A digital soil mapping (DSM) approach using machine learning and remote sensing could provide a scalable, lower-cost alternative to existing soil carbon monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) methods, with uncertainty deductions for carbon credit issuance falling below 5% for large, long-term projects, according to a new study.

European carbon allowance prices moved in a narrow range on Friday morning, ending the session little-changed as traders chose to sit on their hands with just one week until the European Commission unveils its proposed ETS reform package, while energy markets drifted as the United States and Iran continued their dialogue despite a flare-up in military action during the week.

A new Building Modernisation Act that drops a 65% renewable energy obligation and a ban on installing oil and gas boilers in favour of promoting clean fuels has passed the German parliament and senate.

State aid - The EU Commission has approved a €2 mln Irish scheme for horticulture companies facing increased fuel prices, under the new temporary framework METSAF. The aid will run until Dec. 31, take the form of direct grants, and will cover the additional fuel costs resulting from the Middle East crisis incurred since March. (Read more)

Mauritania’s environment minister this week presented a strategic framework to facilitate access to international carbon finance and support mitigation activities, local media has reported.

Central and Eastern European (CEE) governments are seeking more EU ETS revenues while pushing for greater control over carbon costs ahead of a July 17 review of the system.

The European Commission on Thursday adopted its first certification methodologies for carbon farming under the EU’s Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation, updating draft rules that were released for public consultation in January.

The German parliament and senate have both signed off on a new energy security law that opens to door to auctions for 9 GW of new gas plants later this year.

According to an update from the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, a total 65%, or 129 of 198 countries, have now taken steps towards Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) participation by appointing their Designated National Authorities (DNAs).

EU Hydrogen Bank – The European Commission has published draft terms for a fourth hydrogen auction under its European Hydrogen Bank, with the call due to be launched by the end of 2026. The IF26 Hydrogen Auction will channel up to €500 million from the ETS-funded Innovation Fund to support production of RFNBOs (€350 mln) and electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen (€150 mln). The scheme will again use a pay-as-bid, fixed-premium design with 10-year support and a €4/kg bid cap, following three heavily oversubscribed rounds that drew 250 bids requesting nearly €24 bln. Member states can once more tap the “auctions-as-a-service” feature to add national money while relying on the EU-wide mechanism for project selection.

Lawmakers from three major political groups in the European Parliament have written separate letters to the EU executive in recent days, backing a “strong and stable” EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as Brussels prepares to unveil a major overhaul of the bloc’s carbon market on July 17.

Kenya is working to launch a carbon credit exchange serving the domestic and wider East African market within the next 12 months, media reported Friday.

Keep it green - Sweden has urged the EU not to weaken its flagship climate legislation as Brussels pursues a broader drive to simplify regulation and boost industrial competitiveness, Politico has reported. While Stockholm supports cutting unnecessary administrative burdens for businesses, it argues that the bloc should preserve the core objectives of the European Green Deal and avoid reopening major environmental laws simply to reduce compliance costs. In a paper circulated to EU governments ahead of discussions on the Commission’s simplification agenda, Sweden warned that frequent revisions create uncertainty for companies and risk undermining investment in the green transition. Instead, it called for stable, predictable rules that give businesses confidence to invest in low-carbon technologies while allowing targeted improvements where implementation has proved overly burdensome. The intervention contrasts with calls from some member states and industry groups for deeper rollbacks of environmental legislation. Sweden argued that competitiveness and decarbonisation should reinforce rather than undermine one another, warning against dismantling climate policies central to the EU’s long-term economic strategy.

Countries that allow carbon-taxed entities to offset their liabilities with UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits could absorb some of these phased-out units, even repurposing them to address Paris climate targets or for use against the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

A European impact fund is positioning itself to be a first big developer of forestry and carbon projects in one of Africa’s lesser known host countries, the Republic of Congo – and is helping the government build its market infrastructure along the way. 

A group of 12 oil and gas majors has Tuesday published the methodology it will use to report members’ aggregated performance against their collective 2025 carbon and methane intensity ambitions, with the results due in October.

In a market flooded with diverse transaction methods, from digital marketplaces and RFP platforms to brokers and exchanges, old-fashioned relationship-building is still the most common way to close a deal, according to a report. 

Hundreds of carbon projects left outside the Paris Agreement’s new crediting mechanism face an uncertain future, with developers weighing a patchwork of options ranging from voluntary markets and domestic compliance schemes to simply shutting down ageing programmes.

EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) revenues should be channelled towards closing the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) cost gap and supporting next-generation fuels that are currently commercially unviable, according to a policy briefing from researchers at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.

EU governments should sharply increase spending from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) for industrial decarbonisation, based on stricter conditionality rules, more targeted spending, and greater transparency, argues a new paper by the Jacques Delors Energy Centre.

Verra opened a one-month public consultation process on Thursday for a major revision of its cookstove methodology in its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) programme.

Carbon removal (CDR) buyers apart from Microsoft committed to a record-high volume of quarterly purchases, according to analysis published by a CDR portfolio manager on Thursday.