Germany, Russia sign MoU to ship hydrogen via controversial gas pipeline

Published 18:28 on April 30, 2021  /  Last updated at 18:31 on April 30, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, China, EMEA, International, Middle East, New Zealand, South & Central, South Korea, Switzerland, US

Germany and Russia have signed a €2 billion memorandum of understanding (MoU) to leverage the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 for the eventual distribution of hydrogen, even as the European Parliament called for the project to be halted due to rising tensions with Moscow.

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Salesforce adds science-based climate goals to procurement contracts

Published 22:05 on April 29, 2021  /  Last updated at 22:05 on April 29, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, International, US, Voluntary

US software company Salesforce on Thursday announced it will require all suppliers to set long-term net-zero objectives under the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), while offsetting all current emissions associated with the delivery of goods and services to the company.

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UN launches AI-based platform for natural capital accounting

Published 21:55 on April 29, 2021  /  Last updated at 22:39 on November 23, 2022  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, International, Nature-based, South & Central, US, Voluntary

The UN and the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) have unveiled a new tool for quantifying and accounting for ecosystem values under a previously-launched framework and standard, a facility designed to complement current measurements of GDP.

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Small owners, government seen as missing link in US reforestation offsetting

Published 23:19 on April 28, 2021  /  Last updated at 00:27 on April 29, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, US, Voluntary

Large US industrial timber companies are beginning to embrace reforestation through carbon finance, leaving small forest owners and government agencies key to scaling up offset efforts, a conference heard Wednesday.

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Policy and trust-building, not technological breakthroughs, viewed as key to scaling CCS

Published 22:48 on April 28, 2021  /  Last updated at 21:24 on March 15, 2022  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, Climate Talks, EMEA, International, Nature-based, Paris Article 6, RINs & LCFS, Switzerland, US, Voluntary

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) of various types is technologically ready to be deployed at scale but needs streamlined permitting, increased tax incentives, and broad public outreach to do so, a conference heard on Wednesday.

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Companies should immediately plan for 2050 GHG removals to secure supply -panel

Published 23:06 on April 27, 2021  /  Last updated at 18:21 on March 3, 2022  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, EMEA, International, Nature-based, Paris Article 6, RINs & LCFS, US, Voluntary

Companies with net zero pledges set decades into the future should begin planning and implementing emissions removal strategies now, both to ensure long-term credit supplies for themselves and to generate demand signals for market benefit, a conference heard on Tuesday.

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Increased financial sector participation to dramatically change voluntary carbon market -panel

Published 19:47 on April 27, 2021  /  Last updated at 19:50 on April 27, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, Aviation/CORSIA, Canada, China, EMEA, International, Japan, Mexico, Middle East, Nature-based, New Zealand, South & Central, South Korea, Switzerland, US, Voluntary

The structure of voluntary carbon markets (VCM) is expected to change dramatically as financial institutions become ever-larger participants in the space and corporate purchasing decisions shift from marketing departments to finance, a conference heard on Tuesday.

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LEAF to impose high-ambition climate, deforestation commitments on both buyers and sellers -panel

Published 23:30 on April 23, 2021  /  Last updated at 23:30 on April 23, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Australia, Aviation/CORSIA, Canada, China, EMEA, International, Japan, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, US, Voluntary

The Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest (LEAF) finance coalition will impose high ambition requirements on public and private sector buyers and sellers of offsets, its founding nations the US, the UK, and Norway said on a webinar on Friday.

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VCM participants split on shorter offset permanency requirements for struggling small forest owners

Published 21:01 on April 23, 2021  /  Last updated at 21:25 on March 15, 2022  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, International, Nature-based, US, Voluntary

US owners of lands smaller than 2,000 hectares are struggling both to maintain forests and generate credits under existing voluntary carbon offset (VCM) standards, but experts are divided on whether lower monitoring obligations can help alleviate the situation, panelists at the North American Carbon World (NACW) conference said Thursday.

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US agricultural carbon markets bill passes key Senate committee

Published 19:09 on April 22, 2021  /  Last updated at 00:43 on April 23, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, US, Voluntary

The US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry unanimously approved a bipartisan bill on Thursday designed to create a framework within which farmers, ranchers, and private forest owners can receive payments for generating carbon credits through implementing climate-smart practices.

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