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.

Azerbaijan’s government on Wednesday published a draft climate law that would establish the legal framework for a domestic emissions trading system (ETS), carbon tax, national carbon registry, and five-year carbon budgets.

Australia is pursuing a “flawed hedge” by providing four times as much support to fossil fuels as renewables, even as it faces an erosion in demand for its polluting exports to Asian customers, WWF-Australia said in a report on Friday.

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.

Rural green drive - India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and state government entity Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy have partnered up to finance renewable energy and climate‑resilient rural infrastructure in India, starting with the western state of Maharashtra, they announced in a press release. The partnership aims to promote sustainable infrastructure in villages through initiatives such as solar-powered public institutions, bioenergy, village-level cold storage, and other sustainable development.

China has released a five-year roadmap that guides the development of the country's rapidly expanding renewable energy sector.

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.

Voluntary carbon markets could deliver up to $12.6 billion a year to support agrifood decarbonisation in Southeast Asia, yet researchers caution that the region’s funding shortfall remains severe.

India and China are in a paradoxical climate relationship, with Beijing dominating solar, battery, and mineral supply chains amid New Delhi's reliance on Chinese technology and capital to meet its clean energy goals, but geopolitical tensions will keep cooperation narrow, a study said.

The Australian Labor government’s policy platform has been amended, giving it more flexibility to cut the diesel fuel rebate for large miners, local media reported Thursday.

A Tokyo-headquartered climate tech company has raised $87 million in Series D funding as it continues its global expansion and eyes decarbonisation potential in manufacturing supply chains.  

An Asian investment management firm has raised $48 million in blended finance to fund climate-smart land-use practices in Indonesia.

The climate committee of South Korea's national legislature has approved an amendment to the country's carbon neutrality act, which sets out preliminary emissions reduction targets through 2045.

A gigawatt of solar built in one part of Indonesia could displace nearly 1.8 million tonnes of annual CO2 emissions from coal generation elsewhere as power grids become more interconnected, according to an analysis.

New Zealand political opposition and business groups have said the Climate Change Commission's (CCC) latest warnings about the country being increasingly off track from its emissions reduction targets are a "significant wake-up call" and will be a major challenge for future governments. 

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).

Carbon voyage - Kochi Water Metro in the Indian state of  Kerala has become the first of its kind to generate carbon credits after signing a revenue‑sharing agreement with advisory firm Kosher Climate, according to The New Indian Express. The agency will handle certification, studies, documentation, and international approvals. Under the deal, 71% of revenue from carbon credit trading will go to Kochi Water Metro, creating a new non‑fare income stream.

Pacific Islands are shifting how they approach UN climate talks, from a moral appeal to a legal duty, bolstered by an international court's opinion clarifying governments’ climate change obligations, a Fijian government official said on Thursday.

SEA green hydrogen - A subholding of Indonesia’s state-owned power utility and a newly launched Singapore-based low-carbon fuel production company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to explore the development of a cross-border green hydrogen supply chain. Under the MoU, PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (PLN EPI) and eFUELS SEA will assess potential production and distribution channels, storage infrastructure, and business models for green hydrogen and electrofuels for between the two countries. 

Maritime CCUS – CO2 from a pilot onboard carbon capture and storage project, orchestrated by the Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GMCD), has been formally recognised for compliance under the EU ETS. The verified tonnage of captured CO2 can be accepted as a deduction against vessel emissions which require the surrender of EUAs. The pilot project captured and stored 25.4 tCO2 en route from Malaysia to China, offloaded the liquefied CO2 via a ship-to-ship operation, then transported the CO2 overland recycle steel slag for utilisation and produce post-carbonated slag and precipitated calcium carbonate. GCMD received in-principle support from the IMO to recognise carbon mineralisation as a form of permanent storage.

Data stake – Gentailer Mercury Energy has taken a NZ$53 mln ($30 mln) stake in Datagrid, the company building a 280-MW data centre in Southland that is poised to be New Zealand’s second-largest power consumer. This follows the signing of a long-term power purchase option agreement for Mercury – which is 51% state-owned – to supply the data centre 140 MW in March. Mercury said its investment would help the company to understand better the development of large-scale AI and data centre demand, helping to guide renewable energy investment, and also positions it better for future offtake agreements.

CBAM, please - Indian manufacturing conglomerate Jindal Steel International has called on the Australian government to impose a carbon border adjustment on low emissions steel, as it bids to take over the faltering Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. Director Harssha Shetty said the company was prepared to invest significant sums of money to convert the steelworks to low emissions production, but said there should be adequate tariff and non-tariff barriers for imports, referring to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as an example. Australia will consider a CBAM as part of its upcoming review of the Safeguard Mechanism, with an earlier review finding such a scheme would encourage low emissions technology rollout and protect against carbon leakage. (Australian Financial Review)

In limbo – The first ballot to register exotic forestry on marginal land in the NZ ETS has now closed, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said on Thursday. Successful applicants will be notified once the ballot has been drawn, it added. The move to a ballot follows legislative changes to restrict the amount of farm-to-forest conversions for the carbon market, with two such lotteries taking place to allocate permits to 15,000 ha of LUC 6 land each year. MPI said it would announce the date for this year’s second draw once it has been confirmed.

Australia’s most populous state has made progress, but will still miss its 2030 and 2035 emissions reduction targets, the Net Zero Commission warned Thursday.