Carbon markets can both harm and empower Indigenous communities, with extra care that should be taken to ensure benefits among host proponents, panellists said during a discussion that highlighted the risks of exclusionary rulemaking and the need for direct financing.

Dramatic rise - Honduras has committed to a 16% reduction below a business-as-usual (BAU) baseline that doubles 2021 GHG levels by 2030 – from 23 MtCO2e to 50 MtCO2e – according to the country's updated NDC, uploaded by the UNFCCC on Monday. It did not state 2035 emissions targets. The Central American country noted that it is maintaining this preexisting 16% goal, which covers the energy, agriculture, industrial processes, and waste sectors. That would correspond to some 4.6 mln tonnes CO2 equivalent in mitigation. However, the updated NDC newly includes the land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector, tacking on a goal to cut emissions by 1% more below BAU through land use and forestry means – equivalent to further mitigation of 214,300 tCO2e, conditional on Paris-aligned financing. Honduras intends to participate in Article 6 cooperative approaches.

Havana on Friday published an institutional framework for carbon markets, establishing a national administrative registry, a specialised technical unit, and approval procedures for all in-country carbon projects.

Global commitments to reach net zero emissions are rising among companies, regions, and cities, even as the US federal government stepped back from its own climate pledges, according to analysis released Tuesday during New York Climate Week.

Flip flop flapjack - Danish company Orsted has been cleared to restart work on its Revolution Wind project offshore of Rhode Island, a federal judge ruled on Monday, after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered the company to stop construction of the near-complete project earlier in September. US District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the Department of Interior from enforcing its order to halt construction, Reuters reported. The decision arrived as Energy Secretary Chris Wright separately told Axios that the offshore wind pullbacks have been a “one-off exception”. Wright added that he sees more of a role for solar than wind in the US energy landscape.

Wrong crowd - During the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump will step up to the dais with a growing reputation for attacking international organisations and accords since his administration entered office. As reported by E&E News, the annual UN meeting comes more than a month after Trump's February deadline by which he instructed his Cabinet to identify international organisations that the US should quit, defund, or reform. Some of those global establishments include those created to combat climate change and expand clean energy. The Trump administration is also considering leaving the UNFCCC altogether, according to former Trump officials and advocates.

Phasing it out – Colombia plans to host the first International Conference for the Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels in April 2026, it announced at Monday’s UN General Assembly in New York. Backed by 17 countries involved in the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty discussions, the conference aims to advance global cooperation on ending fossil fuel extraction. It is intended to complement the Paris Agreement and aligns with the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion recognising states’ legal obligations to address fossil fuel production as part of climate protection.

Cranking up the permitting machine - Louisiana is currently reviewing 33 applications for Class VI carbon injection wells, as well as eight applications for Class V wells – exploratory wells used to collect subsurface data before companies seek Class VI permits. 22 Class V permits have already been issued. Louisiana is one of the states to receive primacy over Class VI wells, having been approved by the EPA in Jan. 2024. (The Center Square)

RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices rebounded late Monday on a spurt of compliance buying after futures fell last week to their lowest levels since June amidst the slide into shoulder season, traders said.

A tech company announced its $3 million seed funding round to launch its first commercial direct air capture product on Thursday, targeting a path to $250/tonne of carbon removals.

A Swiss-headquartered CO2 removals investor has scaled up its flagship financing vehicle from 50,000 to 250,000 tonnes, in a move the company said establishes it among the world’s largest backers of high-quality CDR credits.

Peru has released a new official list of climate mitigation actions that form part of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2030, targeting allocation of rights to unclassified lands in the Amazon and commercial forestry plantations as the activities with the highest potential for emissions reduction.

A low-carbon infrastructure developer has partnered with a US renewable fuels producer to deliver what they called a first-in-the-nation carbon management platform that offers ethanol producers access to CO2 management infrastructure.

Ten years after the Paris Agreement, all its components are now in place and the focus for COP30 must be to “roll up sleeves and get the job done”, UN Climate Change Secretary Simon Stiell said at the opening of Climate Week NYC in New York on Monday.

China’s forestry carbon sinks grew by nearly 8 billion tonnes between 2003 and 2022, but with sharp regional disparities in efficiency and shifting hotspots, according to new research that calls for refined policies and market mechanisms to underpin the country’s carbon neutrality pledge.

The cost of a majority of durable carbon removals could fall below $100 per tonne within 10 years, an expert from a global consultancy told an event Monday, given the focused nature of technological development across the different strands of the supply side.

A carbon market analytics firm forecasts California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices to reach nearly $90 by 2030 following changes to the state’s emissions trading scheme recently inked into law.

The UN's climate chief sought to bolster confidence in global progress towards the Paris Agreement goals and the transition to net zero emissions in a speech on Monday, despite the slow stream of national climate action plans in the run-up to COP30. 

US carbon removal (CDR) buyers are still procuring credits in large volumes, but details of the offtakes are being kept behind closed doors amid a more difficult climate investment environment in the country, market participants said at an event held during Climate Week NYC on Monday.

Exxon’s CO2 transport biz - Carbon capture company AtmosClear announced Monday that it has selected ExxonMobil to transport CO2 from its carbon removal project in Louisiana. AtmosClear is developing a biomass energy with carbon capture (BECCS) facility at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge that will produce energy from biomass while capturing 680,999 tonnes of CO2 per year. ExxonMobil’s Carbon Capture and Storage system will be used to transport the CO2 via pipeline and store it in Class VI carbon injection wells.

Remove the removals - An open letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), led by NGO CLARA and members of civil society, has urged removals to be excluded from the proposed Corporate Net Zero Standard v2.0. They argue that requiring near-term corporate purchases of carbon removal credits undermines science, equity, and climate urgency. The letter stresses that unproven technologies like BECCS and DAC risk delaying real emission cuts, diverting funds, and entrenching inequities. Instead, companies should prioritise deep, immediate emission reductions and finance beyond-value-chain mitigation as contributions, not offsets. The Standard is currently in the process of being revised and will come into force in 2026.

An overreliance on voluntary demand in the carbon markets, as well as unresolved systemic risks, could undermine the sector’s overall growth prospects, according to panellists speaking Monday.

The non-profit initiative Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has downgraded the US’s climate action rating after reviewing the Trump administration’s rollback of critical climate and clean energy policies.

Environmental groups are calling on the EU to expand the scope of its carbon market to include flights outside the bloc, in a week when the aviation industry is instead looking to the UN's ICAO, opening a two-week summit on Tuesday, to help speed up the issuance of international offsetting credits eligible for its CORSIA scheme.

A producer of bio-based crop treatments has partnered with a North American project developer to deliver and market about 500,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits within three years from the application of mycorrhizal fungi on farmland that boosts crop yield and soil carbon sequestration.

Nearby CORSIA futures started to reflect a market moving from expectations to actual demand last week, with the price not only hitting a record high but also seeing volatility.

EU carbon prices fell back to a one-week low on Monday amid technical selling after September's exuberant rally had appeared to come to a halt on what analysts termed 'bullish exhaustion', while weakening gas prices added to the bearish sentiment.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) could cut costs, boost transparency, and help rebuild confidence in voluntary carbon markets, while improving efficiency in compliance schemes, but scaling it will hinge on solving governance and regulatory barriers, a new academic paper argues.

Location, location, location - Isometric has launched an 'Area Suitability Check' - a tool that gives instant feedback to reforestation suppliers on whether their proposed project area is eligible under the removal registry’s protocol. The tool saves time by allowing suppliers to upload their geographic data for an instant visual assessment. It checks whether a project area overlaps with land potentially ineligible for reforestation, accounting for net warming impacts, recent deforestation, terrestrial or tidal wetlands, and water stress zones. If overlaps are found, the tool then offers clear guidance on next steps.

The Liberal Democrats, the UK’s third-largest political party, has dropped its campaign promise to aim for net zero emissions by 2045, Carbon Pulse learned Monday.

Compliance carbon pricing mechanisms will be the "large-scale industrial kitchens" of carbon removal demand in the long term, but voluntary markets remain essential to moving the sector forward in the near term, said the CEO of a registry and standard on Monday.

A gender perspective - COP30's Action Agenda will promote climate solutions with female leadership and socio-environmental justice, in order to reflect the important role women and other vulnerable groups play in tackling climate change, as well as often being victims to it. One example is the collaboration between the COP30 Presidency and Brazil’s Ministry of Women in developing the 'Protocol for Supporting Women in Climate Emergencies and Disasters', which ensures a gender perspective is brought to every stage of climate crisis management. This includes measures to prevent gender-based violence, create safe spaces for women, and redistribute care work.      

The Welsh government has been urged to develop a clear, high-integrity approach to supporting a domestic voluntary carbon market that channels private finance into peatland restoration, afforestation, and other land-based removals, while embedding strong social safeguards and avoiding over-reliance on international credits.

A group of leaders from developed and developing countries have pledged to step up their efforts to meet voluntary collective goals, including to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030, in an effort to foster economic growth while protecting the planet.

A project exploring ways to turn CO2 into protein-based food, led by a consortium including the philanthropic arm of a pharmaceutical firm and a non-profit, has moved into its next phase.

Africa's biggest oil producing country, Nigeria, plans to cut emissions by about a third by 2035, relying on proceeds from international carbon credits and finance to help drive the transition, according to its new Paris Agreement pledge.

Bangladesh-Japan credits - The Bangladesh-Japan Joint Crediting Mechanism panel has last week issued a no-objection ruling for a methane reduction project focused on sustainable rice cultivation, developed by a local non-profit. The initiative, which applies efficient water management practices, marks a step toward generating carbon credits under the bilateral scheme.

Xpanding into Korea - Carbon market infrastructure provider, Xpansiv, has signed an MoU with NH Investment & Securities (NHIS), one of Korea’s financial institutions, to explore a potential business collaboration aimed at expanding access to carbon and renewable energy certificate (REC) markets in Korea and internationally. The MoU envisions NHIS becoming a participant on Xpansiv’s CBL spot exchange and leveraging the Xpansiv Connect portfolio management system to support client trading activity in the global environmental commodity markets. “This is another significant step forward to support Korea’s environmental commodities markets through innovation and collaboration,” said John Melby, CEO of Xpansiv. “We believe NHIS’s position as a trusted corporate advisor will facilitate market adoption by companies as part of their comprehensive net-zero and emission-reduction programme.”

Governments worldwide should take urgent measures to conserve the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia rainforest basins, as failing to do so could jeopardise over half of the world's food production and up to 8% of global GDP, according to a new report.

Global demand for oil and gas is set to peak within the next five years as electric vehicles and renewable energy rapidly scale up and outcompete fossil fuels on cost, a report released Monday has found.

Uganda announced plans to include carbon credit programmes in its newly-confirmed National Strategy on Integrated Forest Landscape Restoration (IFLR), set to cover the years 2025-50.

Less gas, more milk - India-based Banas Dairy, which is a large dairy cooperative with several popular brands, has launched a methane reduction programme covering its 3 mln cattle, aiming to cut emissions by up to 30% a year, Business Standard reported. The project is developed with climate-tech firm eVerse.AI, and is one of the world’s largest livestock methane initiatives. It will deploy plant-based feed additives and digital MRV tools to both reduce enteric fermentation and boost milk yields. eVerse.AI is already running a similar Verra-registered project with Maharashtra covering 20 mln  animals.

Progress so far - The Pacific island of Palau has submitted its initial report under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, detailing its involvement in the Japan-led Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). The A6IP Center said it supported Palau in drafting the report and provided explanations to strengthen understanding of the reporting requirements, laying the foundation for future submissions covering additional cooperative approaches. Palau and Japan have been working on JCM projects since 2014.

Mediterranean countries have joined Nordic and Central EU states in warning about the impact of climate change on their forest carbon sinks, with a growing majority asking for an escape clause in case natural disturbances make the bloc’s 2040 target impossible to achieve.

Greener ferry - P&O Ferries' vessel 'the Pride of Hull' has become the first ferry on the busy Hull to Rotterdam route to permanently run on lower-carbon biofuel, reducing lifecycle GHGs by about 20% compared with conventional marine fuel. The vessel is 215 metres long and carries up to 1,360 passengers and 400 freight vehicles on the critical trade and travel link between the UK and Europe. The transition also complies with the EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation, which requires ships over 5,000 gross tonnage to progressively reduce their GHG intensity since Jan. 2025. The development builds on P&O Ferries’ carbon savings of over 135,000 tonnes in recent years through hybrid ship deployment and fleet optimisation, the ferry company stated in a press release.

A global investment firm with over a trillion dollars in assets said Monday it will partner with a Malaysian clean energy company to build more than 1.5 GW of solar and battery storage projects.

Gatwick's growth - Plans for a second runway at London's Gatwick Airport have been approved by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, in a bid to support projects that boost economic growth. The £2.2 bln privately financed project effectively involves moving the current Northern Runway 12 metres to bring it into regular use, as well as extending the size of terminals, and other areas. The plans - long opposed by environmental campaigners including Greenpeace - would enable passenger numbers to as much as double to 80 million a year, and would enable Gatwick to handle around 389,000 flights annually by the late 2030s, up from 280,000 today. The airport in West Sussex is Europe's busiest single-runway airport, and the second runway would be used for short haul flights, with capacity also freed up for more long-haul services from the main runway. (BBC)

Biochar partnership - Connecticut-based startup Super Biochar has teamed up with agricultural diagnostics provider Ward Laboratories to advance soil remediation and carbon removal. As part of the collaboration, Super Biochar will provide AI-driven biochar blends, while Ward Laboratories will deliver independent soil testing to ensure measurable and verifiable outcomes. The partnership will officially launch on Sep. 26 during Climate Week NYC, as Connecticut ramps up brownfield investments totalling nearly $65 mln since 2024.

Chemical cuts - German chemical-maker BASF has managed to cut greenhouse gas intensity from rice cultivation by 30% without yield loss, it said in a press release Monday. It used alternate wetting and drying methods during field trials in the Philippines in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute. Other practises such as direct seeding and improved straw management also reduced emissions and water use. The trials form part of BASF’s wider goal to cut CO2e emissions in five major crops by 30% by 2030.

Views of the energy transition across Southeast Asia are evolving rapidly with Singapore now no longer seen as being the driver and most advanced by the vast majority of survey respondents, according to a regional energy association.

Dot the i's and cross the DACs - Australian listed CCS hopeful Dotz Nano, which is also listed on the US over the counter market, has filed a new patent application in the US for a new CO2 capture technology. The ‘amine-modified polymer’ is a sorbent technology, a common form of carbon capture, but more effective than historic iterations, Dotz said Monday. Its tech is primarily to be used in the more nascent direct air capture (DAC) space rather than to take CO2 from power station flue gas or strip it out from the wellhead at natural gas fields. The majority of DAC projects, which take CO2 from the air for permanent subsurface storage, are not yet at commercial stage. The world’s largest, owned by an oil company subsidiary, will start sending 500,000 tCO2 per year beneath the ground later in 2025. Dotz claims its kit offers scalability for use in large-scale point-source capture and DAC applications.

Rage - Tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets on Sunday to protest against government corruption, the Guardian reported, following allegations that taxpayers have lost billions of dollars due to fraudulent flood relief projects. As much as PHP 1.089 trillion ($19 bln) of the government’s climate-tagged expenditures could have potentially been lost to corruption since 2023, according to Greenpeace's estimate. Corruption and greed are undermining the country's ability to cope with climate change, and millions of Filipinos lose lives, homes and livelihoods due to more frequent and more intense flooding, Greenpeace said.    

SAF use - South Korea's biggest carrier is expanding the use of environmentally friendly aviation fuel on its Japan routes to reduce emissions. A 1% blend of domestically produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been introduced on Korean Air flights from Incheon to Kobe and those from Gimpo to Osaka, starting Friday and continuing through Dec. 31, the airline said. South Korea has mandated a minimum blending ratio of 1% SAF in outbound flights from 2027 before gradually increasing the requirement to 3-5% by the end of this decade.  

Not in the same league - China’s dominance in clean tech has left key sectors in the West "uninvestable", according to Bloomberg, which cited comments by venture capitalists. Some of them argued that investments in Western startups spanning battery manufacturing and recycling, electrolysers, solar, and hardware for wind are no longer viable, while some are seeking ways to collaborate with Chinese firms across supply chains. China manufactures roughly 80% of the world’s solar panels, provides around 60% of the world's wind turbines, 70% of electric vehicles, and 75% of batteries, all at a lower economic cost compared to the West, according to data from BloombergNEF.  

Rich countries could raise up to $6.6 trillion each year to finance the global transition away from fossil fuels by implementing fair taxation and polluter-pays measures, according to a report released Monday.

Japan is contemplating giving additional allowances to companies exposed to carbon leakage risk and those actively investing in decarbonisation solutions under the country's emissions trading scheme.

Pumped up, and up - On Monday Queensland’s conservative state government announced A$48 mln ($31 mln) to overhaul a pumped hydro power station to improve its reliability and efficiency. Both 285 MW turbines at the Wivenhoe station will be overhauled within the next two years. Wivenhoe generated 218 GW hours of power in the last quarter of the prior financial year, setting a record, the government said. State-owned CleanCo is also looking at the feasibility of turning a mothballed gold mine into another pumped hydro site, with A$50 mln already invested. The government has also cancelled several clean energy projects developed under the prior Labor government. It will hand down its five-year Energy Roadmap Oct.10.

Governments plan to produce 120% more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent under a 1.5C-aligned pathway, according to research published Monday.

Cautionary coal - New Zealand's Genesis Energy has struck a two-year deal with local mining company BT Mining to supply 240,000 tonnes of coal to the Huntly Power Station. A statement from the government noted the coal was required due to the tightening of the country's low supplies of gas, and that the domestic supply deal would mean it is less reliant on coal imported from overseas. The Huntly - New Zealand's largest power station - can burn between 300,000 to 1 mln tonnes of coal per year, depending on gas declines, dry years, and low wind.  

Fast track battery - Victoria has approved a 1-gigawatt battery in Portland Energy Park. Valued at A$1.3 bln ($856 bln) and developed by Pacific Green, it will be the state’s largest energy storage project and was fast tracked for development via Labor’s Development Facilitation Programme. This is part of a wider fast tracking of clean energy developments worth over A$6 bln at this stage. The full project includes four 250 megawatt battery parks and can power over 350,000 homes during peak demand, sent out via existing transmission lines, the government said.

More two-way, please - Western Australia’s Horizon Power has completed a year-long trial to test two-way EV charging in Exmouth, several hundred kilometres north of capital Perth. Energy and decarbonisation minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the vehicle-to-grid tech could manage two-way charging and allow EVs to act as ‘mobile storage systems’. The trial was the first of its kind in Western Australia and was conducted using the regional energy provider's Distributed Energy Resource Management System, the government said. The power company hopes to better understand how EVs can be incorporated into its microgrids in more remote areas. While the most populous areas of the state are connected to two main grids, given WA’s size, many operate on microgrids, and remote communities and mining sites still rely on diesel generation.

Triple digits - The Australian Labor government has approved its 100th renewable energy project since being elected in 2022, it announced. Environment Minister Murray Watt said the milestone was reached following the approval of the Nowingi solar and storage project in Victoria. Watt said 90% of the approval decisions were delivered on time, as the renewable energy industry complains of slow approval processes. The 100 projects will reduce emissions by 53 MtCO2e per year, the government said, and comprise 43 solar farms, 22 onshore windfarms, 13 energy storage systems, 13 infrastructure and exploration projects, and nine transmission projects.

A prominent legal group is alarmed that the New Zealand government is reportedly considering whether to exclude the Climate Change Commission (CCC) from formulating the country’s emission reduction plans.