RGGI Allowance (RGA) futures remained in the upper $40s ahead of next week's Q2 auction after a late spike on Tuesday while a quarterly market monitoring report showed compliance-oriented entities holding allowances in excess of their outstanding obligations at the end of Q1.

Modelling the carbon curve - London-based venture capital firm Counteract has launched the Carbon Curve tool for investors to explore the financial dynamics of carbon removal (CDR) projects as the industry scales. For investors, the tool illustrates conditions for early returns in CDR, and for developers, it can help optimise variables such as capex and opex that affect capital costs and project viability.

Maryland biochar - Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has approved Senate Bill 625 (SB 625), requiring the state’s Environment Department to develop and adopt carbon capture, removal, and storage regulations in consultation with its Agriculture Department. The regulations would apply to biochar and wood vault technologies.

Transition trouble - A new analysis of 400 major financial institutions found that climate transition planning is becoming more common, but financing for low-carbon activities and fossil fuel phase-out commitments remain limited, with just over a third of institutions assessed having transition plans that address at least some financial activities. The World Benchmarking Alliance analysis found that only 26% of institutions provide clarity on the share of financed activity allocated to low-carbon solutions, unchanged from its 2025 assessment, while low-carbon activities accounted for an average 2.7% of total financed activity across the group. It also found that only two companies, ING and Zurcher Kantonalbank, had robust restrictions covering coal, oil, and gas, including commitments to phase out existing exposure and stop new financing flows, raising questions about the credibility of most transition plans without stronger fossil fuel exit policies.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help fill GHG data gaps, but may also amplify uncertainty and reduce transparency if not carefully validated, a webinar heard on Tuesday.

A Canadian carbon removal (CDR) company has landed a major research deal with a federal body to launch a nearly C$7.5 million ($5.4 mln) research project.

A cohort of five nature-based project developers from around the world have completed a German-based offset platform’s fourth accelerator programme.

Injection milestone – California Resources Corporation (CRC) on Tuesday announced the first CO2 injection at its Carbon TerraVault I (CTV I) project in California, marking the launch of the state’s first operational carbon capture and storage facility. The company said the project, located at the Elk Hills field in Kern County and developed with Brookfield Asset Management, will store CO2 captured from CRC’s cryogenic gas plant in depleted oil and gas reservoirs more than one mile (1.6 km) underground. CRC added that the CTV I – 26R reservoir has annual storage capacity of up to 1.46 mln tonnes of CO2 and total storage potential of 38 mln tonnes, while eight additional CTV reservoirs submitted by CRC for US EPA Class VI permitting represent approximately 352 mln tonnes of potential capacity.

Illicit financial flows linked to timber trade mispricing may be higher than previously estimated, averaging $289 million annually in Cameroon and $214 mln in Brazil, according to a new report.

Prices for Phase 1 CORSIA-eligible carbon credits continued to fall last week as uncertainty around the international aviation offsetting scheme and persistently high jet fuel prices weighed on market sentiment, pushing thoughts of future compliance lower down carriers’ list of priorities.

European carbon prices broke above the upper end of an emerging pennant formation and set a 15-week high on Tuesday as the market shrugged off bearish news headlines from the Middle East and took heart from a strong rally in UKAs, as optimism flowered anew that the EU and UK may reach a deal on market linking at their next summit meeting in the summer, while also taking a more bullish view of EU ETS reform.

Morocco this month inked another bilateral Article 6.2 agreement, as the government is finally putting in place market infrastructure to support its ‘learning by doing’ approach, while Oman produced a concrete roadmap outlining its carbon market priorities.

Aligning with Paris - Gold Standard has launched its Paris Agreement-aligned templates - those both for project developers and validation and verification bodies, it said on LinkedIn. The update is intended to raise market integrity and to reduce admin burden by integrating Paris Agreement requirements directly into core documents, including the project design document (PDD), programme of activities design document (PoA-DD), voluntary project activity design document (VPA-DD), and monitoring reports. The templates are effective immediately for new projects and existing projects can voluntarily opt to transition early.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament are poised to clash on whether to introduce additional climate conditions for European companies to access support from the Temporary Decarbonisation Fund (TDF).

The Congo Basin needs a boost of investment, strengthened governance, and coordinated action in order to ward off mounting pressure on its resources and remain a vital carbon sink, including through more forestry carbon crediting projects, a UN-backed panel of scientists warned on Tuesday. 

The EU’s flagship Emissions Trading System (ETS) puts a short-term drag on jobs when allowance prices rise unexpectedly, with workers in carbon-intensive roles hit hardest and green job gains failing to fully offset the losses, according to new research by the European Central Bank.

A Germany-based airline has announced that its customers contributed to climate protection projects covering more than 710,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2025, an increase of around one-fifth year-on-year.

Chemicals crisis - The European chemical industry is battling intense cost pressure due to high energy prices and is also one of the hardest to decarbonise. But despite facing structural disadvantages compared to oil and gas-rich regions, the sector could benefit from targeted policies that create wide-scale demand for green materials and strategies that break dependence on fossil-based supply chains. A report by the Wuppertal Institute suggests that targeted R&D investment would help to decouple specialty chemicals from fossil feedstocks, while circular economy measures implemented through clusters would help European chemicals to regain competitive strength. Big new investments are also required to boot productivity, as well as govt policies to unlock large-scale demand for green materials.

Board split – GHGSat has appointed former Airbus executive Jean-Marc Nasr as independent chair of its board of directors, separating the roles of chair and CEO as the satellite GHG monitoring firm expands globally. The Montreal-based company said Tuesday that founder Stephane Germain will remain CEO, while Nasr brings nearly four decades of experience in satellite technology, Earth observation, and international space programmes. GHGSat said the governance changes are intended to strengthen board oversight and support the company’s next chapter, after scaling its GHG monitoring constellation to 15 satellites.

The CEO of large carbon removal developer Climeworks has called on governments and corporations to expand their support for new technologies, warning that the industry cannot rely on a small group of early adopters to scale operations fast enough to meet global climate goals.

A Belgian startup has raised €17.5 million in Series A funding to scale its plasma-based carbon utilisation technology, it announced Tuesday.

Campaigners are urging the EU to reject proposals to dilute its green finance rulebook, denouncing plans that would effectively allow companies to expand fossil fuel activities while still claiming a "transition" label under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Biodiversity credits are the ecosystem services market closest to becoming commercially viable as a funding source in their own right, but for now most nature value is still being priced indirectly, the head of a nature-based solutions financier has said.

The global sustainable debt market has surged in activity since 2020, with cumulative aligned issuance now having surpassed $7 trillion, according to the latest data from a non profit.

The fertiliser crisis, driven by the Iran war and rising energy costs, makes clear that defenders of the EU's carbon pricing regime are increasingly isolated, and scarce – with Denmark alone in clearly backing the ETS and carbon border fee when agricultural ministers met on Tuesday.

A removals registry has certified a new module for biochar produced in mobile reactors, supporting projects that transport reactors between sites.

A €20 million carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) plant has begun producing low-carbon aggregates at the Port of Bilbao in Spain, using industrial CO2 from a nearby refinery and thermal residues that would otherwise typically be sent to landfill.

A direct ocean carbon capture developer has issued an urgent call for investment or said it will file for bankruptcy this week.

Brunei Darussalam is set to tap its vast forest resources for international carbon markets, media reported.

Communications push - The Super Pollutant Action Alliance (SPAA), a project of US non-profit Multiplier, is seeking a consultant to test how policymakers, funders, journalists, scientists, and communicators respond to language around near-term warming and fast-acting climate mitigation. The work will cover methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone, and include testing in the US, EU, China, India, and other geographies ahead of COP31. The contract, estimated at $325,000-475,000, will run from June to Oct. 2026, with proposals due June 5.

UN platform revamp - The UNFCCC secretariat has recommended repurposing the CDM voluntary cancellation platform to allow voluntary cancellation of Article 6.4 MCUs and eligible second commitment period CERs, while excluding authorised Article 6.4 emission reductions due to complexity and cost. The existing platform, launched in 2015, has facilitated the cancellation of around 16 mln CERs from almost 300 projects, but would need $265,000 in one-off development and software upgrades, plus $120,000 in annual maintenance, to integrate with the Article 6.4 mechanism registry and address security vulnerabilities. The CDM registry is due to close for transactions on Dec. 31, 2026, meaning the platform would be shut down unless a decision is taken, with the secretariat asking the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body to reach an agreed outcome by its twenty-second meeting in July.

Biochar boost - The Climate Trust (TCT) said it is exploring biochar carbon projects to help dry inland forest managers in the western US reduce wildfire risk while generating revenue from fuel reduction treatments. The Oregon-based non-profit said biochar production could turn small-diameter wood, deadwood, and other forest debris from pre-commercial thinning into a soil amendment that stores carbon, improves water retention, and reduces fertiliser needs, while cutting the cost of forest management through carbon credit and biochar sales.

First try - Japanese developer Green Carbon has signed a MoU with GIZ, an international development agency backed by the German government, to examine the applicability of enhanced rock weathering in Thailand's rice cultivation sector. Their work will focus on soil improvement, crop yield, environmental impact, and MRV approaches. Green Carbon said the partnership at the moment does not commit to the creation of carbon credits or the commercialisation of projects.

Indonesia’s development of its forest carbon market is running into concerns over export levies, taxation, regulatory uncertainty, and technical bottlenecks, according to experts and stakeholders.

A Japanese carbon project developer has secured a partnership to expand its presence in Laos, where it will pursue the creation of credits under the bilateral Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) through afforestation activities.

Annual demand for Article 6 carbon credits, generated by proposed rules to allow them to be deducted from EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) fees, could theoretically rise to more than 17 million tonnes through 2040, analysts have said, but limitations imposed by Brussels mean that, at least in the near term, buying is likely to be a fraction of that potential volume.

Biodiversity credits could become the next premium layer of carbon markets, rewarding projects that protect nature as well as store carbon, the head of a climate finance company has said in a paper.

A procurement and intelligence platform has launched a library of forward vintage curves for credits issued on the voluntary carbon market.

Australian oil and gas company Santos has remained optimistic about the financial viability of its Barossa gas project, supported by high LNG prices and lower-than-anticipated carbon costs.

An agreement to buy 750,000 tonnes of carbon removals from a Swedish bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) facility sees a new market entrant buy at a scale approaching that typically reserved for the American tech giants, notably Microsoft.

Airline exposure - European airlines Lufthansa, British Airways parent IAG Group, and Air France-KLM, would each face additional costs of €1.8 bln, €1.7 bln, and €1.5 bln respectively in 2027 were Brussels to extend the EU ETS to flights leaving the bloc, according to projections by consultancy Transition Metrics. The extra costs would amount to about 44% of Lufthansa’s 2025 earnings, 23% for IAG Group, and 30% for Air France-KLM, which are "material" costs that complicate the companies' hedging of their 2027 compliance, the firm said. The estimates are based on the airlines’ current carbon emissions and a projected carbon price of €120/t, which Transition Metrics says are realistic if the full extension of the ETS were applied. Officials are considering extending the scheme that presently applies only to intra-EU flights to all flights departing the bloc, depending on their assessment of the effectiveness of international offset scheme CORSIA. (FT)

Vietnam has finalised rules governing forest carbon credit trading, paving the way for the Southeast Asian country’s first issuances later this year.

A global exchange industry body has drafted principles for stock exchanges to label listed companies and IPO candidates with credible climate transition plans, it announced Tuesday.

Europe's only Verra-certified improved forest management (IFM) project has paid to have the activity fully assessed by a ratings agency after finding out earlier 'estimated' quality scores were too low to attract buyers, its developer told Carbon Pulse.

Climate-related disclosures are maturing – including on GHG emissions reporting – but more work is needed on specific physical risk disclosures, data, and better links between risks and transition planning, said New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) on Tuesday, following its evaluation of the country’s second year of reporting.

The first EU-backed transaction registered under the bloc’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) scheme will deliver its initial credits in 2029, according to the partners involved in the project.

Climate queries – New Zealand’s ombudsman has opened an inquiry into the prime minister’s office over its handling of an Official Information Act request into communications on the Smith vs Fonterra case, The Post reported on Tuesday. This follows the release of a briefing note not mentioned in an OIA response that the dairy giant confirmed it gave to one of Christopher Luxon’s staffers in 2024. The note proposed legislative changes that would nullify the long-running climate litigation – and which the government announced two weeks ago it would introduce. Having denied knowledge of the briefing’s existence, Luxon on Tuesday said the advisor who handled it left the role a while ago, the NZ Herald reported. Meanwhile, the country's bar association on Tuesday called on the government to reconsider the proposed amendments, according to RNZ.

New Zealand’s plans to build an LNG import terminal and its co-investment fund for new gas fields meet the definition of fossil fuel subsidies, leaving the country in breach of trade deals, said a report released a day after the government announced a loan scheme to help businesses switch away from gas.

A new academic study has proposed a machine learning recommendation framework designed to minimise carbon emissions from AI model development by predicting the environmental impact of training runs before they occur, with the researchers claiming the approach could cut emissions from model selection by more than 98%.

A carbon removals financier has partnered with a London-based biochar and biocarbon project authentication platform to apply independent scientific analysis and authentication services across its global CDR portfolio, in a move aimed at bolstering transparency, permanence assurance, and operational performance in the fast-growing sector.

Switched on – New Zealand’s third grid-scale battery came online last week, owner and operator Contact Energy announced. Located in south Auckland, on land leased from NZ Steel, the Glenbrook Ohurua Battery 1 cost NZ$151 mln ($88.4 mln) and has a capacity of 100 MW. The gentailer is investing a further NZ$235 mln in a second battery at the site, with 200 MW of capacity expected to come online in early 2028. Contact Energy CEO Mike Fuge said that around 98% of the company’s generation is renewable. The power sector is covered by the NZ ETS, despite the country's grid being dominated by renewable energy – chiefly geothermal and hydro, although solar is quickly being accelerated.

Australia-based mining giant BHP has restated its climate ambitions and efforts to meet its goals, pushing back on media reports to the contrary.