Out to sea - Users of the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator, created by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan, now have access to an ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) feature, organisations responsible for development announced Tuesday. The new feature allows users to explore how OAE could contribute to global carbon removal needed to meet climate change goals, while examining constraints, costs, and uncertainties, said Ocean Visions, a non-profit ocean conservation group.

Carbon credits lagging - States and regions are least likely to rely on carbon pricing mechanisms to fund climate action, preferring instead to rely on domestic sources of public finance, according to a report published Monday by the international environmental disclosure non-profit CDP. Only seven states and regional jurisdictions worldwide reported a climate finance or carbon credit programme as a funding source. More states and regions also turned to international sources of finance and public-private partnerships than they did carbon credits. More than 1,000 cities, states, and regions disclosed through CDP in 2025, of which 91% reported climate hazards such as drought and water stress and 69% reported a jurisdictional GHG reduction target.

Low-carbon companies attracted $26.1 billion in venture capital in H1 2026, largely led by data centre developers that have made clean power a core part of their strategy, according to a market intelligence company.

Mobile network operators worldwide are on track to reduce their emissions by 33% by 2030, short of a 45% reduction target, according to a trade association report.

Corporate carbon credit buyers are applying more detailed quality and risk criteria to their purchases, but many remain reluctant to move beyond spot transactions into long-term offtakes that carry delivery, counterparty, and balance-sheet exposure, experts said during a Tuesday panel.

Verra revision - Voluntary carbon standard Verra has released a revised version (v1.1) of its VM0051 methodology (Improved Management in Rice Production Systems), it announced on Tuesday. Verra said the updated contained "minor revisions" intended to clarify methodology requirements, align the methodology with current VCS Program rules and requirements following the launch of the latest version of the programme in Dec. 2025, and refine guidance for project area stratification and quantification procedures. The previous version of VM0051, v1.0, will be inactivated under the VCS Program on Aug. 1, after which any projects requesting registration or crediting period renewal must use v1.1. VM0051 was approved for the first two compliance phases of UN aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA in April and has been submitted for evaluation under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market's (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label.

Demand across the voluntary carbon market (VCM) remained steady in the first half of 2026 after a large retirement from a US oil and gas company helped to keep pace with 2025's record level, according to data from an analytics firm.

The European Commission is set to drop proposals to impose strict additional eligibility criteria for carbon credits used by EU airlines for Phase 1 of the UN's CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme, according to a recent presentation from the EU's executive.

Expanding the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover a greater share of aviation emissions would not have led to a significant displacement of emissions outside the bloc, and could have boosted revenues by an estimated €14.3 billion a year, a study by an independent transport research organisation found.

European carbon surged after Tuesday morning's auction as speculative length-building in anticipation of Friday's EU ETS reform package presentation continued to drown out other market signals, including a further ratcheting up of the conflict in the Persian Gulf and rising power prices.

Boost for BP - Higher prices for oil and refined products, pushed up by the war in Iran, have helped BP cut its net debt by 13%, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The oil and gas major's net debt was expected to have slipped to $22-23 bln at the end of June, from $25.3 bln at the end of Q1. BP's oil and gas production is expected to have fallen in Q2, to around 2.2 mln boe/d, from 2.3 mln in Q1 – due to disruptions from the war, as well as seasonal maintenance. Still, the company expects to see higher revenue in Q2 due to price lags, higher refining margins, higher oil prices, and a steady trading performance.    

The European Commission’s planned €100 billion Industrial Decarbonisation Bank (IDB) should be designed less as a grant pot and more as a coordinated delivery system for low-carbon projects, with targeted backing for shared infrastructure, a think tank has argued.

SBTi Services, the commercial subsidiary of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), has launched an assessment service to help companies determine what changes they would need to make to seek validation under its updated Corporate Net-Zero Standard.

Investments into battery-electric ferries and wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) can outperform conventional fossil-fuelled vessels due to rising carbon compliance costs, according to a study from the European Commission.

A crop input supplier has struck a partnership to market biological products alongside a soil carbon programme that will allow farmers to generate carbon credits in Latin America and Europe, the companies announced Tuesday.

EU lawmakers should maintain the current EU ETS cap reduction pathway through 2035, reform the Market Stability Reserve (MSR), and link remaining free allocation to industrial decarbonisation investment, according to a policy brief released Tuesday.

How to cut UK energy prices - Incoming PM Andy Burnham needs to take immediate steps to cut high energy prices for businesses, including by shifting Renewables Obligation and feed-in tariff costs from business bills to general taxation, lobby groups CBI and Energy UK said in a report on Tuesday. Cutting energy prices by a fifth could unlock £130 bln in economic activity between 2027 and 2050, they found. They also urged Burnham to create a publicly financed Energy Transition Funding Scheme, and work with financial firms on a similar privately funded scheme. And they called for the removal of Climate Change Levy charges from non-domestic electricity bills. Further recommended changes include raising non-domestic minimum energy efficiency standards, and supporting business electrification and energy demand management.

The prime ministers of Sweden and Finland are urging the European Commission to keep the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) at the core of the EU’s new 2040 climate regime, in a major review it's due to present on Friday, warning against shifting extra burden onto member states’ national targets, forest sinks, or international offsets.

The European Union must overhaul how it steers its carbon market, with a more dynamic Market Stability Reserve (MSR) at the heart of a new governance architecture that could eventually lead to a European Carbon Central Bank, according to a Brussels-based think tank.

A standard-setter for nature projects is seeking feedback on a fundamental shift in its methodology for soil carbon projects, recognising that they need to be tailored to local conditions, it announced on Tuesday.

Aviation conglomerate Norwegian Group saw its financial results dip in Q2, after taking a hit from a court ruling forcing the company to pay outstanding EU ETS charges and a penalty, as well as higher fuel prices. 

UK SAF allocation – The UK Department for Transport has released its proposed contract allocation strategy for the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM), aimed at spurring investment in first-of-a-kind domestic SAF production facilities. The first Allocation Round (AR1) is set to open in Q1 2027, with contracts awarded from Q4 2028. The government targets up to 230,000 tonnes per year of SAF production capacity across multiple contracts. No technology-specific ringfencing is planned for AR1, placing eSAF and power-to-liquid projects in direct competition with other pathways. A larger, more diverse second round is signalled approximately one year after AR1 awards. A final approach to reference pricing has not yet been determined, experts commented on social media.

Denial – Most UK media reports covering last month’s record UK heatwave failed to mention climate change, according to analysis by the UK-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). The group examined nearly 2,500 articles on the June heatwave across nine national newspapers and found about 72% made no reference to global heating. Fewer than one in 20 mentioned “net zero” or climate policies. ECIU’s Gareth Redmond-King warned it was “vital that the dots are joined” between extreme heat, climate change and net zero. (The Guardian)

A London-based direct air capture (DAC) company has acquired its Dutch rival, which will see the creation of one of Europe's largest integrated producers in the sector.

EU methane regulation – European Union member states will debate this week the impact of methane-emissions rules on energy security, as divisions deepen over the bloc’s import requirements, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. Representatives meet Wednesday in Brussels amid calls from 17 EU countries to delay the regulation, and consider easing barriers to oil and gas imports. The Irish presidency said it arranged a follow-up discussion on feedback. The US, Algeria and Qatar have warned that supplies to Europe could be jeopardised if the rules are unchanged. (Bloomberg)

Carbon credit issuances across major registries in the voluntary market fell 31% year-on-year between January and June as retirements dropped 2%, while prices generally remained stable or gained strength.

Authorisation analytics - The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has issued a tender to procure the development of a methodological approach and off-the-shelf tool that can help host countries estimate the volume of mitigation outcomes to authorise without compromising the achievement of NDCs. The organisation is seeking support to research current approaches to transferring ITMO headroom, develop a methodology and dynamic Excel-based estimation and tracking tool for host countries, and provide guidance and capacity-building materials to support implementation. The workstream falls under GGGI’s Carbon Transaction Facility’s knowledge and learning arm, the Strategic Hub for Article 6 Readiness Exchange (SHARE) project. Applications are due by Aug. 7.