Powering up renewables – Proposed reforms to New Zealand’s planning system will accelerate the build out of renewable energy, climate minister Simon Watts said on Tuesday. Proposed reforms to the Resource Management Act, introduced to Parliament on Tuesday, will see the 1991 legislation replaced with a Planning Bill and a separate Natural Environment Bill to speed up consents, and lower costs, the government said. Watts added that more electricity generation has been commissioned in the past 18 months compared with the preceding 15 years and that 95% of the country’s power will come from renewables in the future, up from the current 85%. The government is aiming to pass the bills next year. Power generation is covered by the NZ ETS.

CBAM farm costs – Bulgarian fertiliser producer Agropolychim has warned that the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), combined with the gradual phase-out of free allowances, will drive up the cost of fertiliser. The company's commercial director Georgi Borisov said by 2030, the production cost for one tonne of ammonium nitrate could include a carbon levy of €150, based on an assumed EUA price of €120-200/tCO2e. This will lead to higher prices for customers, with Borisov noting that export-oriented farmers in Bulgaria and Romania, which primarily export grain to northern Africa and the Middle East, may struggle to pass on the cost as their buyers would not be able to absorb it. He also said there is a lack of transparency on how CBAM revenues will be used, calling for them to support farmers and sustainable manufacturing.

Low-carbon banks – London School of Economics’ TPI Global Climate Transition Centre opened a public consultation last week on proposed design updates to its banking assessment tool, seeking feedback from investors, banks, multilaterals, and IFIs on methodological changes to the Net Zero Banking Assessment Framework and its Carbon Performance for Banks metrics. The centre, which independently evaluates institutions using publicly disclosed data, said the consultation runs until Jan. 31, 2026.

The private branch of the World Bank has announced its first investment in a renewable hydrogen production project, selecting a Uruguay project focused on freight in the forestry sector.

A new batch of more than 2 million carbon credits has been issued in the US using an updated forest carbon accounting approach, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Solar + battery deal done – BayWa r.e. closed $416 mln in financing for the Jacumba Valley Ranch Energy Park in San Diego County, according to PV Magazine. The project, comprised of 90 MW of solar and 70 MW/280 MWh of battery storage, is expected to begin operations in autumn 2026, delivering electricity to approximately 57,000 homes through San Diego Community Power. The project is expected to avoid approximately 500,000 MtCO2 of emissions over its lifetime.

Climate rewrite – The US EPA has removed references to human-driven warming from several climate webpages, replacing prior explanations of anthropogenic GHG emissions with content that highlights only natural factors such as orbital shifts, solar variation, and volcanism, E&E News reported. The overhaul also scrapped pages on climate indicators and impacts that previously linked to data and models showing how CO2, methane, and other pollutants affect US communities. An EPA spokesperson framed the changes as routine updates aligned with President Trump’s priorities, while outside scientists said the agency has erased authoritative material that once served as a key resource for researchers. Critics argued the edits appear aimed at bolstering the administration’s planned repeal of the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding for GHGs, which relies on a DOE report now the subject of litigation over its contentious development.

83 GW of hope – Ten US East Coast states targeting 83 GW of offshore wind by 2050, but 2020-23 crises revealed that governance, not turbine technology, is the real bottleneck, according to analysis published in Energy Research & Social Science. Thirteen of 23 offtake agreements were terminated after cost increases of roughly 50% from Covid-19, Ukraine war, and supply chain disruptions. State institutions adapted through this challenging time via institutional learning: New York developed inflation adjustment mechanisms and technology certification requirements; Massachusetts negotiated an 11-state fisheries mitigation framework; and New Jersey coordinated regional transmission planning. By 2024, the first utility-scale project (South Fork, 132 MW) became operational, with over 15 GW fully approved and 6 GW under construction at present.  

Toll tactics – A new study published in Nature found that New York City’s new congestion pricing programme led to a sharp fall in air pollution during its first six months. Particulate matter levels in the toll zone dropped by about 22%, compared with what researchers estimated would have occurred without the policy. Using data from 42 regional monitors, the authors also found smaller but consistent reductions across the city and wider metro area, with no sign that pollution was pushed into neighbouring districts. The study linked the improvements to fewer vehicles entering the zone, including an 18% decline in heavy-duty trucks.

A power reshuffle – The US DOJ approved Constellation Energy's $26.6 bln acquisition of Calpine Corporation on condition that the merged entity divest six power plants, including two in RGGI state Delaware – Hay Road Energy Center and Edge Moor Energy Center – according to a company announcement. Calpine in total owns 48 power facilities across CAISO, PJM, NYISO and the NE-ISO regions. The consent decree, the first in an electricity merger in 14 years, resolves antitrust concerns over Constellation's control of more than 20 GW of generating capacity across the US.

Rail, road, revolution – California Governor Gavin Newsom announced $1.1 bln in zero-emission transit investments on Monday, following approval from the California Transportation Commission. The funding will be used for electric buses, charging stations, and infrastructure, including $53 mln for 12 clean-energy locomotives to replace diesel ones on southern California's commuter train system Metrolink. California's GHG emissions have dropped 21% since 2000 despite 81% GDP growth, with over 200,000 public EV charging stations statewide and two-thirds clean energy powering the state in 2023.

The harmonisation of emissions reporting will be a key theme of 2026 as consensus grows over the need for product-level carbon accounting in global trade and climate policy, according to an end-of-year outlook report.

Stop the robots – A coalition of US environmental groups has published an open letter to Congress demanding a national moratorium on new data centres as the nation faces rapidly increasing energy demand and electricity pricing. The coalition consists of groups from 30 US states as well as dozens of regional and national organisations, including Greenpeace USA, Friends of the Earth, and the US Climate Action Network. In addition to driving up energy usage, the coalition decries data centres’ massive water consumption, fossil fuel-sourced energy, and job losses linked to the proliferation of AI. The groups call for a national moratorium until more adequate regulations can be enacted to protect communities and the environment.

ExxonMobil has reduced the level of capital it plans to allocate to low-carbon investments this decade, outlining around $20 billion of lower-emissions spending between 2025 and 2030 in its updated corporate plan released on Tuesday.

US Senator Michael Bennet (D) on Monday announced a plan to develop a state-wide cap-and-invest programme that would place an enforceable cap on emissions across major economic sectors if he wins Colorado's gubernatorial race.

A US federal judge has vacated a Trump administration order that halted permitting for wind energy projects nationwide, finding the action unlawful and arbitrary under administrative law.

The European Commission’s forthcoming Industrial Decarbonisation Bank (IDB), set to be unveiled next year, will allocate funding to projects based on the volume of CO2 emissions reduced per euro invested, a senior EU official has said.

Voluntary carbon credit retirements were down by 30% month-on-month in November, and at 50% of the levels seen over the same period last year, as issuance also fell away, while CORSIA supply started to filter in as new credits were tagged as eligible for the UN's international aviation offsetting scheme.

The agency has issued a slew of recommendations, including use of a shadow carbon price, hydrogen power plants, CCS for waste incinerators, CO2 pricing for agriculture, and protecting forests and peatlands, to get Germany on track to climate neutrality.

DAC-ilitator - Climeworks has facilitated over 450,000 tons of certified nature based and engineered carbon removals CDR), it said in a statement today. The Swiss direct air capture (DAC) company said that, alongside developing removals projects itself, it also aggregates CDR supply from a network of third‑party providers before delivering these certified removals to buyers. The company clarified that Climeworks alone did not directly remove 450,ooo tonnes, but had acted as middleman on a number of deals. It said credits had been  delivered across multiple pathways, including biochar, BECCS, enhanced rock weathering (ERW), and DAC.

Down under carbon battery - Engineers have unlocked a new class of supercapacitor material that could rival traditional batteries in energy while charging dramatically faster, according to Science Daily. The research comes from the ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing with 2D Materials (AM2D) in Monash's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. They have developed a new carbon-based material that enables supercapacitors to hold energy levels comparable to traditional lead-acid batteries while releasing that energy far more quickly than conventional battery designs. The researchers traced this progress to a newly designed material architecture called multiscale reduced graphene oxide (M-rGO), created from natural graphite, an abundant resource in Australia. Phillip Aitchison, CTO of the Monash University spinout Ionic Industries and a co-author of the study, noted that efforts to commercialise the technology are already underway.

dMRV for CDR - CDR standard Puro.earth has launched a new dMRV Connect platform, which connects digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) platforms directly into Puro’s certification platform, MyPuro 2.0. The new API allows dMRV providers to send audit data, documentation, and evidence directly to Puro.earth through secure, automated channels. By reducing manual uploads and exchanges, Puro dMRV Connect improves data accuracy and shortens time to issuance for CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) and future credit types issued under the Puro.earth certification platform.

Progress for Article 6.4 - The expert panel (MEP) working on Article 6.4 methodologies, have tentatively agreed to recommend a tool for assessing the risk of reversals across activity types, such as biochar, forestry, and subsurface CO2 storage, at the end of its 10th meeting. Major work was also undertaken on revising CDM methodologies for grid-connected electricity and the associated emission factor tools. A merged and updated tool for calculating grid emission factors was also finalised and is due for public consultation. The MEP also worked on revisions to the clean cooking energy transition methodology, and a consolidated framework will include updated sampling guidelines, efficiency methodologies, and renewable biomass considerations. Details of the meeting will be published on the UNFCCC website shortly, and the next meeting will be Jan. 26-30.

EU carbon allowance prices ended Tuesday above a resistance level that had capped rallies over the previous week as the market continued to fluctuate in an increasingly narrow range in the last few hours before the expiry of December 2025 options, while energy markets were firmer across the board.

Namibian green hydrogen - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $10 mln loan for Namibian green hydrogen developer Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, to support a green ammonia project valued at over $10 bln. The project is expected to position Namibia as a pioneer in the global economy for low-carbon hydrogen, the AfDB said. The loan comes from the bank's Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, and will support FEED studies for solar and wind power generation, battery storage systems, electrolyser capacity, and desalination infrastructure. This will help to de-risk the project, and attract the finance needed to realise it. The first phase of Hyphen's project includes 3.75 GW of renewable energy generation, and 1.5 GW of electrolyser capacity, plus battery storage, desalination, pipelines, transmission lines, and other infrastructure. Once complete, the plant is expected to produce 2 Mt of green ammonia per year for export, and to avert 5 Mt CO2e per year. Its 7.5 GW of renewable energy capacity would be more than 10 times Namibia's current installed capacity.

Million mark - Deliveries of durable carbon removal credits have hit the 1 mln milestone, according to CDR.fyi, up from 660,000 credits a year ago. “The speed has been remarkable: it took us over five years to get from zero to 500 Kt, and only 15 months to double that to 1 Mt,” said Sebastian Manhart, a policy advisor at Carbonfuture, on LinkedIn. “In just five years, over 700 companies have been founded, tens of thousands of people transitioned their careers, and countless policies have been passed.”

China’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) is pushing manufacturing companies to produce higher-quality innovations while curbing low-value patenting behaviour, according to new research that finds the market mechanism is helping to suppress so-called “innovation bubbles” in the sector.

Sierra Leone will rely on carbon finance, REDD+ mechanisms, and results-based finance to bring in 11% of the funds needed to implement its latest Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), of which it expects around half will come from voluntary carbon market (VCM) buyers.

Carbon-storing roads - Carbon Crusher has launched the 'Carbon Rover' - a road refurbishment machine that sequesters hundreds of tonnes of CO2 per mile, it said in a release Tuesday. The American and Norwegian startup claims the AI-guided machine also delivers roads up to three times stronger and longer-lasting. The Carbon Rover's capabilities have been proven on road projects in five countries, from Arctic conditions to the desert. The startup claims a fleet of six machines - each able to sequester up to 940 tonnes of CO2e per day - could, even at 50% capacity, remove 1 mln tonnes of CO2 within two years as the concept scales globally. Carbon Crusher is backed by investors including Y Combinator and Lowercarbon Capital.

EU ETS and CBAM advice - The European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) has suggested a number of actions should be considered when it comes to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and ETS, in a paper published on  Tuesday. This includes: speeding up decarbonisation, backloading CBAM and free allocation phaseout in the EU ETS, addressing exports in CBAM, pausing plans to include Scope 2 emissions in CBAM.

€1.5 Italian state aid scheme - The European Commission approved a €1.5 bln Italian State aid scheme to support strategic investments that add clean technologies manufacturing capacity on Tuesday. The aid will take the form of grants, subsidised loans, or a combination of both. The measure will be open to companies in the whole territory of Italy, and may be granted until Dec. 31, 2030.

The European Commission has approved a €42 billion Polish state aid scheme for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to start generating electricity in the second half of 2030.

Verra has launched a review into the verification and validation assessments of a large avoided deforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon following accusations that it has generated millions of carbon credits from land inside federally-protected areas.

Peatland purchase - Sucden Financial, a global multi-asset execution, clearing, and liquidity provider, is purchasing UK Peatland Code credits to offset its unavoidable emissions in 2024. The company has achieved a 74.5% reduction in GHG emissions from its London operations between 2020 and 2024 thanks to initiatives including IT upgrades, installation of lighting controls, and fine-tuning of heating and air-con systems. It's also using data centres that are almost entirely renewably powered. The peatland carbon credits were purchased via Climate Impact Partners, and will support the Scaliscro Peatland Restoration Project, on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. This aims to restore nearly 250 ha of peatland while increasing carbon storage and delivering additional environmental benefits.

Farm credits – India’s IIT Roorkee has partnered with the state government of Uttar Pradesh to launch a large-scale carbon credit programme for farmers, aiming to monetise sustainable agriculture and land use practices, the Economic Times reported. The initiative will deploy a digital MRV system aligned with international standards to track gains in soil carbon and reductions in GHG emissions from practices such as minimal tillage, cover cropping, residue management, agroforestry, and improved bio-fertiliser use. It will start in the Saharanpur division of the state. IIT Roorkee will also help connect farmers with carbon markets and global buyers.

Step by step - Progress on a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) project developed by Heidelberg Materials in Eastern Europe is progressing, following the company's signing of a term sheet with Energean subsidiary, EnEarth. The term sheet is to allow EnEarth to negotiate on an exclusive basis definitive agreements for an expansion of its operations into Bulgaria as storage operator for Heidelberg Materials’ Devnya CO2 development. Devnya CO2 is part of the wider ANRAV CCUS project launched by Heidelberg Materials, aiming to be the first full-chain CCUS project in Eastern Europe. It includes capture of 800,000 t/year of CO2 from Heidelberg’s cement plant in Devnya followed by transport and permanent onshore storage nearby. The project has received EU Innovation Fund financing and is expected operational before 2030, stated the press release Tuesday.  

Five countries are leading the way in developing legal frameworks to support blue carbon, which are urgently needed to tackle the persistent barriers thwarting market growth, found a non-profit in a new report.

Gold Standard has tagged its first Core Carbon Principles (CCP) labels to credits generated from clean cooking projects, the registry announced Tuesday.

The Republic of the Congo and Costa Rica have submitted their host party participation requirements documents to the UNFCCC as a prerequisite to engage the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), prioritising forestry, transport, and energy.

German heat transition – Renewables account for 18.1% of heat supply in Germany, but the national average masks big differences across regions, reported a new study by the German Agency for Renewable Energies (AEE) on Tuesday. Baden-Wuerttemberg is a pioneer in municipal heat planning: heat plans have been mandatory since 2020 and 26% of municipalities have one. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the next largest state by area, that figure is 12%. And in Rhineland-Palatinate, which has the higher number of municipalities required to draw up heat plans, it’s just 7% – which is also the national average. Overall, three-quarters of municipalities are aiming for climate neutrality by 2040, five years ahead of a federal target of 2045; 7% are even aiming for 2035. District heating networks currently cover 9% of heating demand. Biomass accounts for the largest share of renewable district heating, although states like Bavaria are also supported by geothermal. Heat pumps were the most popular heating system in new buildings in 2024. (AEE study)

Reaching net zero emissions globally by 2050, which will conserve and restore biodiversity, will cost about $8 trillion per year over the next 25 years – which is much lower than the escalating costs of climate change for health, nature, productivity, agriculture, infrastructure, and more, the UN warned on Tuesday.

A rating agency has teamed up with a satellite-based biomass measurement company to advance the accuracy and transparency of forest carbon assessments worldwide.

EU lawmakers and national governments have agreed to scrap mandatory climate transition plans for large companies as part of a political deal to streamline the bloc’s sustainability reporting rules and ease red tape on business.

A global forestry investment manager has announced the final asset sales to Europe’s largest pension investor as part of the winding down of one of its funds.

Indigenous energy - The Western Australian state government is funding the Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (NAC) to establish the first Ngarluma Green Energy Park - a 100% Traditional Owner owned renewable energy project in the Pilbara, aiming for up to 5 GW capacity, it announced. The government will provide an initial A$2.7 mln ($1.8 mln) to support surveys and technical groundwork over the next 12 months, with the goal of using the park to drive industry decarbonisation and create jobs, income, and long-term economic opportunities for the local Indigenous community, it said.

The New Zealand government was advised that reducing its 2050 biogenic methane emissions target could see the gap to its third emissions budget (2031-35) double, official papers released Tuesday showed.

A coalition of industry and civil society groups has called on the European Commission to keep options open in its upcoming Action Plan on Geothermal Energy, by including advanced geothermal systems that can produce clean electricity 24/7, and allow deep decarbonisation across the bloc’s economy.

Assessing impacts - Australia's Net Zero Economic Authority (NZEA) has launched a consultation to assess whether an Energy Industry Jobs Plan is needed to support workers impacted by the upcoming closure of the Yallourn coal-fired power station in July, 2028. The power station in Victoria, operated by EnergyAustralia, employs around 500 people and supplies around 20% of the state's electricity demand. The consultation will help the authority understand how the closure may affect workers, businesses, and the local community, what transition support is already in place, and what opportunities exist in the regional labour market. Submission close on Feb. 6, 2026.

Waste not, want not – A new research hub dedicated to turning tough carbon waste products into high-value products launched on Tuesday at Monash University’s Clayton campus, the institution announced in an emailed press release. The ARC Research Hub for Value-Added Processing of Underutilised Carbon Waste will develop technologies to convert waste products such as tyres, organic residues, and plastics into clean hydrogen, sustainable chemicals, and advanced carbon materials. Four universities are partnering on the hub alongside Monash University: The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, and the Queensland University of Technology, as well as industry partners. The group has already executed seven projects, with an additional four to be signed and two more under development.

Rio Tinto’s announced downgrade to its decarbonisation spending this side of 2030 demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the Australian government’s Safeguard Mechanism, an environmental group said Tuesday.

You get an allowance - Washington regulator Department of Ecology (ECY) published an updated no-cost allowance allocation schedule to electric utilities for 2023-2026 on Monday. The latest round of updates detail utility-specific calculations under the state’s cap-and-invest programme.

Preparing a Big Mac report - California's Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) will circulate draft chapters for its 2025 annual report the week of Jan. 5 and meet mid-January to finalise the document, as per the carbon market watchdog's meeting Monday. The report will examine affordability and cost containment mechanisms as California regulator ARB develops rules under AB 1207. The committee is waiting on end-of-year ARB reports before completing some chapters. After the mid-January meeting, IEMAC will release the report and hold webinar sessions with ARB on the findings.

An Ohio-based company has received limited notice to begin engineering and procurement on a CO2 capture system for an existing US power plant with an estimated value of $80 million.

The UK has launched its second CO2 storage licensing round, making 14 offshore locations available as the country seeks to push ahead carbon capture technologies in support of large-scale decarbonisation.

A new modelling tool could help middle-income countries come up with policies capable of cutting global greenhouse gases by about 5% by 2040, by tackling emissions from cooling and refrigeration, according to the researchers who announced it on Tuesday.