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TOP STORY
Trump administration reduces wildlife protections under Endangered Species Act
The US administration has finalised a decision to eliminate habitat protections for wildlife against activities such as mining by changing definitions under its cornerstone Endangered Species Act (ESA).
EMEA
INTERVIEW: France building pipeline of 40 biodiversity credit projects
France has around 40 voluntary and mandatory biodiversity credit projects in the pipeline under the government’s rebranded scheme, an official has said.
DRC minister pledges to keep logging moratorium after pressure from environmental groups
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) environment minister has pledged to maintain the country’s 23-year-old moratorium on new industrial logging concessions, marking a significant reversal after weeks of concern that the government was preparing to reopen vast areas of the Congo Basin to commercial timber operations.
EU Commission signs off leather exclusion from anti-deforestation law
The European Commission has adopted measures to exclude products including leather from the scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) following a hotly contested simplification package presented earlier this year.
UK govt assigns £40 mln to nature conservation in England
The UK government has set aside £40 million for national parks and landscapes as part of its new plan for progressing England’s international commitment to conserve 30% of its land by 2030, it announced on Monday.
INTERNATIONAL
Fires become leading driver of intact forest loss worldwide -analysis
Forest fires have overtaken logging as the leading driver of the decline in the world’s remaining intact forest landscapes, according to a new analysis of Global Nature Watch data published on Monday.
Corporate sustainability initiative, UK bank launch NbS accelerator for Middle East, SE Asia
A multi-company partnership for sustainability and a London-based bank have jointly launched a programme to coach high-potential initiatives in the nature-based solutions (NbS) space across the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkiye (MENAT), and Southeast Asia.
Mega companies’ nature commitments could influence entire sectors, but most aren’t robust enough -study
Researchers have assessed biodiversity reporting from major companies across high-impact industries, suggesting that although these firms carry enough influence to sway sectoral nature action, most of their commitments are not sufficiently detailed to actually drive change.
AI models can bring biodiversity monitoring at scale closer to auditable measurements -study
Advances in artificial intelligence mean scalable biodiversity measurement is increasingly within reach, shifting the remaining challenge from data collection towards designing the governance, metrics, and institutions needed to support credible reporting and market-based incentives, according to researchers.
Digital soil mapping could slash uncertainty deductions for large soil carbon projects -study
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.
ASIA PACIFIC
Japanese pilot to add nature positivity to blue carbon credits
Two Japanese organisations have joined to set up a pilot crediting project that will measure the nature positive impacts of blue carbon activities by using environmental DNA (eDNA).
South Korean financial group establishes fund for Paris-aligned carbon projects
In a first for South Korea, a leading financial group has established a pilot blind fund dedicated to international offset projects that support the country’s climate targets.
AMERICAS
North American forestry body, US non-profit launch carbon analytics pilot
A North American forestry standards organisation and a US-based non-profit have partnered on a pilot forest analytics tool for carbon reporting, wildfire mitigation, and resilience planning across timber sourcing areas, the two announced.
COMMENT
Building the carbon markets of tomorrow – Singapore’s blueprint
Singapore is building an integrated carbon market ecosystem that fills financing, innovation, and demand gaps, positioning itself as Asia’s hub for scaling high-integrity carbon projects and Article 6 markets.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
Korea-Guatemala REDD – Guatemala is assessing the feasibility of a REDD+ project that could enable the country to participate in carbon credit markets, with support from the Korea Forest Service (KFS), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food announced this week. Last November, the Central American country received a $24 mln payment from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility from a REDD+ national initiative. In May 2025, Guatemala was one of the countries targeted by the KFS for official development assistance in REDD+.
Stepping up – The Philippines is pushing to implement climate and biodiversity projects supported by Germany as part of efforts to progress its Nationally Determined Contribution and the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Philippine News Agency reported on Monday. Government officials and development partners recently concluded a technical working group conference in Manila aimed at taking the Transformative Actions for Climate and Ecological Protection and Development (Transcend) projects to their next stages. Transcend is a climate and ecological initiative led by the German development agency, GIZ, and funded by Germany’s International Climate Initiative expected to run until 2029.
ASIA PACIFIC
Green sprouts – Cambodia’s environment ministry has ramped up tree planting efforts during a three-day ‘sprint’ held in Phnom Penh over July 10-13, the country’s environment ministry shared to LinkedIn on Monday. During the planting initiative, Green Sprouts, the government distributed 1.2 mln seedlings to the public. Including the Green Sprouts planting push, Cambodia has given 5.3 mln tree seedlings to the public since Jan. 2026, according to government figures. This was its third iteration.
Orangutan conservation – Indonesia is progressing efforts to conserve highly endangered orangutans in East Kalimantan, Antara reported on Monday. The country’s minister of forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, said his department has issued a letter of support for protection measures spanning some 87,000 ha. The ministry is also looking to set up a working group dedicated to orangutan conservation as habitat destruction continues to threaten surviving populations.
Soil carbon cooperation – Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange has signed an MoU with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute to promote the development of soil carbon projects, the government-backed exchange said Monday. It follows the release of a domestic offset methodology for agricultural soil management practices in March, which adopted the quantitative approach of the international method VM0042 and suits Taiwan’s agricultural conditions. The methodology aims to encourage farmers to use organic materials or reduce tillage for carbon sequestration.
CoolRice launch – Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Japanese research partners have launched CoolRice, a one-year initiative to advance heat-tolerant rice breeding and low-emission cultivation practices across Asia. The project aims to strengthen the scientific and technical foundations for climate-resilient rice production by combining crop breeding, climate analytics, agronomy, and greenhouse gas mitigation research, with partners agreeing a roadmap for future collaboration during a workshop held at IRRI headquarters in the Philippines.
Conservation collaboration – Scientific body the Cawthorn Institute has signed a relationship agreement with the New Zealand government’s Department of Conservation to strengthen collaboration on aquatic science, conservation, and innovation, it announced. The agreement sets out how the two organisations will work together on shared priorities, including research that improves outcomes for aquatic species and ecosystems, strengthens the management of conservation threats, and supports practical action. It also outlines principles for collaboration and provides greater clarity for research involving aquatic species in purpose-built facilities, the institute said.
EMEA
Togo path – Togo has begun reviewing its biodiversity finance policy and institutional framework under the UN Development Programme’s BIOFIN initiative, marking the first step towards developing a national biodiversity finance plan, Togo First reported last week. The process aims to identify financing needs, assess existing funding mechanisms, and prioritise public and private investment to support biodiversity conservation. Biodiversity credits were mentioned as a tool to mobilise finance.
Nature finance cooperation – The Banque de France, the French Foundation for Biodiversity Research, and several European biodiversity research partnerships issued a joint statement this week to strengthen cooperation between science, finance, and public institutions on nature-related financial risks. The organisations pledged to improve the use of scientific evidence in financial decision-making and support nature-positive finance in line with the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Seed round – Swiss carbon removal developer Arrhenius has closed a seed funding round to scale its microalgae-based CO2 removal and biomass storage technology, it announced last week on LinkedIn. The undisclosed funding will support construction of a 500-square-metre pilot plant combining carbon removal with wastewater treatment, as well as preparations for the company’s first commercial facility abroad. Investors included CTA, Young Ventures, and angel investors Thomas Krumbeck and Ralf Wildenhues. The pilot will test the technology under real-world conditions ahead of commercial deployment.
Join the gang – The UK finally signed the High Seas Treaty into law late last week, establishing for the first time a legal mechanism to create marine protected areas on the high seas for the country, the government said. The Foreign Secretary signed the document required for the UK to ratify the agreement, with the paper formally deposited with the UN in New York on Friday in the final step of the process. Some 91 other countries have ratified the treaty, following it reaching the milestone of 60 necessary for it to enter into force in Sep. 2025.
Habitat mapping – Scottish public nature agency NatureScot is testing a digital tool with farmers to support them in engaging with nature as part of their business management. Using Ordnance Survey data, Farm Biodiversity Scotland aims to help users meet requirements for government biodiversity support schemes by enabling the mapping of habitats, recording of wildlife observations, and tracking of biodiversity improvements. Its long-term goal is to increase future resilience.
AMERICAS
Cerrado programme legacy – In Brazil, after seven years of work, the Sustainable Rural Project – Cerrado has concluded its activities in four states, leaving a legacy of more than R$150 mln ($29 mln) in support of sustainable, low-carbon agriculture. Since 2019, the programme has worked in 101 municipalities, helping small and medium-sized farmers adopt low-carbon technologies, recover degraded pastures, and implement sustainable production systems while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving rural incomes. (Globo Rural)
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