The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could pave the way for the full removal of up to 432 million free EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) allowances every year, worth around €35 billion, a report predicted on Monday.

Eligible in Ecuador - Scotland based Plan Vivo announced that it has signed an MOU with the Ministry of the Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition of Ecuador (MAATE). This means the certification standard has been recognised as an eligible programme under the Government of Ecuador’s national GHG offset system. Three other providers have also been recognised by MAATE recently, including Colombia based Cercarbono, BioCarbon, and Gold Standard.

Leaders from the Amazonian states on Friday signed the Declaration of Bogota, backing the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) and advocating for the use of Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement to implement a non-market strategy to protect the Amazon rainforest.

Mexico’s Secretary of Environment shed light this week on what Mexico’s third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) will look like as the next round of climate commitments comes due.

US EPA announced on Friday its decision to grant full or partial exemptions to a majority of the petitions from 38 small refineries regarding their compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) between 2016-24.

New NDC on the way – Chile on Friday released its draft third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) climate targets. The draft, published by the Environment Ministry (MMA), was approved by the Chilean Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change in June and by President Gabriel Boric in August. It included the commitment to reduce national emissions to 91 MtCO2e by 2035 (excluding some AFOLU activities), aim for a stronger national voluntary carbon accounting and offsetting scheme for firms, and to reduce methane emissions by 10% by 2030 from its peak – expected to be reached this year. In line with domestic law, the updated version will only be submitted to the UNFCCC after a final evaluation by the Comptroller’s Office. No major changes are expected, Carbon Pulse understands, based on conversations with sources.

Orsted offshore halted - The US Department of Interior issued on Friday a stop work order for an offshore wind farm being developed off the coast of Rhode Island, the Financial Post reported. Citing concerns it said emerged during a review process, the department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) sent a letter to the company constructing the Revolution Wind project, Denmark's Orsted, saying it must stop activities until the review is completed. The project was set to be operational next year.

Producers reached their lowest net length in California Carbon Allowances (CCAs), while investors similarly reached their widest net short of RGGI Allowances (RGAs) of 2025 so far, according to the latest figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Official RSVP – Only 47 of the 196 parties expected to attend COP30 in Belem have so far confirmed their presence, according to information shared by Brazil’s Civil House and the Extraordinary Secretariat for COP30 (SECOP). The Climate Conference is due to start in 80 days, on Nov. 10. (UOL)

Let's do this - A regional Amazon meeting was held this week on Brazil's Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) in Bogota, convened by Colombia and Brazil and supported by the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). Authorities from Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela also participated. Bolivia's Minister of Environment and Water Alvaro Ruiz spoke, underscoring Bolivia's potential to mobilise climate finance through mechanisms such as payments for results, carbon markets, and debt swaps. He also stressed the importance of incorporating the commitments made under the Amazon Cooperation Treaty in the next update of NDCs with concrete actions on water, forests, and biodiversity. (El Periodico)

J-REDD+ workshop - Brazil's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) held a workshop in Brasilia this week focussed on the implementation of jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programmes. More than 80 people, including representatives of the federal government, state environmental secretariats, and legal agencies, managers, and technical partners of the states that support related initiatives participated in the event. The agenda included the debate on the technical and legal aspects essential for the regulation of Brazil's national carbon market law, as well as issues related to ownership, legal certainty, benefit sharing, socio-environmental safeguards, and guarantees of rights.

Blown out of the water – Norwegian energy firm Equinor has pulled out of the 2-GW Novocastrian Offshore Wind Farm in Australia, the most advanced development of its type in New South Wales. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Equinor and its local partner Oceanex could not agree on how to proceed with the A$10 bln ($6.5 bln) development, which was issued a feasibility licence from the federal government last year. Chris Bowen, energy and climate minister, told the ABC that Oceanex is too small to go it alone on the project, and ideally needs an international partner.

Compliance-focussed entities grew their RGGI holdings following the Q2 auction, as surplus allowance holdings narrowed over the three months, a market monitor report published Friday showed.

Not footing the bill – In a meeting on Friday, Brazil rejected a proposal from the UNFCCC secretariat that the government help delegations cover accommodation costs during COP30 in November, amid high costs and not enough rooms. The measure could cost Brazil more than $1 mln from public coffers, according to the Executive Secretary of the Civil House Miriam Belchior. A source told Reuters that the proposal came indirectly, as pressure for a subsidy to offset the very high accommodation prices in Belem, the host city of the conference. The Brazilian government is instead supporting other delegations’ calls for the UN to raise the daily allowance offered to the poorest countries. The organisation calculated $144 for Belem, while Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro would receive around $250.

Toolkit en espanol – The Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has published a Spanish-language toolkit designed to help countries participate in high-integrity carbon markets. The toolkit is designed to advise policymakers and government officials in project host countries on everything from a policy checklist needed to participate in markets to developing an Article 6 strategy. It aims to help governments decide whether, why, how, and when to engage in the market. Originally published in 2023, the Spanish-language version was shared by the Colombian timber industry association Fedemaderas on Thursday.

Keep the coal burning – The US DOE issued an emergency order this week instructing the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to prevent a coal-fired power plant from retiring, Utility Dive reported. It’s the second time the agency has issued an emergency order regarding the coal plant this summer. The 1,420-MW plant, located in Michigan and operated by Consumers Energy, was previously set to retire in May. The DOE issued its initial emergency order on May 31 to prevent retirement. When the order expired on Thursday, the DOE issued its second order claiming that MISO is facing an energy emergency. The order is being challenged in court by Michigan’s attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups.

Canadian economists say the country’s carbon markets are a “mess” and plans by the fresh-faced Liberal government to fix them remain to be seen. 

British Columbia’s recently-launched compliance carbon market has created an opening for Indigenous-led climate projects, with an Indigenous-owned forest carbon project emerging as the largest supplier of offsets and an example for how offset revenues can support reconciliation and land stewardship.

EU carbon allowance prices posted a 2.6% weekly gain after prices were largely bound between technical levels and marked by a particularly tight trading range in a very quiet session on Friday, as traders in all markets positioned themselves ahead of a three-day weekend in the UK which would likely dampen liquidity on Monday.

Turbine trouble - The Trump administration has launched a national security probe into imported wind turbines and components under Section 232, potentially leading to new tariffs, E&E News reported. The Commerce Department said it will review turbine demand and domestic supply capacity, noting the sector’s heavy reliance on imports, particularly blades and steel. The move follows adding turbines to 50% steel and aluminum tariffs and comes alongside accelerated tax credit phase-outs, funding cuts, and siting restrictions. Analysts warned US onshore wind development could fall by half through 2035, even as recent data shows strong installations but turbine orders at pandemic-era lows.

A South American regenerative agriculture programme intends to pay farmers at least 50% of credit revenue, and is keen to expand operations to Brazil, a consulting firm told Carbon Pulse.

Germany can do better - The national Court of Auditors has warned that the government’s €500 bln special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality lacks clear targets and risks being used for non-investment spending (Clean Energy Wire). In a letter to parliament’s budget committee, auditors said payments must be restricted to real investments rather than running costs such as wages. The watchdog said that the fund’s aims remain poorly defined, making it impossible to measure effectiveness. The fund, created alongside changes to Germany’s debt brake, was intended to finance projects in energy, transport, healthcare, education, and digitalisation. Experts will review the government’s plans in parliament on Monday.

Bad record - More than 1 million ha have burned across the EU this year, the highest level since records began in 2006, according to Politico analysis based on European Forest Fire Information System data. Spain and Portugal account for most of the losses, with over 400,000 ha burned in Spain and 270,000 ha in Portugal, equivalent to 3% of its territory. Scientists linked the scale of the fires to flammable vegetation on abandoned land and weak prevention measures, with climate change intensifying heatwaves and drought.

Cleanup job - Kenya’s VCM strategy needs clearer rules on carbon ownership, stronger verification systems, and transparent benefit-sharing to avoid fragmentation, government, private sector, and research representatives said at a recent workshop in Nairobi. They pointed to overlapping mandates, the lack of a national registry, and limited community involvement as key barriers, while also backing an emissions trading system over a carbon tax and urging capacity building for regulators and landowners.

The Supervisory Body responsible for the Paris Agreement’s new carbon crediting mechanism has announced sharp budget reductions for 2025 in an effort to stave off a funding crisis, even as demand grows for rapid progress in setting up the system.

A European steel group has raised alarm over ongoing US tariffs on European steel, despite a joint statement from Brussels and Washington this week confirming intentions to deepen cooperation on trade in steel, aluminium, and their derivatives.

A combination of targeted policies, including carbon pricing, could help slash emissions from one of the world’s hardest-to-decarbonise industries and accelerate the transition to “clean steel”, new research has found.

Malawi officially launched its carbon market framework on Friday, aiming to regulate both compliance and voluntary markets.

Rice methane reduction projects could return as a credible supply option in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) as new monitoring tools and updated methodologies emerge, according to a case study by a Berlin-based carbon credit platform published Friday. 

Oil refinery demand will come to the aid of the European Union’s stuttering green hydrogen ambitions, finds a new report.

A Malaysian securities firm on Friday launched what it said is the world’s first Islamic bond, or sukuk, that pays investors in carbon credits instead of cash, aiming to tap into growing demand for climate-linked finance.

Blue carbon tender - The UNDP this week launched a tender for a seagrass-based blue carbon project in Bintan and Saleh Bay, Indonesia. The contract will run from September to December of this year, and will cover validation, verification, and issuance of carbon credits. The developer will be tasked with identifying seagrass meadows with the highest blue carbon potential, and reviewing spatial data and past projects to select sites. Community engagement and the design of a benefit-sharing mechanisms is also under the purview of the tender. The proposals are due by Sep. 25.

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) mimics the chemical processes observed as land ice melts and causes freshwater to mix with salty coastal waters, a team of marine scientists said Friday.

The world’s forests lost roughly 140 million tonnes of stored carbon in the past decade as old-growth forests were replaced with younger trees, a phenomenon primarily driven by fires, logging, and plantation forestry, a study has found.

A co-founder and the largest shareholder of a California-based carbon offsets company has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding investors and lenders of more than $248 million, US prosecutors said on Thursday.

A new carbon footprint certificate has been launched that verifies the GHG emissions linked to a product.

China's national emissions market saw prices continue to drop over the past week, while trading volumes jumped by almost 30% amid emerging compliance demand.

The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) price has broken free of its rangebound slump thanks to increased buying activity from intermediaries, as well as emitters covered under the Safeguard Mechanism traders said Friday.

A Japanese startup dedicated to low-carbon pig farming solutions is seeking to rebuild Ukraine's swine farms and create carbon credits under the bilateral Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

Targeted forests - NTT West, which provides regional telecommunications services in Japan, has started a pilot project for the creation and sale of carbon credits from reforestation activities in Miyazaki prefecture through collaboration with local partners, it announced Friday. The project will cover around 20 hectares of land in the prefecture. The announcement comes after NTT West last year formed a similar partnership with Nippon Life Insurance and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance for the creation and distribution of carbon credits from forestry projects.

Green light - Australia's Woodside Energy on Friday welcomed the Federal Court's decision to uphold the approval of its environment plan for the Scarborough offshore gas project, clearing the final Commonwealth hurdle for operations, according to a press release. NGO Doctors for the Environment Australia had challenged the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority on grounds of unlawfully accepting Woodside's environmental plan for the project without fully understanding its impact. The A$16 bln ($10.3 bln) project is 86% complete and targeting first LNG in late 2026. CEO Meg O’Neill said Scarborough will contribute more than A$50 billion in taxes, and deliver one of the lowest-carbon LNG supplies to North Asia while bolstering domestic gas. The project is expected to produce up to 8 mln tonnes of LNG a year.

Let us know - The Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) secretariat between Japan and Thailand is seeking comments on the sustainable development and safeguards assessment report of a proposed emissions reduction project, according to a notice published on Friday. The project, backed by Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, aims to cut emissions by installing high-efficiency air conditioning systems and chillers in a factory. The call for public comments is open until Sep. 21.

The massive uptake of Australians installing household batteries thanks to the government's subsidy scheme is expected to cut emissions from the electricity sector by 10%, or around 21 million tonnes of CO2e, by 2035, according to research published Friday.

Background on fed cattle - Alberta revised its protocol for reducing GHG emissions from fed cattle under the province's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation (TIER) to include backgrounding operations. Backgrounding refers to the management and feeding of cattle between weaning and placement in a finishing feedlot, to develop their skeletal frame and add weight without excess fat. More efficient feeding practices during the backgrounding stage can reduce GHG emissions from cattle, and will now be credited through TIER and quantified in kilograms of live weight gained during the backgrounding period.

Bracing for a decision - Frozen dollars from the US EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which awards grants to emissions reduction projects, may soon be unfrozen pending a court decision. The Trump administration froze the GHG fund disbursements in January, sending grantees into disarray and prompting legal challenges. Now, one case will soon be ruled on by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, according to E&E News. The decision could determine whether funds already awarded to grantees can go forward, or if the Trump administration has the authority to claw back the dollars.

Price tag - Phillippines will need at least $72 bln to significantly cut CO2 emissions from the energy, transport, and agriculture sectors, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said on Friday, according to Inquirer. The Southeast Asian country has vowed to cut emissions by 75% by 2030 compared to business-as-usual. The minister also said that an updated NDC is being worked on. Meanwhile, a carbon credit policy for the domestic energy sector is being prepared.

Undermine confidence - Advice mistakenly released by New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment pushed for ministers to ink climate cooperation deals under the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to show solidarity with global action on climate change, Radio NZ reported. The paper said if the government failed to meet its 2030 NDC it could impact the "delicate", hard-won global agreement and risk undermining confidence in the solidarity of New Zealand's climate effort. Minister for Climate Change Simon Watts told Carbon Pulse this week no decision on how to meet its 2030 NDC has been made by the government, other than to focus on domestic emissions reduction.

Biochar projects could generate consistent profits for private landowners in the southeastern United States, but only with continued federal incentives and strong carbon credit prices, a new study showed.

California gasoline and diesel sales rebounded slightly in the month of May, including a year-to-date (YtD) high for gasoline consumption, state data showed.