Multilateral development banks (MDBs) provided $163 billion in climate finance in 2025, driven primarily by mitigation efforts in the energy sector, while remaining on track to meet collective 2030 financing targets despite political complexities.

Wetland watch - University of California, Santa Cruz, researchers have installed atmospheric monitoring towers at two Southern California wetlands to measure CO2 uptake, methane emissions, and air-quality impacts. The project, conducted with the California Air Resources Board and AmeriFlux, will compare the industrially degraded Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach with the nearby Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge over two years. The continuous measurements are intended to fill a regional data gap, as most previous wetland monitoring in California has focused on the San Joaquin Bay Delta, and to improve state estimates of wetland emissions and carbon storage. Researchers will also assess how restoring degraded wetlands could affect carbon sequestration and measure plant-generated compounds linked to ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter.

A Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer and a conservation group have signed an agreement to promote domestic biodiversity initiatives and nature positivity through 2030, according to a Monday statement.

A financial services provider has partnered with National Parks Partnerships (NPP) and the South Downs National Park to finance one of the UK's largest woodland creation projects through carbon markets, in a move designed to accelerate nature restoration while generating credits.

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.

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.

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.

CoolRice launch - Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), 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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Soil carbon cooperation - Taiwan Carbon Solution Exchange has signed a 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 adopts 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.  

Conservation collaboration - Scientific body the Cawthorn Institute has signed a new 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. 

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 (MAGA) announced this week. Last November, the Central American country received a $24 mln payment from the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) from a REDD+ national initiative. In May 2025, Guatemala was one of the countries targeted by the KFS for official development assistance in REDD+.