European carbon prices eased back on Tuesday morning after the momentum that drove prices to five-month highs on Monday fizzled, while front-month gas prices again broke beyond €60/MWh as concerns over ongoing fighting in the Middle East, and lower than average storage levels across the continent, have kept prices elevated.

The European Commission’s proposal to extend the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to municipal waste incineration risks delaying meaningful carbon pricing because of extensive exemptions, campaigners say.

The ICAO has deemed carbon credits under ACR's jurisdictional power sector programme as eligible under UN aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA, the registry announced on Tuesday.

EU countries are splitting into two camps for the looming battle over how far to strengthen, or weaken, the bloc's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

High-integrity stamped credits now cover at least 13% of the new issued volume, the chief executive of the Integrity Council of the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) said on Tuesday.

On the mark - Agreena's soil carbon programme (VCS4022) has received a 'BBB' ex-post BeZero Carbon rating following the issuance of credits in Sep. 2025 under Verra's standard. The ex-post rating is unchanged from the project's 'BBB' ex-ante rating assigned in Feb. 2025, indicating that the project's performance has been broadly consistent with earlier expectations, the developer said.

New recommendations on how EU governments can implement the bloc's Methane Regulation should clear the way for oil and gas producers to comply with incoming reporting rules, even though the industry would still prefer to see them written in law, according to experts. 

Alternative bill - Ukraine's parliament has registered an alternative bill to establish the country's national ETS, introducing a competing proposal to the government's draft legislation. The alternative bill, No. 15386-1, was submitted by four members of parliament on July 21 and is at the earliest stage of the legislative process, having been received by the Verkhovna Rada and referred to parliamentary leadership. The document is not yet publicly available and has not yet been assigned to a committee or scheduled for debate. Under Ukrainian parliamentary procedure, the original and alternative drafts are expected to be considered together at first reading before lawmakers decide which version will form the basis of the legislation.

BC's first battery storage facility - BC Hydro, British Columbia's primary electricity distributor, announced on Monday that it is launching a procurement process for the province's first battery storage project, to be located on Vancouver Island on land owned by the distributor. The facility will deliver "at least" 100 MW of battery storage capacity, with distribution fluctuating according to demand. The procurement process will begin on July 30, after which the provincial distributor will invite a selected pool of companies to participate in a request for proposals. BC Hydro is targeting a 2030 service date for the facility. As part of its Powering Growth Plan released in June 2026, BC Hydro has identified 500 MW of potential battery storage projects that could be launched across the province.

Germany’s energy regulator on Tuesday launched the first tender for long-term electricity generation capacity from gas plants designed to maintain security of supply during prolonged periods of low renewable output or limited electricity imports.

The European Commission's proposed reforms to the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS), which include provisions linked to the procurement of up to 260 million international credits, should mean the total demand for Article 6 units from the bloc reaches as high as 650 mln, experts have noted.

The EU should allow biochar carbon removal (BCR) into the EU ETS alongside other EU-certified permanent carbon removal pathways, an industry association has said, warning that a CCS-only approach would undermine competition and raise costs.

Marine carbon removal (mCDR) will struggle to reach commercial scale without stronger government action to create reliable long-term demand beyond voluntary carbon markets, researchers argue.

The new British prime minister, Andy Burnham, will cut the UK's value-added tax (VAT) from electricity bills from October, saving households an average £45 a year, he said Tuesday.

Gender-responsive – The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has partnered with UK-based consultancy Social Development Direct (SDDirect) to promote gender-responsive approaches in high-integrity carbon markets, the Council said on Monday. The agreement covers joint knowledge-sharing and communications activities, including a gender-focused blog series, webinars and in‑person events. ICVCM said the collaboration supports its Core Carbon Principles agenda and aims to strengthen trust, transparency and equity across the voluntary carbon market.

Trading and open interest has continued to pick up in CORSIA futures after the European Commission proposed a compromise to extend the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to some international flights.

SBTi appointments – The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has named a new cohort to its independent Technical Council, the organisation announced on Tuesday. The new council will begin work in July 2026, providing oversight of SBTi standards, methods and guidance as the organisation implements its Technical Work Plan and refined standards architecture. Former vice chair Laura Draucker has been appointed chair, with Piers Forster as vice chair, heading a 16-strong body combining reappointed and newly selected members under a staggered renewal model approved in Dec. 2025. The council’s expertise will be critical as SBTi rolls out its updated corporate net-zero standard, the organisation said.

Silver lining – Investors have responded positively to EU plans to tie free carbon permits to decarbonisation investments. Last week, the European Commission proposed extending free allowances to 2038 while requiring companies to submit investment plans to qualify for free permits as part of its post-2030 EU ETS review. Emine Isciel, of Storebrand, called it "a powerful tool for investors" as failure to meet decarbonisation plans could see permits withdrawn. Investors said the impact will hinge on whether stricter accountability offsets weaker carbon constraints in the revised system. (Reuters)

New gas pipeline – West African leaders have approved a long-planned Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline, a $25 billion project set to start construction in 2028 and span 6,000 km along the Atlantic coast of 14 countries. The pipeline will carry Nigerian gas to Morocco and into Europe via Spain, with a planned capacity of 30 billion cubic metres a year to serve about 400 million consumers. Backers say the scheme could reshape West Africa’s industrialisation and enhance the region’s leverage in global energy markets, though major financing, security and demand risks remain. (BBC)

Ethiopia has become the first country to issue carbon credits under a World Bank-managed programme supporting jurisdictional forest activities, with 12.4 million units available for carbon market transactions.

From California to Hawaii and back again: The birth, rise, and survival strategy of an mCDR startup. In the first of a three-part series on marine carbon removal, supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center, Carbon Pulse editor Allison Gacad investigates Captura's efforts to turn direct ocean carbon capture into a viable business.

A left-of-centre coalition is emerging in the European Parliament to oppose plans to integrate international carbon credits and removals into the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) unless strict environmental conditions are met.

Concrete buildings and infrastructure in the UK absorbed 1.5 Mt of CO2 in 2024, as the UK became the first country to report an estimate of the concrete carbon sink in its National Inventory Document submitted to the UN.

A draft reversal-risk tool under Paris Article 6.4 is cementing permanence requirements to clean cooking credits for the first time. But before debating the numbers, the market should ask whether this category belongs in a permanence framework at all.

A carbon ratings agency is funding an initiative to analyse the causes and impacts of extreme wildfires, which represent a growing risk for nature-based projects, it announced on Tuesday.

UK's Green Deal champion - New UK PM Andy Burnham has appointed Miatta Fahnbulleh as secretary of state for energy security and net zero, who has a history of string views in favour of rapid decarbonisation. Fahnbulleh, a former economist who was elected to parliament in July 2024, published an essay in 2019 for the think tank Common Wealth titled “Anchoring the Green New Deal: Building Transformational Institutions”. There, she called for rapid mobilisation of public resources to decarbonise economies over a 10-15-year period while creating millions of well-paying green jobs. Fahnbulleh replaces Ed Miliband who has become foreign secretary.

Solar raise - Singaporean renewable energy developer Yanara has secured a €150 mln investment from global asset manager Mirova to build out more than 2 GW of renewable energy across Australia, the company announced Tuesday. The investment represents Yanara’s first capital raise in Australia, a significant portion of which will go towards the developer’s flagship Mortlake Energy Hub in Victoria, a 450 MW solar plant with a 600 MW battery energy storage system.

Acceleration - Indonesia and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the implementation of projects under the Tokyo-led Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), Ecobiz reported, citing government officials. Indonesia was among the first countries to sign a bilateral agreement with Japan. The two countries are also seeking to expand cooperation on clean energy initiatives, including geothermal power, waste-to-energy, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and green ammonia.

A Norwegian bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project has become the world’s first to generate verified carbon removal credits from biogas production, the certifier, Finnish registry Puro.earth, announced Tuesday.

Legal challenges in Australia’s Federal Court launched Tuesday will hear international arguments about the government’s interpretation of emissions impacts regarding its approval of Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf licence extension.

Singapore’s draft Digital Infrastructure Bill, currently under public consultation, would allow regulators to penalise data centre operators that fail to meet environmental sustainability requirements, including by requiring them to surrender carbon credits to compensate for any resulting increase in emissions.

This year’s COP31 climate summit in Turkiye is not expected to produce any “big-ticket” negotiated outcomes, with the UN process instead shifting its focus towards implementing existing commitments and examining reforms to strengthen the three decade old system, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said.

Carbon credit pricing is significantly influenced by who the buyer is more than what the credit actually does for the climate, a recent study has argued. 

The EU's proposed assessment framework for low-carbon steel products may create new opportunities for Japan’s steel industry, but building the capacity to submit emissions data at the product level will be crucial, a new report has argued.

The New Zealand carbon price climbed some 3.86% on Tuesday, reaching a seven-month high following a day of large trading volumes.

New Zealand has agreed to explore Article 6 opportunities as part of a to-be-established climate collaboration framework with the Philippines despite the Kiwi government still not committing to purchase international credits.

Australia’s policy environment for carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is “among the least enabling” out of all high-income countries, despite positioning itself as a leader in the technology, a report found.

NZ carbon and nature consult – The New Zealand government has opened a consultation on the criteria for an endorsement process for domestic nature and carbon markets, following its May announcement of an assurance framework to scale these markets. As well as the endorsement criteria, the government is looking for feedback on the integrity principles and suitability of the criteria for assessment of the schemes and as well as for project validation and verification providers. Submissions close on Aug. 7.

Increasing carbon costs were the main reason for the New Zealand government’s bailout of the country’s sole cement plant, to maintain its competitiveness with imports that are not subject to an emissions price, according to statements Monday. 

California's climate piggy bank – California's cap-and-invest programme has funded $15.5 bln in climate projects since 2014, according to the state's California Climate Investments 2026 annual report. The figure follows the passage of Assembly Bill 1207 (AB 1207), which extended the market mechanism through 2045. Cumulative lifetime GHG reductions from implemented projects reached 130.5 MtCO2 equivalent, the report estimated. It also attributed $44.4 bln in estimated travel and energy cost savings and more than 143,000 supported direct, indirect, and induced jobs to the expenditures. Disadvantaged and low-income communities received $11.4 bln, or 76%, of implemented funds. Continuous and budget-enacted appropriations from auction proceeds for fiscal year 2025-26 total more than $2 bln.

Brazil registered 12.7 million hectares burned in 2025, a 58% decrease from the previous year when the country experienced an extreme surge in fires, while the area burned in the Amazon hit a multi-decade low, a Tuesday report showed.

A senior executive in charge of international projects has left an Asia Pacific carbon developer, as the company said it intends to "sharpen" its overseas strategy.

The first Verra-approved jurisdictional and nested REDD+ (JNR) programme, located in northern Argentina, is aiming to incorporate a batch of privately owned native forests in the coming months after the launch of a capacity-building programme, according to local media.

Low-carbon energy and CDR technologies perceived as more natural were judged as safer, more beneficial, and evoked less negative emotion among US study participants, according to a preprint published Monday.