A North American methane mitigation and well-plugging company has raised $2.4 million in fresh capital and secured several new energy-sector clients as it expands its remediation operations across the United States and prepares for international growth.

A sustainable land-use project in the Republic of the Congo has secured catalytic technical-assistance funding to support environmental and social studies aimed at advancing the project towards investment readiness.

A newly launched CO2 removals developer has emerged with plans to build a portfolio of community-focused forestry and biomass projects.

A Sydney-based investment manager and forestry firm launched its first global natural capital strategy fund, which will invest across forestry, agriculture, carbon, and biodiversity markets.

Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) have announced five new forest restoration and agroforestry financing operations worth R$834 million ($164 mln), expected to leverage a total of R$2.7 billion in investments and generate millions of carbon credits.

Staff at global standard Greenhouse Gas Protocol have responded with detailed steps of an independent review conducted after scientists on the Independent Standards Board (ISB) raised concerns internally regarding deliberations over forest carbon accounting.

Producers cut their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net length and extended their RGGI Allowance (RGA) net short during the most recent period reported by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) following quarterly auction results.

Ukraine’s cabinet has approved a package of 11 environmental measures, including a long-term, low-carbon development strategy to 2050, an updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) through 2030, and a new biodiversity conservation strategy.

You're at fault - A federal judge in South Carolina found the US EPA violated federal procedural law when it issued guidance terminating a $2.8 bln environmental and climate justice grant programme funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, saying the agency had ended the programme for policy reasons, E&E News reported. However, the judge declined to order the EPA to implement the grants, saying such a move would likely require the agency to rehire and staff the programme and would be impractical.

EU member states agreed on Friday to extend the bloc’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to downstream goods from Jan. 2028, while tightening the conditions for temporarily exempting products and broadening the list of goods covered.

European carbon prices gave up early momentum on Friday, generated by an overnight US government statement that an agreement had nearly been reached with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which pressured gas prices around 6% lower, though the supportive sentiment faded as the session went on for EUAs which ended the week flat, with several market players doubtful that the deal would be signed in the next few days.

The 2026 UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) auction calendar will be updated to reflect the inclusion of domestic maritime emissions once the regulation enabling the scope expansion comes into force in July, the government confirmed late on Friday.

New nuclear power - New York’s Public Service Commission has opened a formal process to gather input on how to support 4 GW of new nuclear power, following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) directive to expand nuclear generation as part of the state’s zero-emissions electricity goals and response to rising power demand, E&E News reported. State officials said early planning is needed because nuclear projects require long development timelines and must be coordinated with transmission investments, while Hochul has framed nuclear as part of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy and an area of rare alignment between New York and the federal government.

Science under scrutiny - Scientists at a Columbia University climate law conference said they would continue attribution research linking corporate emissions to stronger heat waves, hurricanes, and other disasters, despite what speakers described as federal, congressional, Republican state attorneys general, and industry efforts to discredit or limit the field, E&E News reported. Speakers said attribution science is increasingly being targeted because of its potential use in climate litigation against fossil fuel companies, though legal experts noted the science has not yet played a major role in cases that remain largely stalled on procedural issues. Researchers also linked the scrutiny of attribution science to broader Trump administration actions affecting climate and publicly funded scientific research, warning that cuts to federal support could weaken the pipeline of climate scientists sought by universities, insurers, analytics firms, and financial institutions.

Europe’s food and drink industry could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from 2020 levels by 2050, exceeding the reductions required under science-based guidance, but only if policymakers channel more carbon pricing revenues and targeted support into low-carbon technologies, according to a sectoral net zero roadmap presented in Brussels on Thursday.

Investors react sharply when an asset's carbon footprint becomes a prominent public issue, but do not systematically price changes in underlying emissions, according to new research using cryptocurrency markets as a natural experiment.

The Dutch government has retired nearly 7,000 tonnes of durable carbon removal credits to compensate for emissions generated by official government flights, marking what is believed to be the largest retirement of durable carbon removal credits by a government entity to date.

The EU is hopeful that the UN’s CORSIA offsetting scheme for airlines will look at the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism’s (PACM) direction of travel and explore potential revisions, a policy advisor to the European Commission said Friday, as aviation stakeholders await a decision on whether the bloc will expand its ETS to cover extra-European flights.

Guidance underpinning the rapidly expanding blue carbon sector frequently overlooks key tenure rights and international obligations to Indigenous peoples, coastal communities, and small-scale fishers, potentially exposing local groups to dispossession and exclusion from project benefits, researchers have warned.

Oil demand in China may have fallen faster than expected as the US-Israeli war against Iran passed the 100-day mark, Reuters reported Friday, in an indication that demand destruction may be advancing rapidly across some global regions, which would see a reduction in emissions across key carbon pricing schemes.

The Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) could help carbon markets move beyond individual projects and deliver mitigation at scale, but regulators still need to close key methodological, governance, and demand gaps, according to a report released Tuesday.

A Colombian carbon crediting standard has opened a public consultation on a revised biochar methodology, with updates aimed at strengthening rules on biomass eligibility, permanence, leakage, uncertainty, and long-term storage.

Safer waste treatment - Gold Standard has opened a consultation on its Safe Sanitation Services methodology, which quantifies GHG emission reductions from safely managing sanitation waste due to the avoidance of methane from anaerobic decomposition. Stakeholder feedback is sought on how, when, and to what extent facilities may be shared between several households, and on whether and how the co-treatment of municipal solid waste should be allowed, and whether the resulting emission reductions treatment can be considered under the methodology. The submission deadline is July 12 at 18:00 CET.

Nature-based solutions deserve stronger support in the newly released Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0, though they still have a clear pathway to scale, according to some carbon market stakeholders, who pointed to the standard's prioritisation of engineered removals to help companies tackle hard-to-abate emissions later down the line.

A coalition of civil society organisations from Turkiye, Australia, and the Pacific has urged the incoming COP31 presidency team to use this year’s UN climate summit to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

Armed conflict and policy uncertainty are making parts of the international carbon market harder to insure just as the EU looks to lean more on overseas credits, according to Bilal Hussain, co-founder and CEO of carbon credit insurer Artio.

Climate policies are overlooking up to 15% of global warming because they focus on a decades-old "basket" of greenhouse gases while ignoring other pollutants that indirectly heat the planet, according to a new paper.

Fertiliser support - The European Commission is helping farmers face sharply rising fertiliser costs through financial relief and proposing adjustments to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Some €540 mln will be mobilised in coming weeks as relief to help farmers who need to buy fertilisers to guarantee their next crops, and the Commission has proposed boosting the agricultural reserve with an extra €300 mln from the EU budget 2026 on top of the remaining funds, with Member States able to top it up by up to 200% of national funds, bringing total available financial support to a potential total of €1.5 bln. Secondly, targeted adjustments to the CAP will allow EU countries to offer farmers faster and more flexible support to access fertilisers, including a new liquidity scheme under rural development for crisis support, the option for countries to directly pay farmers earlier, and the possibility for countries to adjust their direct payment budget for calendar year 2027. The proposed targeted CAP legislative amendments will now be sent to the European Parliament and Council for approval. More details here.

EU Arctic drilling ban rethink – Norway’s prime minister has urged the EU to rethink its moratorium on new Arctic oil and gas drilling, arguing it makes little sense given Europe’s rising reliance on Norwegian LNG from the High North since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Jonas Gahr Store told the Financial Times that Brussels’ stance was “not informed” and challenged EU capitals to say whether gas from the US or Gulf is “safer” than supplies from a close ally. He said all of Norway’s wartime increase in exports to the EU came from Arctic LNG at Hammerfest and warned that if Europe does not want this gas “it goes somewhere else”. Norway, already advancing Barents Sea projects, argues its strict standards and Arctic expertise bolster both EU energy security and monitoring of Russian activity, while EU diplomats cite “huge environmental concerns” around lifting the moratorium. (Financial Times)

A digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) provider has partnered with a Danish biogas operator to provide data infrastructure for a five-site bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project in Denmark, the firms said last week.

Verra has issued a number of corrections and clarification for version 2.2 of its VM0042 methodology for Improved Land Management that was released in October.

China's carbon allowance prices have maintained their position above the RMB 80 ($11.81) threshold for a fourth consecutive week, yet upward momentum is stalling as block trade activity softens and the market awaits the finalised power sector allocation plan.

Industry groups have welcomed the European Commission’s draft move to ease penalties on fossil fuel importers that breach the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR), but warn the soft-law approach falls short of the legal overhaul they say is needed to avoid widespread non-compliance and energy supply risks.

Observers have praised the relationship between Australian and Turkiye as they lead the Bonn intersessional in their novel role-sharing arrangement, however the real challenge will come when they assume full responsibilities in November.

The provincial government of Southwest Papua is working on a jurisdiction-based carbon programme in preparation for future directions from Jakarta, local media reported Friday.

The UK’s first commercial direct air capture (DAC) project has launched with plans to remove up to 60,000 tonnes of CO2 per year by 2032, the project developers announced Thursday.

South Korea is seeking to fast-track its bilateral partnerships under the Paris Agreement, with approvals for new GHG reduction projects expected in the coming months.

Vietnam energy drive- Foxconn and global investment firm Brookfield are set to jointly develop up to 1 GW of utility-scale wind, solar, and battery capacity in Vietnam to support the former’s operations and supply chain in the country, TNGlobal reported. US-based Brookfield will leverage its Catalytic Transition Fund for the collaboration. Both parties will collaborate on investment and asset management of targeted projects.

From sea to land - The Western Australian government has granted an aquaculture licence to SeaStock to grow asparagopsis seaweed at scale at an onshore facility in Perth currently under construction, it announced. The government said SeaStock has developed an innovative onshore cultivation technique that provides consistent, quality biomass and high yield. The facility will be the state's first commercial-scale seaweed production facility, with the asparagopsis being fed to livestock to reduce methane emissions, among other uses. The federal government recently tapped Meat and Livestock Australia to develop a new beef herd management method under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme to include feed additive technologies as an eligible activity for crediting.

Singapore has signed cooperation agreements with carbon credit standards Verra and Gold Standard to expand the city-state's role in project validation and verification, according to an announcement made Friday.

A US‑based finance firm set up a carbon stream vehicle to back voluntary carbon market projects in Central Asia, targeting high‑integrity credits across land‑use and nature‑based categories.

Pedalling credits - Pakistan's Punjab province has earmarked half of the carbon credits expected from a new PKR 8.1 bln ($29 mln) electric bike-sharing scheme for the provincial horticulture agency, according to project details cited by The Nation. The initiative will deploy 50,000 e-bikes across Lahore over the next 18 months and is expected to cut CO2 emissions by around 5,000 tonnes annually. The project, financed entirely by private investment, will also generate operational revenue to be shared among government agencies. The province, Pakistan’s most populous, is also targeting the launch of a subnational ETS by mid-2027 while developing a pipeline of Article 6 and voluntary carbon market projects spanning forestry, transport, waste, energy, and clean water.

The EU may need to integrate CO2 removals into its emissions trading system as a "safety valve" to prevent allowance prices from spiralling if deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and green hydrogen infrastructure continues to lag expectations, according to a new report.

Europe’s forests are on course to miss a carbon sink target consistent with the EU’s 2030 climate goals by more than a quarter, as rising natural disturbances and continued harvesting erode their capacity to absorb emissions, according to a study published this week.

UK farm soil carbon stocks may be significantly underestimated by current accounting methodologies, with early findings from a major British environmental baselining project indicating that at least 30% of soil organic carbon lies below the depth commonly measured in carbon assessments.

Sao Paulo state has launched a five-year, R$30 million ($5.9 mln) programme to develop Brazil's first bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project for sugarcane ethanol.

South Korea's emissions market has maintained firm support above the KRW 20,000 ($13.16) level over the past two weeks, with both spot prices and the latest KAU-25 auction result holding well above that threshold despite sharp price fluctuations.

Steel yourself - Rio Tinto and China Baowu have completed industrial-scale pelletisation and shaft furnace trials in China using the former's Pilbara Blend iron ore, as part of a partnership study looking to reduce steelmaking emissions, they announced. Under the trials, China Baowu used a hydrogen-based shaft furnace to produce direct reduced iron (DRI) from pellets comprising one-third Pilbara Blend ore. The DRI was then successfully converted into steel in an industrial-scale basic oxygen furnace and was also tested in a small-scale electric smelting furnace. Rio said the trials show mid-grade ores mined in Western Australia can be used for hydrogen-based direct reduction feedstock and could be a future source for low-carbon steelmaking when combined with electric smelting furnace technology. Expanding feedstock and fuel options for direct reduction shaft furnace production is a key industry focus, and the work delivers on a key milestone under a 2023 MoU between Baowu and Rio to explore options to decarbonise the steel value chain. Both companies continue to work together on other projects under the MoU, they said.

The New Zealand government is looking to keep its ETS price controls and settings as is, in line with advice from the Climate Change Commission (CCC), according to a consultation published Friday.

Trading of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) slowed following the high of regulator ARB's recent vote on proposed Cap-and-Invest programme changes, while Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) prices and trading activity dipped into the Q2 auction results.