California gasoline sales picked up year-on-year (YoY) in March for the first time in multiple years, while diesel dropped by a larger percentage, recently published state data showed.

Dela(y)ware - A Delaware Superior Court stayed proceedings in the state’s climate change lawsuit against fossil fuel defendants earlier this month, pending a decision from the US Supreme Court on a separate climate lawsuit. The state government is seeking money damages from the fossil fuel industry. The highest court in Delaware granted a request from the fossil fuel defendants, saying it would be “prudent” to wait for the Supreme Court to decide Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, to receive guidance for future determinations of the State of Delaware v. BP America. Defendants on Delaware’s suit include ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, and more.

Stop the freeze - Four environmental non-profits filed a lawsuit in the North Carolina Superior Court against an order from state regulators on June 18, which had deferred utility Duke Energy’s solar and storage procurement process. The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) had approved a halt to Duke’s procurement of clean energy resources based on modifications of an existing procurement target. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Sierra Club, Vote Solar, and the Environmental Justice Community Action Network allege the investor-owned utility reduced its proposed solar and storage 2026 targets below what regulators required in the 2024 resource planning order, and that the NCUC’s deferral violated their right to due process per state law. The plaintiffs outlined that the NCUC’s order came less than two weeks after the utility updated its load forecast to show 2 GW of expected new demand in its service area for data centres and other large-load customers.

Stakeholder support – A package of support letters from local governments and First Nations groups were submitted to Manitoba late last year to support carbon capture company Deep Sky's proposed DAC facility in the province, the Narwhal reported. With local governments and First Nations in support of the project, alongside the recent financial support indicated by the company being issued North America’s first certified carbon removal credits under long-term offtake agreements, Deep Sky is seeking government backing and the ability to integrate with Manitoba’s provincial energy grid to take the project to the next phase.

Minnesota vs. US filings - The US had a request for a motion for leave to file rebuttal approved this week in its legal challenge to Minnesota's climate change deception lawsuit against oil majors, allowing federal litigators additional opportunity to submit legal arguments or evidence. This occurred as both state defenders and Trump administration challengers to Minnesota's effort submitted new filings outlining their cases. For example, federal officials from the State Department said Minnesota's lawsuit contradicts the US' stance against international climate liability efforts, while Minnesota's attorney general said the federal challenge is unripe, the cases cite by the US administration are irrelevant, and the challenge cannot be based on speculation about an adverse final adjustment, among other arguments.

Renewables were the fastest growing energy source in 2025, but global energy emissions still ticked up 1.1%, driven by an expansion of fossil fuel use in the US, found a report.

Carbon credits call – In Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul expects to select a private partner by September to structure, certify, and sell carbon credits generated by the state, according to the State Secretary for Environment, Development, Science, Technology, and Innovation Artur Falcette. The timeline was announced on Tuesday during official appointments at the Mato Grosso do Sul Environment Institute (Imasul), Campo Grande News reported. The public call for partners was recently published.

Cross-Atlantic carbon collaboration - The UK and Quebec have signed a MoU to strengthen collaboration on emissions trading policy and leadership on carbon markets, the former's Department of Energy Security and Net Zero announced Tuesday via a post on X.

The Carbon to Value Initiative (C2V Initiative) has opened applications for the sixth cohort of its ‘carbontech’ accelerator, seeking startups developing carbon capture, utilisation, and removal technologies as well as AI-enabled tools designed to accelerate commercial deployment.

A coalition of top European steel producers has said that more than €10 billion of low carbon investments are at risk if the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) framework is weakened in the upcoming reform.

What’s EORs is mine – US energy company BKV Corporation announced two carbon capture and storage (CCS) sites in Texas are operational on Tuesday, set to sequester CO2 from the company’s natural gas activities using Class II injection permits. The Class II permit is designed for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a process to extract more oil through the injection of CO2 underground. However, the company claimed it will be responsible for storing over 120,000 tCO2 annually through its new facilities, Eagle Ford and Cotton Cove. The developer, one of the largest natural gas producers in the US, will retain all environmental credits generated by the project initially, according to the announcement. This comes as other oil and gas giants are investing in direct air capture startups. BKV will acquire waste stream CO2 for its Eagle Ford CCS project from its natural gas processing plant on an adjacent site before compressing and transporting it to an injection well for underground storage. The Eagle Ford facility, completed under a strategic joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, will sequester about 90,000 tCO2 per year. Cotton Cove will sequester 32,000 tCO2 annually from BKV’s co-located midstream plant.

The Supreme Court of Washington ruled in favour of the state’s Department of Ecology (ECY) regarding the agriculture fuel exemption for fuel suppliers within the carbon cap-and-invest programme, ending a dispute brought by an agricultural association.

A planned clean energy project in Louisiana will not proceed after failing to meet internal financial return criteria, its developer announced Tuesday.

An Oregon-based climate finance advisory firm has partnered with a Hawaiian nature restoration developer to support global reforestation projects, the companies announced on Tuesday.

A Dutch direct ocean carbon capture (DOC) developer has filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure the funding needed to continue operations, despite having demonstrated its technology, secured public grants, and attracted investor interest.

A Saudi state-backed company working to build out the voluntary carbon market domestically and internationally will add homegrown carbon credits to its platform before the year is out, it announced on Tuesday.

Gabon carbon credits - Gabon’s Council of Ministers approved a decree last week formally setting up the Gabonese Agency for the Development of the Green Economy (AGADEV), a new public body tasked with supporting the country’s green economy and monetising carbon and biodiversity credits. The agency will also work on valuing other natural capital assets, developing a green economy centre of excellence, and mobilising green finance for the Central African nation.

Latin America is creating opportunities for carbon project developers to generate credits, access finance, and commercialise issuances, developing national carbon markets, Carbon Pulse reported last week – although Global North funds retain their key role in the market, for now.

EU carbon prices ended the first half of the year down by 8.3% despite gaining nearly €1.40 on Tuesday, as traders reversed Monday’s sell-off after a key European politician dismissed as "fake news" earlier media reports on potential ETS reform measures, with the rally bringing EUAs back above a key technical support level.

Peter Liese, a senior German lawmaker tipped to lead the forthcoming revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), told journalists that his party is not seeking to grant power generators free ETS allowances, contrary to media reports.

Another offshore wind buyout - The US Department of Interior (DOI) has reached an agreement with Charlotte-based Duke Energy to terminate the latter's $129-mln Carolina Long Bay offshore wind project. The DOI said the move will help Duke execute an energy modernisation strategy and prioritise customer value. The deal with Duke is the latest in a series of payouts by the Trump administration for developers to cancel offshore wind project development, most recently one earlier this month with Invenergy for $765 mln for the cancellation of offshore wind leases.

Fuel fight – Industry group Clean Fuels Alliance America has filed a motion to intervene in litigation challenging the US EPA's 2026-27 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), Biomass Magazine reported Friday. The industry group said it filed the motion in the consolidated case Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA, arguing that the rule creates market opportunities for US farmers while signalling additional growth in biodiesel and renewable diesel production and feedstock supplies. It said successful legal challenges could destabilise the RFS, arguing that American farmers, rural communities, and consumers would pay the price.

Verra has concluded the safeguards component of its quality control review (QCR) of the Kariba REDD+ carbon project, with independent auditors finding no evidence that the project breached the standard's rules during the period covered by their original assessments.

Land removals - The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol has released the Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Guidance, providing companies with detail on how to account for and report GHG emissions and carbon removals from agricultural land use and emerging removal technologies. The LSR Guidance supports corporate implementation of the LSR Standard, which outlines the accounting and reporting requirements, recommendations, and features 10 corporate case studies, from companies including Mars, PepsiCo, and General Mills. Both the LSR Standard and Guidance take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. As well, the GHG Protocol is launching a Request for Information on the topic of forest carbon accounting, open until Feb. 1, 2027.    

Oil and gas companies covered by the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) carbon storage obligation, along with 11 member states, face key compliance deadlines by close of business on Tuesday as Brussels moves to turn the bloc’s CCS ambitions into concrete projects, a senior European Commission official said.

Waste-to-energy (WtE) operators oppose the sector's inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), warning the move would increase costs for municipalities and consumers while doing little to reduce emissions because plant operators cannot control the composition of the waste they receive.

Insurance company QBE and seven businesses from its supply chain are partnering for a collective commitment of 50 years to fund rewilding and carbon credit generation in the United Kingdom, they announced on Tuesday.

The EU risks exposing itself to legal challenges if it weakens or abandons binding targets for carbon removals from forestry and land use as part of its post-2030 climate framework, according to a new legal analysis commissioned by WWF and published on Tuesday.

Amazon will buy 1.95 million carbon removal credits from a large-scale ecosystem restoration project in South Africa, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, as part of a an initiative that has also secured innovative financing through a $120 mln World Bank outcome bond.

Researchers from a carbon removal (CDR) initiative backed by around €33 million from the German government are advancing work into scaling up engineered and land-based removals, the programme has announced.

Taiwan is targeting the launch of a pilot cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme as early as 2028, but key policy aspects like the role of power plants in the scheme remain under discussion, a forum heard Tuesday.

A Benin-based improved cookstove project has secured €9 million from a new carbon investment platform backed by European development finance institutions, its developer announced Tuesday.

The World Bank said it will scrap two headline climate financing targets, including its goal for 45% of financing to deliver climate benefits, as it shifts its focus from how much the bank spends on climate-related projects.

The Philippines is edging closer to establishing legislature for a carbon pricing framework and itst architecture, but a new report has raised issues including the risks of interacting with international markets and unusually broad sectoral coverage and generous tax incentives.

Renewable electricity generation marginally fell in 2025 year-on-year across the EU as a solar boom was unable to offset the rebound in gas-fired power and a hydroelectric collapse, data from Eurostat reveals.

Trees at risk - London could lose most of its trees by 2090 due to climate change, according to the Kew Gardens tree collections and arboriculture team at Kew Gardens. In collaboration with the Greater London Authority, the researchers found that 72% of the capital's urban canopy could be at risk due to heat and drought driven by global warming. Some 62% of the city's 1.2 mln trees have low suitability to warmer urban environments, while 10% are already vulnerable. It follows last week's record heatwave in the capital where parts of the city reached 36C, and where the value of trees was especially evident in helping to cool streets and absorbing excess stormwater. Kew Gardens said it will work to choose more suitable urban trees with higher survival rates. Many British native trees such as the common beech, silver birch, holly, face highest risk of failure, with knock-on effects for other species such as fungi, lichens, and birds. (the Standard)  

Atomic push - South Korea will explore ways to shorten nuclear power plant construction times as it seeks to expand electricity supply to support rising demand from artificial intelligence, the presidential office said, according to Bloomberg. The government plans to include the measures in its upcoming long-term electricity supply and demand plan. Nuclear power currently generates about one-third of South Korea's electricity, but Seoul expects additional capacity will be needed to support planned investments in semiconductor manufacturing and data centres.

No end date - Japan and Mongolia have issued carbon credits to four solar power projects under their bilateral Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), covering emissions reductions generated between 2021-25, according to a meeting report published on Tuesday. The credits, split between the two countries, total more than 214,000 tCO2e across the projects. The two governments also signed authorisation letters allowing the transferred credits to be used as internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) under the Paris Agreement. Separately, the joint committee agreed to amend the bilateral JCM agreement to remove its end date.

Nuclear pact - Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) and Indonesia's nuclear regulator BAPETEN have signed an MoU to deepen cooperation on radiation protection, nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, the agencies said on Tuesday. The agreement covers collaboration on nuclear regulatory policy, emergency preparedness, environmental radiation monitoring, joint training, research, and personnel exchanges. The move comes as Singapore studies the potential role of nuclear energy in its future energy mix and aims to strengthen regional cooperation on nuclear safety through ASEAN platforms.

Racing to reduce - The Mercedes-AMG Petronas FT team has reduced its race team control emissions by 54% with sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFc) since 2022, according to its 2025 sustainability report. Some 30,688 tonnes of CO2e aviation emissions were reduced through use of SAFc between 2025 and 2022, with 11,504 tCO2e saved last year alone. The report also details its first climate transition action plan, outlining a path to full net zero across all scopes by 2040. On carbon removals, the team's committed to around 18,900 tCO2e across nature-based, hybrid, and engineered pathways, to be delivered from 2024-30, and in 2025, it launched the Blue Carbon Collective to fund mangrove conservation and restoration in Malaysia. Investments in new materials, efficiencies, and renewables allowed the team to last year achieve a 28% decrease in race team control emissions and a 15% reduction in overall emissions compared to 2024, said the press release.

Countries have reaffirmed the importance of scaling up energy efficiency in a new action plan signed in Montreal this week at a conference hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes reference to enhancing efficiency in data centres.

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) increased aboveground carbon storage in young native broadleaf woodland plots by up to 27% over four years, while soil microbiome enrichment delivered a smaller and less consistent early growth boost, a major UK study has found.

A regenerative food and farming company has partnered with a UK-headquartered bank to launch a fund aimed at advancing the nature-positive transition in the agricultural sector.

Moving fast - The Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE) has opened applications for its second cohort, seeking high-integrity, nature-based carbon projects across Africa. Launched in 2024 by Finance Earth and the African Natural Capital Alliance, the programme supports landscape-scale projects where carbon revenue is the primary investment driver, while delivering biodiversity, community and ecosystem benefits. The initiative aims to improve project investment readiness and strengthen financing channels for nature-positive investments. Cohort 1 includes projects in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Stage 0 applications for the second cohort close on July 17, 2026, with submissions reviewed on a rolling basis.

Miner BHP has argued attention should focus on cutting emissions from traditional blast furnaces, through carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and other technologies, due to the technique’s dominance in global steelmaking supply chains.

China-Australia Synergy - Fortescue is collaborating with a roster of Chinese clean tech companies on mining decarbonisation initiatives, China Daily reported Monday. At the Iron Ore and Open Pit Operators Conference 2026 in Perth last week, Fortescue’s Director of Integrated Operations Katie Charuga said that Chinese partners have already helped the miner deploy electric excavators, electric drills, and battery energy storage systems. The technological demands of green steel on the iron ore value chain have created new opportunities for cross-border collaboration, with Chinese firms like LONGi Magnet Co supplying magnetic separation equipment and Shanghai Kminda Tech Co promoting ultra-fine screening machines to help Australian companies improve ore quality and resource utilisation.

A Vilnius-based soil carbon firm has secured a €120 million senior secured credit facility to expand transition financing for European small and medium-sized agricultural businesses, it announced Tuesday.

Virtually solar-powered – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a financing package worth $57.4 mln for a rooftop solar aggregation and virtual net metering project in Sri Lanka, including $5.5 mln from Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism fund. The balance of the cash comprises a concessional loan of $35 mln and an EU grant of $16.9 mln. Combined with counterpart financing, the total project cost is estimated at $80.5 mln, ADB said. The project is to support two of the island nation’s state-owned utilities to establish a scalable model which pools solar power from large rooftop systems and then virtually distribute credits to eligible consumers. It is aiming to help lower power bills for community organisations as well as micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, which may not be able to install rooftop solar due to a lack of space. Sri Lanka and Japan signed an agreement to cooperate on the JCM in Oct. 2022.

The EU’s planned overhaul of its Emissions Trading System (ETS) must be reshaped to avoid accelerating Europe’s industrial decline, the continent’s chemicals lobby has warned, urging policymakers to treat the reform as “a test for Europe’s climate and industrial transition”.

Energy deal closed- Sydney-based asset manager HMC Capital and investment firm KKR closed the A$603 mln ($414 mln) Illuma deal after ACCC and FIRB clearance, with A$355 mln upfront and up to A$248 mln for Illuma’s first battery storage project. The completion came a day after HMC said the approvals were secured and financial close was expected.

Gassed up – A survey for industry body GasNZ has found that just over half of respondents supported importing LNG to New Zealand, and 75% were in favour of biomethane phasing out natural gas. The figure supporting imports rose to two-thirds when it was seen to be ensuring energy security and affordability, GasNZ said. Meanwhile, only 7% opposed replacing gas with biomethane, while 18% of the 1,022 respondents were unsure. GasNZ has proposed an action plan to ramp up the low-carbon fuel, which could see it replacing half of reticulated gas by 2050. The survey comes amid the government’s controversial plans to contract to build an LNG import terminal, claiming this would act as an insurance policy for New Zealand’s dry year risk, yet which many have argued would inflate energy bills and experts warned was in breach of the country's free trade agreements.

Accounting standardisation – The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment has updated its enterprise carbon accounting and reporting guidelines for power generation facilities, it announced Monday. Key updates included the standardisation of the carbon oxidation rate used per facility type as per the national emission factor database, the exclusion of indirect emissions from purchased and used grid electricity, and a new requirement for facilities to report on-site energy conservation and carbon reduction measures. Power generation facilities are expected to apply the updated guidelines starting this year.

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has approved $250 million of trade finance facilities for a major Turkish bank to support the country’s export-oriented sustainable steel and renewable energy sectors.

Europe’s climate ambitions must go hand-in-hand with industrial competitiveness. The upcoming EU ETS reform should support decarbonisation while ensuring affordable energy, investment certainty, energy security, and a level playing field for European industry.

The Malaysia Forest Fund (MFF), a federal government agency, has called for partners to pilot two new methodologies under its Forest Carbon Offset (FCO) Programme, with a focus on urban forestry and agroforestry, it announced. 

Borneo states claim carbon - Sabah NGO Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation has urged Sabah and Sarawak to retain full ownership of revenue from carbon resources, rejecting revenue‑sharing models, the Borneo Post reported. NGO Chairman Daniel John Jambun said that the land and nat­ural resources belong to the respect­ive state gov­ern­ments and rev­enue gen­er­ated from car­bon resources should accrue to the states. He added that the proposal marked an important recognition of the forests’ global environmental value.

Soil MRV boost - Berlin-based digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) platform Seqana has raised €3.2 mln in funding to advance its soil MRV technology, the company announced on June 17. With the funding, Seqana will expand its platform’s coverage to a broader set of soil health indicators in addition to carbon measurement. The company co-authored the newest version of Verra’s VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management, which completed its public consultation in March, as well as Gold Standard’s Soil Organic Carbon Model Guidelines for quantifying carbon stock changes in agricultural soils.

Research development – New Zealand is allocating an additional NZ$40.7 mln ($23 mln) to help university researchers commercialise their output, the Beehive announced Tuesday. Universities will be required to co-invest in research supported by the enhanced Commercialisation Partner Network programme. The cash boost will help things such as low-emissions agtech solutions get to market sooner. It comes a few weeks after the government launched an accelerator to scale agricultural emissions reductions.  Agriculture accounts for around half of New Zealand’s GHG emissions profile, and the country has a target to cut its biogenic methane emissions by 10% by 2030 – which it said in January would be missed – and a new target of 14-24% by 2050, compared with 2017 levels.

Leadership shuffle – Engie's Southeast Asia arm is undergoing a leadership transition, as Varun Gujral concludes his tenure after 14 years as both country manager and CEO of the French energy major’s supply & energy management business in the region, the company announced Tuesday. Jacques Boonen will assume the role of country manager, while Jules Dufournier will become managing director of the supply & energy management business, effective July 1. Engie has more than 2,000 employees across Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Analysis of 14 Pacific Island Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) found that a lag in climate finance flows to the region threatens their implementation.

Singapore and Indonesia are closing in on finalising an implementation agreement under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, local media reported Tuesday.

Oregon has distributed close to 23.3 million allowances for compliance with its Climate Protection Program (CPP) in 2026.

An Australian venture capital fund announced Tuesday it had successfully raised A$28 mln ($19.2 mln) on behalf of an aerospace company looking to scale its drag-reducing adhesive film that improves flight efficiency.

Pay up – The council for the Tasmanian capital of Hobart has passed a motion calling for the national government to create a National Climate Compensation Fund, which would apply a levy on major fossil fuel companies. Specifically, the motion – passed at the council’s meeting on Monday – calls on the city’s Lord Mayor to write to the government to ask for the fund to be established as well as for a federal inquiry into the adequacy of the country’s 2025 National Adaptation Plan. (Climate Media Centre)

An Oregon advisory group has asked Governor Tina Kotek (D) repeal the state’s Climate Protection Programme (CPP) and adopt a cap-and-invest scheme, as part its suite of recommendations across a broad range of state policies.