said the tool is intended to reduce permitting delays, lower costs for homeowners, and ease workloads for municipal staff. Kingston joins more than 350 local governments nationwide using SolarAPP+, which is available at no cost to municipalities and integrates with existing permitting systems.

Verra launched development of several new or revised standards, including a new methodology for avoiding super pollutant emissions from refrigeration systems.

A rift has emerged in Bonn between Article 6.2 buyer and host countries, as they debate a UN proposal suggesting user fees to plug an €8.6-million hole in the 2026-27 biennial budget, among other options.

A Mexican carbon project developer is betting that premium ratings, biodiversity credentials, and Indigenous community partnerships can help its forest credits stand out in an increasingly crowded voluntary carbon market (VCM), even as domestic demand remains limited and uncertainty around the country’s emissions trading system (ETS) persists.

Policymakers should widen climate finance policy toolkits, improve data frameworks, and strengthen evaluations to unlock transition investment opportunities that remain largely untapped, the OECD said in a 2026 review.

Rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure could add almost 3 billion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere before emissions savings from AI applications begin to outweigh the sector's own climate footprint, according to a new study.

The recent Q2 Washington current carbon auction cleared at less than $1 below the 2026 Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) Tier 1 trigger, within traders' and analysts' expectations ahead of the sale, a Wednesday notice showed.

Carbon ratings agency BeZero Carbon said independent legal reviews have concluded its activities fall within the scope of the EU's new ESG Ratings Regulation, as the company prepares to seek recognition under the regime ahead of its July implementation.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s climate work has helped countries integrate transition risks into economic policy, but its decarbonisation advice and lending framework need sharper tailoring as members weigh carbon pricing, fiscal constraints, and green investment needs, according to a new independent evaluation.

Football's CO2 fever - The 2026 World Cup in North America will generate over 9 mln tonnes of GHG emissions - making it the 'most polluting World Cup of all time', according to research by Scientists for Global Responsibility, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Cool Down. That's equivalent to 6.5 mln cars being driven for a whole year, and Play the Game - an initiative by the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, goes even further, putting the event's carbon footprint as high as 70 mln tonnes. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) aims to halve its carbon emissions by 2030, and become net zero by 2040, but its words aren't backed up by action, wrote Carbon Market Watch (CMW). The analysts critique the 2026 tournament for expanding in size, and hence carbon emissions, and calls for a downsizing of these events to improve the sport's sustainability.

A standard-setting body has approved its methodology for cutting methane emissions from rice cultivation, saying it will expand the possibilities for high-integrity reductions from sustainable agriculture.

SAF alliance - Airline Aeromexico and Mexican multinational food company Grupo Bimbo have partnered to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to account for the latter's corporate and business travel in Latin America, they announced this week. The pair said the partnership is first-of-its-kind in the region, and emissions reductions will be credited through internationally recognised mechanisms for SAF allocation and traceability.

RGGI rebate debate - Virginia's Commission on Electric Utility Regulation (CEUR) plans to consider policy options around consumer rebates as the state plans to rejoin regional power sector cap-and-trade scheme RGGI next month, reported Cardinal News. In the coming months, the CEUR intends to analyse whether lawmakers should rebate some or all RGGI proceeds; how those rebates could be allocated among different customers, such as all customers, just residents, or just low-income residents; and whether rebates could potentially offset RGGI-related bill increases. Affordability concerns have reared their head in the RGGI region recently amid all-time high carbon prices, with a paper published last week calling for Virginia to postpone its return to the programme until at least 2027 to prevent a spike in utility rates.

EU methane penalties on US LNG – The EU Methane Regulation is back in the spotlight ahead of the Energy Omnibus proposal expected for June 24. Leaked drafts revealed options to delay penalties for oil and gas companies that may be in breach of import rules. Clean Air Task Force sent recommendations to the European Commission and member states: they should reject the suspension and instead limit it to a maximum of one year, introduce phased penalty scales with steadily increasing minimum fees between 2027 and 2030, publish guidance on penalty calibration and force majeure conditions by 30 July 2026, and initiate infringement proceedings against non-compliants by Jan. 1, 2027. Read more here.

Regulatory uncertainty is still weighing on the development of clear price signals for Phase 1 of CORSIA, but supply of credits should ramp up over next 12 months, a webinar heard Wednesday.

The world's largest banks, led by US-based institutions, have increased their fossil fuel lending last year – up nearly 8% on 2024 levels – to reach a huge $906 billion, in the latest sign yet that financiers are failing to make decisions compatible with global agreement to rein in temperature rise.

Tech giant expands access to its carbon credit service to qualified companies in the UK, offering businesses a new way to invest in 'high-quality' offsets as part of their broader decarbonisation strategies.

The problem of diverse country risk profiles for gaining CORSIA Letters of Authorisation (LoAs) – crucial for developers – is exacerbated by many host countries’ fears or lack of data around overselling, threatening supply, officials and experts said on the sidelines of SB64 in Bonn.

As carbon markets undergo an integrity reset, treating women’s inclusion as a co-benefit is no longer enough – inclusive finance can help make their contributions measurable, verifiable, and central to the credibility of carbon projects.

Policy recommendations accompanying academic research on net zero and climate mitigation frequently drift beyond the evidence presented and often resemble advocacy rather than neutral scientific guidance, according to a new systematic review.

A CO2 removal market that only a few years ago was dominated by climate-tech experimentation and future promises is entering a more mature, execution-focused phase, with investors, buyers, and policymakers increasingly prioritising delivery, financeability, and infrastructure over ambitious announcements, according to a new report.

Carbon finance has become the dominant driver of investment and growth in the clean cooking sector, according to a new industry assessment that suggests companies without crediting programmes are increasingly struggling to attract capital and scale operations.

Several Latin American countries crossed major milestones in the operationalisation of Article 6 markets last week, signalling a shift from years of institutional preparation towards the first wave of actual carbon transactions under the Paris Agreement.