The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has approved new credit operations totalling R$912 million ($172.3 mln) for reforestation projects in the country, it announced on Wednesday.

After years of waiting, the US EPA announced Wednesday that it has approved Texas’ application to permit and regulate Class VI carbon injection wells.

Interlinkages between carbon markets and other Paris Agreement items are being leveraged to smooth discussions in some rooms, but hit a nerve in others, according to civil society observers.

Quebec’s climate change committee has recommended the WCI-linked province integrate carbon sequestration into its climate strategy alongside new emission reduction targets.

The California regulatory overlooking carbon offsets reported an issuance of 696,000 units over the last three weeks without direct environmental benefits (DEBs) to the state, a slight increase in issuances following a slump recorded last period.

COP30 negotiations on the four main issues on the table – including how to plug gaps in climate finance and national commitments – are progressing well but need more time, the Brazilian presidency said on Wednesday evening, pushing the next plenary to Saturday.

Brazil is straddling a thin line between climate champion and fossil fuel producer, as the second fastest-growing oil supplier in the world over the past decade, but with slipping greenhouse gas emissions, according to Carbon Pulse analysis.

Mexican states are implementing their own carbon taxes in the absence of federal leadership, while the country's energy ministry (SENER) positions itself as coordinator of the fragmented carbon market landscape.

Host countries of Article 6 carbon projects say they need an army of experts to help them establish market frameworks and projects amid a looming capacity shortage, a COP30 side event heard on Wednesday.

The newly launched Tropical Forest Forever Facility is creating a multi-billion dollar investment stream for tropical forest protection with a guaranteed share for Indigenous and local communities, even as conservation groups warn that emerging Article 6.4 rules risk sidelining nature-based solutions by imposing permanence requirements that could effectively exclude forests, soils, and blue carbon from the forthcoming global carbon market.

Another wind bites the dust – An offshore wind developer told the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last week that it may pull the plug on a 2.4 GW project planned for 35 miles off the East Coast. Legal counsel for the Leading Light Wind project, Colleen Foley, submitted a letter to the utilities board Nov. 7 explaining the numerous challenges the company has faced in developing the project, according to Heatmap, which obtained a copy of the letter. The company no longer sees a way to complete the project and now wants to cancel it outright, the letter said.

Carbon on ice – Calgary-based Karbon-X, a climate-solutions company that develops and verifies carbon projects, has been named the official sustainability partner of Hockey Canada under a new multi-year agreement to integrate measurable environmental initiatives into national tournaments and grassroots programmes. The partnership will see ticket and registration options include contributions to verified Canadian-based climate projects that deliver community and environmental benefits. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cutting hubs – The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 10 climate hubs are among the victims within the Congressional spending bill that could lay the groundwork for ending the government shutdown. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) released the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 this week, which cuts funding for Biden-era priorities like Climate Hubs. The USDA’s 10 hubs are located across the US and are designed to study and monitor potential climate change impacts. Research from the hubs informs climate adaptation strategies and helps farmers, ranchers, and foresters better understand how to implement nature-based solutions.

Turning up the heat – The US Chamber of Commerce and allied business groups filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court on Monday, seeking to block enforcement of California’s corporate climate disclosure laws (Senate Bills 253 and 261) while their First Amendment challenge remains pending in the Ninth Circuit. The request follows ongoing litigation over measures requiring major firms to report GHG emissions and climate-related financial risks beginning in 2026.

The US offshore wind market has slowed significantly in 2025 following federal policy changes, funding withdrawals, and rising project costs, according to a report published Wednesday.

The Brazilian government launched on Wednesday the first concession of a national public forest for restoration, with revenues based on carbon credit sales.

Enabling social inclusion - The World Bank’s 2025 EnABLE initiative has published its annual report, which details progress in advancing social inclusion within results-based climate finance across 14 countries. In FY25, new programmes were launched in Ghana, Lao PDR, and Mozambique, with additional projects in the DRC and Guatemala to enhance participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and civil society, the project said. The report introduces the Social Inclusion Framework and a companion good practices guide developed with CIFOR-ICRAF, alongside new partnerships, training initiatives, and communications platforms. EnABLE also strengthened collaboration with the World Bank’s SCALE program to integrate equity and inclusion across all climate finance operations.

Oman on Wednesday at COP30 officially launched its National GHG Inventory Platform in support of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Biennial Transparency Report (BTR), and Article 6 engagement.

Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), together with Gold Standard and Verra, has published its final Article 6.2 Crediting Protocol, establishing a framework for governments to use existing, independent carbon crediting programmes to meet their national climate goals.

Heavy metal - European aluminium importers are racing to secure supplies of the metal following an outage at a key smelter in Iceland and before a new carbon tax comes into force, pushing premiums to a nine-month high, Reuters reported. The European aluminium duty-paid premium , which buyers on the physical market pay over the London Metal Exchange price to cover taxes, freight and handling costs, is currently at $324 a tonne. It hit $330 on Nov. 3, the highest since late January. The sector is covered by the EU and UK ETSs.

A group of countries led by Colombia are working on a declaration specifically addressing transitioning away from fossil fuels, according to a draft text seen by Carbon Pulse.

Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday approved a long-delayed budget that directs the state to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), potentially making it the first Democratic-led state to exit the regional cap-and-trade programme.

The EU does not have an official preference for credits generated under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement for use towards its 2040 climate goals, despite some expectations this would be the case, officials told a COP30 event this week, adding that the bloc remains open to using other standards.

A global forum representing Indigenous Peoples and local communities announced its new strategy Wednesday at COP 30, with the goal of embedding community rights and priorities at the centre of international climate finance and eliminating low-quality projects.

European carbon prices jumped near to their recent 10-month highs on Wednesday as options trading appeared to drive some aggressive bids in the futures market, while the weekly positions data from the two main exchanges showed continued accumulation of length by speculative traders.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) at COP30 signed a series of agreements with international partners, seeking to reassure the global community of US commitment to addressing climate amid the absence of a federal presence in Belem.

CBAM critique - The EU's forthcoming carbon border tax will likely fail, with industries outside the bloc finding ways to circumvent it, said Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, head of German chemical industry lobby group VCI. Far from supporting the EU, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will lead to higher allowances prices of €100-150/t by 2027, leading some German companies to face up to €250 mln of extra costs compared with similar US sites, he said. Grosse Entrup called for continuation of free allocation of allowances and the phaseout of allowances to be stretched. He also critiqued Germany's planned industrial power price scheme, calling for rapid political clarity to support energy-intensive industry. (Montel News)

A UN-supported initiative last week invited developers to submit project ideas that could generate international carbon credits under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 mechanism in Thailand.

The development of carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) could foster international industrial partnerships to help close financing gaps for decarbonisation, proponents said on a side event at the UN climate summit in Brazil.

New CDR methodology – Rainbow, a certifier, has published a new methodology for the mineralisation of alkaline materials. The methodology provides a framework to measure and certify carbon removal using biogenic and atmospheric CO2 and avoidance using fossil and calcination CO2 across a wide range of industrial feedstocks, extending far beyond cement and concrete, Rainbow said.

Temperatures could still be contained to below 1.5C by 2100 even with vastly reduced deployment of carbon removal (CDR) - below the 400 billion tonnes of CO2 required by that date under the latest scenario from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

European Union countries have agreed on a mandate to start negotiations with the UK on linking their respective carbon markets, the Council of EU member states said on Wednesday.

Tight fundamentals will push EU carbon prices higher through 2026, with the supply balance firmly bullish, analysts wrote in a monthly report published this week.

Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects accounted for nearly 30% of all nature-based carbon credits issued in 2025, though many registries still struggle to label credits accurately, complicating purchases and limiting sellers’ ability to secure higher prices, analysts said. 

Governments increasingly putting domestic priorities first can still find powerful incentives for international cooperation on climate change, according to a new discussion paper unveiled Wednesday at COP30, though action must be taken soon to avoid a $26 trillion finance shortfall by 2036.

The South Korean government on Wednesday failed to sell out the allowances on offer in its monthly CO2 permit auction, with allowance prices continuing to hover around the KRW 10,000 ($6.82) level, as traders are laser focused on the upcoming policy updates.

Governments must splash out billions on procuring carbon removal (CDR) tonnes because the voluntary carbon market will not plug the gap, warned an expert.

The timing of peak oil demand depends on how quickly electric vehicles (EVs) can be deployed globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday.

The UK's upper parliamentary chamber, the House of Lords, has called on the government to clarify how disputes would be resolved if a link is established between the UK’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) with that of the EU, particularly regarding the role of the EU Court of Justice in such matters.

Half of the global target to mobilise $1.3 trillion of public and private climate finance could be financed by private investors, and may be raised via carbon markets, according to an independent UN advisory group. 

Djibouti wants to raise carbon finance using both Article 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement to meet its new 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Artificial intelligence can make modelling more accurate across both nature-based and engineered carbon removal (CDR) solutions, according to a study published last week.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed its first-ever penalty on a financial institution for failing to comply with a key climate risk requirement, it announced this week.

Carbon trading between developed and developing regions could help finance the deployment of enhanced rock weathering (ERW) in low-GDP areas and remove 22.9 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2075, a recent report has found.

At least 2 billion people live within five kilometres of fossil fuel infrastructure and face increased health and livelihood risks from pollution, land degradation and ecosystem loss, according to a report published Wednesday by two global advocacy groups.

Carbon credits buyers’ group, LEAF Coalition, has signed up its first member from Asia, it announced on Wednesday.

The German government intends to extend the price corridor in its national emissions trading scheme  by one year, to fill the gap left by the EU’s impending postponement of a new EU emissions trading system for transport and heating fuels (ETS2) to 2028.

A London-based spirits producer has committed to investing up to £5 million over the next five years to restore 3,000 hectares of degraded peatlands in Scotland by 2030.

Day 3 at COP30 in Belem. Heavy rain and a big clash between protesters and UNFCCC security on Tuesday have somewhat dampened initial optimism for the summit, as crunch presidency updates are now expected on Wednesday that should signal where talks are likely to land over the coming days.

Collateral impact - A one-year delay to the EU ETS2 for heating and transport fuels to 2028 looks set to influence the bloc's inflationary outlook - potentially reviving calls for more interest rate cuts. A delay would likely mean consumer prices rise less than expected currently in 2027 - leaving the European Central Bank to face another undershoot of its 2% target on top of the one it already expects next year. This would provide an argument in favour of another interest rate cut. The ECB’s latest quarterly outlook envisages inflation of 1.7% and 1.9% over the next two years, but Bloomberg Economics forecasts ETS2 provides a lift of 0.2 percentage point or more in 2027.

The name is (transition) bond – Japanese shipping major NYK Line will issue roughly 20 bln yen ($130 mln) of transition bonds this month to fund decarbonisation projects including LNG-fuelled vessels, it has announced. The issuance – NYK’s fifth transition bond since 2021 – will support the company’s goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through a fuel-conversion roadmap covering LNG, ammonia, hydrogen, and biofuels.

Industrial hydrogen funding - The UK government has announced the successful projects to receive funding under its Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator (IHA) Programme, for end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen. Under Stream 1, H2GO Power received just over £3 mln for its Smart Hydrogen-Gas Network (SHyGaN) concept from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Stream 2A provided up to £400,000 for feasibility studies to develop the project concept further, with BEIS awarding around £2.95 mln in funding across nine projects. Whilst Stream 2B provided up to £7 mln in grant funding per projects that had completed feasibility studies in Stream 2A. All competitions are now closed. Further details here.

A global forestry investment manager has signed agreements to acquire a majority stake in Solomon Islands’ largest sustainable forestry company, it announced Wednesday.

Australia’s Big Four banks have directed just over A$43 billion ($28.1 bln) to fossil fuel companies since 2015, a report said on Wednesday.

The European Commission is developing a pilot scheme to certify emission reductions from livestock and will present a legislative proposal next year if it receives a mandate to do so, an official has said.

Leadership change – Australia’s Climate Change Authority (CCA) is set to witness a change in leadership, with Kath Rowley appointed as the new CEO for a five-year term beginning December, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced on LinkedIn. Rowley is currently serving as the division head of emissions reduction at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water and was recently appointed to the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee. In her new role, she will work closely with the authority chair and lead the organisation in providing expert advice to the government on climate policy, Bowen said. In a separate post announcing his departure, Brad Archer, the current CCA CEO, said he would finish when his appointment ends in mid-December after seven years in the role. He did not disclose his future plans.

Governments in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) need to ensure they have a mix of policies to incentivise finance for forests, as well as regulatory measures such as environmental markets, said a recent report.

Project milestone – A joint-venture led by Octopus Australia has reached financial close on its A$900 mln ($585 mln) Blind Creek Solar Farm & Battery Project in Bungendore, New South Wales, paving the way for construction of a 300 MW of solar capacity, enough to power more than 120,000 homes and paired with a 243 MW/486 MWh battery. Built in collaboration with local landholders, the project embodies an agri-solar approach that allows sheep grazing to continue alongside renewable energy production, improving both land use efficiency and productivity.

Coal transition – The Australian state of Queensland is working to bolster the performance of its coal export supply chain, with a new deal between state-owned energy company CleanCo and rail freight operator Aurizon to power train operations with renewable electricity from local wind and solar farms. The agreement will supply about 25% of Aurizon’s power needs from the MacIntyre, Kaban, and Woolooga renewable projects, supporting Queensland’s plan to maintain its position as a leading exporter of steelmaking coal while transitioning its energy system towards lower-emission sources, the statement said.

Appeal launched – The Torres Strait Islanders who sued the Australian government for climate negligence have appealed a July ruling which rejected their claim. The claimants had also argued that the government had breached its duty of care by not aligning its emissions reduction targets with science. In his ruling, Justice Michael Wigney noted that the claims failed due to shortcomings in Australian law, as opposed to no factual merit. (LinkedIn)

Community upgrades – The Australian government has announced that A$50 mln ($32.6 mln) of grants have been awarded in the second round of its Community Energy Upgrades Fund – including A$21 mln to councils across New South Wales. Initiatives funded included battery storage, solar power, and LED lighting initiatives, the government said, noting that nearly all projects feature solar power, and around half battery storage.

The world could warm above 4C by the end of the century under current policies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned Wednesday in a stark report that said large-scale carbon removal (CDR) technologies will be needed to stop temperatures rising more than 1.5C.

Pacific Islands' representatives have offered to join the negotiations over next year’s COP hosting, to see if their Talanoa spirit can settle the dispute between Turkiye and Australia.

Turning marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) into a reliable source of carbon credits will require far more rigorous science and costly monitoring, scientists said Tuesday.

A nation-wide project aiming to install 80 million clean cookstoves in the West African country, financed solely by credits from the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), is conducting a small-scale “proof of concept” while waiting for an approved methodology by the UNFCCC, its developer told Carbon Pulse.

Even though no Article 6 negotiations are slated for COP30, "difficult discussions" about a recently approved permanence standard dog implementation of the new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) – with some countries reportedly threatening to reopen agreed texts to try and cement a stronger role for nature-based projects in the new market.

The UK government has stepped up its nuclear power expansion plans, selecting a site in north Wales for the country’s first small modular reactor (SMR), it announced Thursday.