REDD.plus executes first private-sector sale of national-level credits in test of UNFCCC as carbon standard

Published 00:00 on April 9, 2021  /  Last updated at 23:06 on April 12, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Climate Talks, EMEA, International, Nature-based, Other APAC, Paris Article 6, South & Central, US, Voluntary

The REDD.plus trading platform has executed the first-ever purchase by a private sector buyer of jurisdictional-scale deforestation reduction credits, serving as a key test for national-level carbon offsets generated under the UN climate agency.

Read More

Private fund seeks $1 billion to support conservation and net zero claims

Published 18:44 on April 8, 2021  /  Last updated at 23:16 on April 8, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, EMEA, International, US, Voluntary

A new private fund backed by several multinational consumer goods firms aims to raise more than $1 billion this year for performance-based forest conservation, using methodologies developed in carbon markets to offset impacts from agriculture and to cultivate carbon sinks for net zero claims. 

Read More

‘Green’ to beat costs of ‘blue’ hydrogen, rival natural gas by 2030 -analysts

Published 12:00 on April 7, 2021  /  Last updated at 01:14 on April 8, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, EMEA, International, US

Renewable energy-sourced green hydrogen will cost less than CCS-powered blue hydrogen by 2030, while also becoming competitive with natural gas by the same year, analysts said Wednesday. 

Read More

The Nature Conservancy discloses portfolio review of forestry offsets, while developer defends practice

Published 23:33 on April 5, 2021  /  Last updated at 23:33 on April 5, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Canada, US, Voluntary

Green group The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is undertaking an internal review of its improved forest management (IFM) carbon offset protocols in response to questions of environmental integrity, but a project developer is defending the stringency of the underlying methodologies.

Read More

Decades-old disagreements to dominate final months of Carney-led offset taskforce

Published 22:24 on March 31, 2021  /  Last updated at 21:15 on April 20, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, EMEA, International, US, Voluntary

UN climate finance envoy Mark Carney’s Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) hopes to conclude this summer with a report describing provisional agreement on environmental principles for verified emissions reductions (VERs), but must now confront long-standing issues around the role of REDD+ projects and governance. 

Read More

New ETF offers high exposure to hydrogen economy

Published 15:08 on March 31, 2021  /  Last updated at 00:50 on April 1, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, EMEA, International, US

Asset manager VanEck on Wednesday launched a new ETF focused on companies that generate at least 50% of their revenues from hydrogen projects or have the potential to do so.

Read More

Lessons from no deforestation movement helping to shape investors’ views on net zero

Published 23:14 on March 30, 2021  /  Last updated at 23:18 on March 30, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Canada, EMEA, Mexico, Nature-based, Paris Article 6, US, Voluntary

Investors networks are increasingly adding interim targets and flexibility into frameworks to evaluate the validity of corporate net zero commitments, building on a decade of trial and error from the no deforestation movement, experts said.

Read More

Finance shortfall leaves CO2-intensive firms off-track in net zero planning -survey

Published 20:16 on March 25, 2021  /  Last updated at 21:19 on March 25, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, International, US

Carbon intensive companies aren’t transitioning onto mitigation pathways fast enough to meet 2050 net zero emission targets, according to a survey of investors and executives published on Thursday that found respondents mostly blaming a lack of investment.

Read More

Unilever shareholders to vote on company’s SBTi-aligned net zero emissions plan

Published 18:37 on March 25, 2021  /  Last updated at 18:37 on March 25, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, EMEA, International, US

Consumer goods giant Unilever, long a leader in the corporate sustainability field, will put its plan for meeting a 2039 net zero emissions target to an advisory shareholder vote in May.

Read More

Moody’s to explicitly delineate climate risk in all credit ratings

Published 22:11 on March 24, 2021  /  Last updated at 22:11 on March 24, 2021  / Steve Zwick /  Americas, Asia Pacific, EMEA, International, US

Moody’s Investor Services (MIS) will begin explicitly breaking out environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk factors and listing them alongside credit ratings this year, panellists at a corporate governance event heard Wednesday.

Read More