The federal government of Canada Thursday announced C$19.4 million ($13.7 mln) in clean energy, reliability, and energy efficiency investments across the province of Alberta.

Colorado’s air regulator reported no activity on Thursday from the most recent auction round of the carbon trading programme for manufacturing facilities in the state, as no credits for the 2025 or 2024 vintage years were matched.

Project developers behind around C$5 billion ($3.5 bln) in carbon removal (CDR) projects are sending up flares Canada’s reduced industrial carbon price threatens their viability.

Tropical moist forests across 18 African countries removed enough carbon to offset most land-use emissions between 2015 and 2019, though researchers said uncertainty means the region's overall carbon balance remains unresolved.

EU member states and the European Commission have condemned this year's host of the international climate talks, Turkiye, for inviting only 26 of the 27 countries of the bloc to the COP31 conference and excluding Cyprus from preparatory climate talks.

Longer historical reference periods could improve confidence in estimating emissions reductions from reduced deforestation initiatives, according to new research.

Battery-electric trucks and buses offer deeper lifecycle emissions cuts than hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles across US medium- and heavy-duty transport, even under scenarios favourable to hydrogen, according to a new study.

The European Commission is preparing a broad overhaul of the EU ETS that would introduce more dynamic controls over allowance supply, recalibrate the market's emissions trajectory, and extend support for industrial decarbonisation, according to a media report citing people familiar with the plans.

Push to pause - A senior House Democrat on Wednesday called for Congress to impose a nationwide moratorium on data centres, citing public concern over the rapid buildout of AI-related infrastructure, E&E News reported. House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) made the call during an Energy Subcommittee session on legislation aimed at preventing ratepayers from covering the costs of data centre expansion, making him one of the highest-ranking congressional Democrats with jurisdiction over energy and environmental issues to support such a policy.

Power pact - Chevron has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft to supply electricity from a planned 2.67 GW gas-fired generation facility co-located with a Microsoft data centre in West Texas. The phased Project Kilby, being developed by Chevron subsidiary Energy Forge One in collaboration with Engine No. 1, is expected to begin delivering power in 2028, subject to a final investment decision by the end of 2026. Chevron said the project is designed to provide dedicated, dispatchable power to the data centre while reducing impacts on the regional grid. The company expects the development to generate more than $10 bln in state and local tax revenue with advanced emissions control technologies incorporated into the facility.

MRV momentum - Guyana launched a new digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system initiative on Wednesday aimed at strengthening GHG emissions tracking across industrial processes and product use (IPPU) and other sectors, as part of efforts to improve transparency and access to climate finance. The project, launched by the Department of Environment and Climate Change with support from the Global Green Growth Institute and the Green Climate Fund Readiness Programme, will establish a national digital platform to streamline emissions data collection, management, and reporting, while improving institutional arrangements, building technical capacity, strengthening cross-sector coordination, and aligning Guyana's reporting with international standards to support its climate commitments and low-carbon development strategy through 2030.

Alberta has published its biomass waste combustion for energy generation protocol, following a public comment period.

A group of 12 EU climate ministers met separately on Thursday to discuss a joint stance on reforming the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and on whether to again delay the EU’s second carbon market for heating and transport (ETS2).

A Paris court has ordered TotalEnergies to overhaul its climate vigilance plan within six months, ruling that the French oil major breached its legal duty to address the climate risks posed by its activities and products, including so-called Scope 3 emissions generated when its oil and gas are burned.

The UK can be an ally in Japan's long-running effort to promote transition finance, pushing investments towards emission cuts from polluting sectors, according the executive director of FinCity.Tokyo, Tokio Morita.

Carbon looked to be heading higher on Thursday, posting a healthy early increase even as energy markets extended their week of declines amid a gradual lessening of supply worries around the Strait of Hormuz, before a steep sell-off wiped out the day’s gains and left carbon with a 0.3% daily loss, while the European Commission was reported to be mulling a softening of the market stability reserve's parameters.

A US-based tech giant has launched a request for proposals (RFP) seeking emissions reduction interventions across a broad range of hard-to-abate sectors in its value chain.

Royal food waste - King Charles III visited a pop-up takeaway during London Climate Action Week that threw the spotlight on methane emissions from food waste, the NGO WRAP announced. The Methane Takeaway installation highlighted thew ays in which the food industry can change quickly to reduce methane emissions. In the UK, for example, food waste costs the average household of four £1,000 a year.

Emerging market economies are proving to be more reliable recipients of green investment than developed countries, according to a Brazil-based investor.

The EU's 27 environment ministers remained divided over plans to relax car CO2 rules on Thursday, while Wopke Hoekstra, the EU's climate chief, said the recent boom in electric car sales is a sign that weakening the cars CO2 target may not have been necessary after all.

Platts will remove the annual vintage roll for its Renewable Energy, Nature-Based Avoidance, South America, and Household Devices carbon credit assessments on July 1, the price assessor said Thursday.

A digital infrastructure company has proposed a new framework to monetise the environmental value of leaving commercially recoverable carbon resources untouched, with the preservation capital then directed towards restoration and reclamation activities such as cleaning up legacy coal waste.

A French project developer is offering voluntary credits across biodiversity, carbon, water, and soil from regenerative agriculture and forestry initiatives, an executive told Carbon Pulse.

Greater use of engineered wood products in construction could deliver savings equivalent to around 7% of projected annual emissions from the global buildings sector, a UN-backed report has found.

The European Commission will soon publish detailed guidance on certain requirements under its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), while working with India to narrow differences between the border levy and the country's upcoming emissions trading, officials said on Thursday.

CCUS forum launched – The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) has launched the European CCUS National Associations Forum to step up cooperation and alignment among national and EU-level carbon capture, utilisation and storage organisations, it announced on Thursday. The informal platform aims to boost knowledge-sharing and coordinated advocacy as CCUS momentum builds across Europe. National CCUS groups are increasingly involved in shaping policy, supporting project and market development, and tackling deployment barriers, and the Forum will help them exchange best practice and inform regulatory frameworks, including in countries that lack dedicated CCUS associations.

Vietnam will launch its pilot carbon market next week, with 92 domestic firms, including Hoa Phat Group, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., and Vietnam Electricity Group, set to begin trading greenhouse gas emission permits.

The United States, Qatar, Nigeria, and Algeria have warned that the EU’s methane regulation risks disrupting Europe’s oil and gas supplies unless Brussels swiftly freezes the law and amends it to prevent widespread non-compliance.

Average carbon emissions from new cars and vans in Europe, due to be included in the delayed ETS2 cap-and-trade scheme, fell sharply last year amid the switch to electric vehicles (EVs), according to provisional data on Thursday.

The clearest route to scaling carbon markets is to penalise emissions using carbon border fees and reward low-carbon intensity products through the use of market instruments such as book-and-claim and environmental attribute certificates (EACs), according to a representative of a global commodities trading house.

Extreme heat - Peak temperatures would hit 45C in England, 41C in Wales, 38C in Scotland, and 30C in Northern Ireland under the Met Office's 2056 scenario at around 2.5C of plausible global warming. On the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1976 heatwave and as the country swelters in a heatwave, the projection paints a brutal picture of prolonged heat lasting two weeks, with nine consecutive days exceeding 40C somewhere in the UK. The Met Office issued 'a Red Extreme Heat National Severe Weather Warning' for parts of the UK on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures this week forecast to shatter June records - bringing severe risks to health, infrastructure, energy, and water supplies. Average UK summers have warmed by about 1.4C since 1976, with even stronger extremes. The latest scenario underlines the need for urgent climate action to avert the worst cases of human-induced climate change, said the Met Office. (Express)

Climate NGO Carbon Gap has urged EU governments to set binding national targets for permanent carbon removal (CDR) under the bloc’s 2040 climate framework, warning that a single, EU‑wide net emissions goal will not deliver the volumes needed to reach net zero.

Kenya, a regional frontrunner in the race to attract carbon trading, took many in the market by surprise this month when it announced it would limit its Article 6 credit transfers despite already having a big existing project pipeline – in another sign of the uncertainties surrounding Sub-Saharan Africa’s up-and-coming carbon markets.

A German engineering company and a climate technology startup have partnered to scale Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems, with one named as the other’s preferred automation and digitalisation partner ahead of the inauguration of the country’s largest DAC facility in Berlin.

China’s policy efforts to mitigate superpollutants have advanced over the past few years, creating new potential for carbon credit development, experts told Carbon Pulse.

The Japanese government is placing too great a priority on its domestic carbon market, the GX-ETS, and should expand focus to engage with international credits, a Tokyo-based public-private partnership said at London Climate Action Week (LCAW).

Direct exposure to carbon markets is limited for food and beverage manufacturers because most fall below emissions thresholds covered by compliance schemes, leading to investment decisions driven largely by fuel-credit programmes, tax incentives, and energy savings, according to a new report.

Mangrove forests, coastal habitats that support fisheries and store carbon, have shown signs of recovery after years of global decline, according to a satellite analysis.

A new Finnish consortium aiming to scale up hydrogen adoption has been launched, seeking to unlock Finland’s €34 billion hydrogen market, announced a consortium member on Thursday.

The UK government needs to lean into the City of London's rise as a hub for global carbon trading, and help to harness existing financial infrastructure to strengthen global carbon markets, experts said on Wednesday.

South Korea has launched a large carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) project, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by over 600,000 tonnes annually by 2035.

A California-based marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) company raised $12.5 million in the first close of its latest funding round, targeting application of its technology in other industrial markets.

Algeria pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 14% below business-as-usual levels by 2035, according to its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), with the country signalling its intent to use the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 cooperation mechanisms.

Diplomacy secrets – Australia is withholding papers regarding investment decisions for the Tuvalu Trust Fund, claiming their release would harm diplomatic relations, AFP reported. The news agency had used freedom of information laws to request the papers, following an investigation which found that the fund has been investing in fossil fuels – contrary to the fund’s investment principles. The Australian government is the largest contributor to the fund and holds a seat on its board, AFP said.

Singapore’s flagship blended finance initiative for the net zero transition has raised another $250 million for its fossil fuel displacement strategy, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on Wednesday.

A new cleantech platform in New Zealand is looking to bring together innovators, funders, and relevant government agencies to help the sector grow, its co-founder and CEO told Carbon Pulse.

Companies across the EU and US could mobilise around $17 billion annually for climate action if they adopt the 'advanced' level of the Science Based Targets initiative’s ongoing emissions framework under its newly updated corporate standard, said Gold Standard on Thursday as it released a report setting out how such emissions could be dealt with. 

Meeting demand - China's exports of electric vehicles rose nearly 50% YoY to a record $9.2 bln in last month, Bloomberg reported, citing customs data. This was primarily driven by consumers seeking to reduce reliance on fossil fuels amid higher oil prices linked to the Iran conflict, according to the report. Overall exports of electricity technologies, including EVs, solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and grid equipment, remained close to record levels despite declines in solar and battery shipments.

Good old times - Global natural gas markets are expected to begin stabilising in the third quarter as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran ceasefire restores energy flows, the secretary general of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) told Reuters. Benchmark crude fell to pre-war levels earlier today. Philip Mshelbila said gas prices and export volumes could return closer to pre-conflict levels by the fourth quarter, although Asian prices may remain elevated in the near term. He added that China's LNG demand would continue to grow despite expanding renewable energy and domestic gas production. Mshelbila also urged the European Union to delay implementing methane-based LNG import rules until globally coordinated standards are agreed.

Chinese multinational technology conglomerate Tencent has unveiled 16 winners for its global initiative designed to help promising climate solutions grow and scale.

A major Japanese bank has decided to invest in a Canadian startup dedicated to carbon removal solutions, eyeing the potential of Japan’s direct air capture (DAC) sector.

New requirements – New Zealand’s government has updated the criteria for climate implications of policy assessments (CIPAs), to now require such analyses to consider impacts on the country’s legislated emissions budgets and emissions reduction plans.  The Ministry for Environment – which next month will join the mega Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport – released the updated CIPA guidance for government agencies and forms on Thursday.

Turkish delight – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $175.48 mln for Turkiye’s state-owned development and investment bank servicing municipalities, Iller Bankasi Anonim Sirketi (ILBANK). The cash will be used to support ILBANK’s Municipal Renewable Energy Transition Program, ADB said in a press release, which is designed to support the national goals to increase renewable capacity to 120 GW by 2035 and reach net zero by 2053. ADB noted that municipal buildings and utility services account for 31% of power consumption and 30% of GHG emissions across the country’s districts. Earlier this week, a Turkish official said that the country’s ETS will kick off its pilot phase this year, covering sectors subject to the EU’s CBAM – including electricity.

Australia is expected to see electricity emissions fall by around 90% by 2050, despite demand doubling and generation tripling, the country’s market operator said in a report published Thursday.

California regulator ARB reported a slow-down in issuance of new compliance-eligible offsets over the last two weeks, while seeing the largest amount of credits cross the invalidation expiry year-to-date (YtD).