Governments increasingly use trade agreements to advance climate cooperation, according to a statement from a newly launched online platform billed as the first global mapping of climate and clean energy components.

The European Union should use international carbon credits as a tool to drive deeper global emissions reductions rather than simply lower the cost of meeting its own climate targets, and reshape the policy architecture of how it engages with Article 6 markets, according to a new paper.

Oil and gas well evaluation – Carbon credit ratings agency Sylvera on Wednesday launched an evaluation method for orphaned oil and gas carbon projects, targetting the methane emissions leaking from inadequately sealed wells. With public funding for plugging orphaned wells falling short, the voluntary carbon market has stepped in, Sylvera wrote, increasing the need for high-integrity methane reduction credits. Sylvera's framework will evaluate across four pillars: carbon accounting, additionality, permanence, and safeguarding and co-benefits.

Resignation reversal - France's Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut agreed to stay in her post Wednesday, hours after saying she would resign over an agriculture bill reintroducing two pesticides critics say harm bees, France24 reported. Parliament approved the bill Tuesday, giving the country's safety regulator Anses authority to conditionally reauthorise acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, insecticides sought by sugar beet, apple and hazelnut growers to compete with other Europeans growers using them. President Emmanuel Macron declined to accept the resignation. Barbut agreed to remain due to the "urgency" of addressing climate change's effects on France, her office said. She had also opposed the bill's provision doubling farmers' water storage allowances over the next decade.

The EU should maintain a strong carbon price and stick to its existing synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) rules if it wants to build a lasting European eSAF sector, a consultancy has said.

Ryanair responds - Low-cost airline Ryanair said on Wednesday it will cut two million seats from its Belgium schedule and remove five aircraft from its Charleroi base after the Belgian federal government refused to budge on a €7 aviation tax from Jan. 2027. This is a 250% increase in the tax since 2025, said the airline, coming “while competitor destinations like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, regional Italy, and Albania are abolishing aviation taxes to grow traffic, tourism, and jobs”. The capacity cuts will affect Charleroi and Brussels Zaventem airports’ winter 2026/summer 2027 schedules. Aviation emissions continue continue to attract policymaker scrutiny. Last Friday, the European Commission proposed extending the EU ETS to cover some international flights from 2029, as well as all business jet travel to and from the bloc, after concluding that ICAO’s global carbon offsetting scheme CORSIA had failed to deliver. (Ryanair press release)

The European Commission’s plans for potentially integrating up to 250 million carbon removal (CDR) credits into the EU ETS are puzzling and fail to account for the reality of the market, a policy expert told Carbon Pulse on Wednesday.

A new public dataset will allow users to track how net zero commitments made by more than 4,000 countries, states and regions, cities, and companies have evolved since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015.

The European Parliament’s lead lawmaker on EU carbon market reform, Peter Liese, has signalled that the pace of emissions cuts in the market remains open to negotiation, saying the Linear Reduction Factor (LRF) proposed by the European Commission could still be adjusted in upcoming talks.

Gold Standard is seeking feedback on a new methodology designed to support climate action across entire energy systems, rather than renewable generation alone, and updating its eligibility criteria for renewable energy projects. 

Germany looks to raise gas imports - Germany and Azerbaijan have agreed to step up cooperation on natural gas supplies, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalling Berlin wants to increase imports of Azerbaijani gas as part of efforts to replace Russian fossil fuels and support energy security in the transition to climate neutrality. Azerbaijan began exporting natural gas to Germany this year. Germany launched its first auction for backup gas-fired capacity this week. (German government press release, joint declaration, and Clean Energy Wire reporting)

European carbon's rally showed no sign of abating as the market increasingly priced in the impact of the European Commission's reform proposals leaving the ETS structurally tight over the next few years.

Biochar should be considered for supplying permanent CO2 removals to the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS), according to the lead European Parliament negotiator on the market’s reform, who suggested introducing "safety margins" and "limitations" to address environmental integrity concerns.

The EU’s 27 member states have been asked to reflect over the summer on the proposal to revise the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), with a September decision targeted on a separate proposal covering fallback benchmarks.

The new British prime minister has switched funding for international climate funds from grants to loans, in order to pay for cheaper bus fares in the UK.

The first round of the Paris Agreement's five-year 'ratchet mechanism' was partially successful, although national adoption of the international stocktake of progress remains patchy, according to a German government study.

Carbon trading 101 - The Zimbabwe Carbon Markets Authority (ZiCMA), hosted a workshop in Harare for government officials on climate change and carbon trading, where it presented Zimbabwe's carbon market regulatory framework, project development cycle, registration requirements, and Zimbabwe Carbon Registry. Government ministries, departments, and agencies are seen as key players in the country's rising carbon market, because they manage natural resources across agriculture, forestry, water, energy, and wildlife. ZiCMA's workshop was therefore aimed at building capacity, unlocking carbon finance opportunities, and aligning activities with national development priorities.

An agreement on linking the EU and UK carbon markets will only come after the summer, with the two sides aiming to organise a summit by the end of the year, sources close to both governments told Carbon Pulse.

Croatia is backing a study to assess the potential for establishing a scheme for nature credits in the country, according to a document submitted to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

False advertising - The UK Advertising Standards Authority's recent rulings against Eurowings and Qatar Airways mark another step in the tightening scrutiny of carbon offsetting claims in aviation, according to law firm Burges Salmon. The regulator found both airlines misled consumers by suggesting passengers could offset or compensate for the emissions from specific flights without sufficient evidence. The decisions reinforce that advertisers must substantiate environmental claims with robust evidence and clearly explain how offsetting schemes work, rather than implying flights become environmentally benign. Burges Salmon said the rulings continue a broader crackdown on aviation green claims and signal that airlines promoting offsetting, sustainable aviation fuel or other climate initiatives should exercise greater caution to avoid breaching UK advertising rules.

Wasted millions - Nigeria is forfeiting hundreds of millions of dollars in potential carbon credit revenue because it lacks the domestic expertise needed to develop and manage carbon projects, according to climate finance specialist Olusola Omole, speaking to Vanguard. He argued the country's main constraint is not funding or policy, but a shortage of skilled professionals such as carbon accountants, MRV specialists, GIS analysts, biomass experts and project developers. Although Nigeria has established a regulatory framework through its Climate Change Act and National Council on Climate Change, it still relies heavily on foreign consultants, sending project development and verification fees overseas. Omole estimated Nigeria could generate 30 mln carbon credits annually by 2030, worth more than $500 mln.

Spanish utility Iberdrola has reported a jump of one-third in its EU-based gas-fired power generation over the first half of 2026, compared to 2025.

A London-based spot marketplace for voluntary carbon credits on Wednesday said cumulative trading on its platform had surpassed 1 billion units exchanged.

A proposed African financing facility should help communities engage with nature markets on fair terms to avoid reinforcing colonial-era power structures, a non-profit executive told a consultation.

CO2 released through the neutralisation of acid mine drainage could increase the carbon footprint of copper production by more than tenfold, according to a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday.

An African cookstove developer has received $10.7 million in debt financing on the back of an Article 6.2 offtake agreement with Switzerland.