California Carbon Allowance (CCA) futures fell below the $33 mark on Thursday after the market has remained relatively subdued amid a wait for developments on rulemaking procedures.

Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial leaders agreed Thursday to target finalising an updated national carbon pricing benchmark by the end of 2026, as well as to establish a working group to explore linking industrial carbon markets across the country.

RFS rethink - US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R), Rep. Cliff Bentz (R) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D) have introduced the Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act to modernise the definition for renewable biomass under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to include woody biomass generated through forest management activities. This would apply to both federal lands and private/non-federal lands. The bill also aims to boost wildfire resiliency.

Allied offering - AlliedOffsets announced on Thursday the launch of AlliedCredits, an open marketplace for the public to view both spot and forward prices and listings. According to the market intelligence provider, price discovery is challenging for new entrants to the carbon market, or for forward-planning. While coverage of spot transactions is more accessible, forward carbon credits remain more opaque and yet, forward sales can also attract early-stage funding. Buyers and sellers can enter and browse spot and forward offers for their credits, and the data will also be available via API.

Brazilian carbon observatory – Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) and the NGO Climate and Society Institute (iCS) are discussing the creation and operation of the Brazilian Carbon Markets Observatory (OBCarbono). The proposed public-interest initiative would serve as a hub for generating and systematising technical knowledge, building capacity, fostering institutional cooperation, and promoting public understanding of carbon markets. CVM Chair Otto Lobo and iCS Executive Director Maria Netto Schneider met on Wednesday to discuss the proposal.

Narrow EV miss - Think tank Canadian Climate Institute (CCI) said in an analysis that passenger vehicle emissions intensities have been declining due to EVs and better fuel efficiency standards in Canada, but EV adoption must accelerate to meet federal goals. In order to fall from the Q1 2026 fleet average of 131.6 gCO2e per mile to the proposed standard of 74 g CO2e/mi by 2035, fleet emissions intensity would need to decline by roughly 5.9 g CO2e/mi each year. Over the past year, fleet emissions intensity declined by 5.6 g CO2e/mi, suggesting manufacturers are currently close to the pace needed to meet the standard, according to the analysis.

Wastewater CDR - International non-profit Carbon to Sea will award $225,000 to a team of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals to evaluate opportunities for ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) in municipal wastewater treatment plants, the organisation announced on Thursday. It is estimated that between 3-7% of global GHG emissions come from municipal wastewater treatment systems due to nutrient and chemical discharges, Carbon to Sea said. The funding will support the team - from the likes of the Universities of Delaware and Maryland, the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative, DC Water - to develop an exploratory technical report on OAE opportunities in wastewater treatment plants.

The Climate Action Reserve (CAR) published on Thursday a request for comments on its draft modular mine methane protocol, as well as a US-specific module for the project sector.

Nearly all of the allowances planned to be made available under California's Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive (MDI) are expected to be used as uptake peaks in 2031, even as initial uncertainty tempers early utilisation, analysts said during a Wednesday webinar.

Catalytic deal - Johnson Matthey (JM) has completed the acquisition of US-based Cormetech, which makes catalysts to clean up industrial emissions. Cormetech's particular expertise in gas turbines and module designs will enable JM to offer customised catalysts and systems for a range of energy platforms, said the press release. There is strong demand for these solutions in the US due to data centre growth. It's expected the acquisition will help JM benefit from the growing market for emission control catalysts.

Companies complying with the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) new Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) framework could face dramatically different bills for identical emissions trajectories, depending on the type of gases they release, according to new research from a financial services firm.

An environmental campaign group has filed a petition in a Dutch court seeking to force the world’s largest meat company to disclose information on its planned $6 billion expansion, almost half of which is earmarked for Nigeria, the group said.

Countries are widely divided around traditional fault lines in talks on what a new UN initiative to strengthen climate efforts should look like, with developing countries prioritising finance, wealthier nations encouraging greater policy action, and business groups advocating wider deployment of climate technologies.

CO2 emissions from electricity generation are forecast to increase globally by around 1% in 2026 before flattening out in 2027 amid a surge in renewables, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Several proposals on what to do with Colombia’s carbon tax from designated ministers and the newly installed Congress have appeared this week, uncovering the first carbon governance challenges for the country’s incoming administration.