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An EU action plan to boost the deployment of heat pumps is currently in the making, the bloc's energy commissioner Kadri Simson announced on Thursday in a move that could mean lower launch carbon prices for the bloc's second ETS in the coming years.

Fossil fuel companies and carmakers account for the highest proportion of carbon credit purchases among the world’s top 50 firms with net zero targets, though only 8% of the units purchased by that cohort were from CO2 removal projects, according an analysis released Thursday.

A Singaporean tech company has potentially inked its first offtake deal for carbon credits as it seeks to develop over 5.3 million hectares of deforestation avoidance projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG) that are estimated to produce almost 159 million carbon credits annually, it announced Thursday.

European importers face rising prices and administrative bottlenecks as the EU’s new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) comes into effect from next month, according to a think-tank report published on Thursday that surveyed businesses.

Members of Sunrise Movement say House Speaker is ‘playing political games with our futures’ and must avert shutdown

Scores of young activists with the youth-led climate organization Sunrise Movement are protesting in the office of the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, on Thursday morning, demanding he avert a complete government shutdown.

“As storms rage stronger, fires grow hotter, and heatwaves grow more deadly, Kevin McCarthy is playing political games with our futures,” said Adah Crandall, a 17-year-old Sunrise Movement organizer, in an emailed statement.

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A carbon markets advisory is helping companies become more informed and discerning when structuring their carbon credit portfolios, with the launch of a new platform offering due diligence on both compliance and voluntary offsets, and pricing data to help clients determine the fair value of credits, both now and in future, a conference heard on Wednesday.

Carbon credit standard body Gold Standard has announced it has joined several prominent companies and institutions to work on biodiversity crediting approaches, following other carbon standards that recently released draft methodologies.

Climate Impact X (CIX) has proposed adding another REDD project for inclusion in its daily benchmark assessment of the sector, at a time when over-the-counter brokers say the market is becoming more fragmented.

Hundreds of Brecon households sign up for scheme in which they get money for every container they recycle

It is best known as a picturesque base for mountain walks but over the last three months a small Welsh market town has been taking part in a world-first environmental scheme that it is hoped may help revolutionise recycling.

People in Brecon (Aberhonddu) have been given manifold ways of returning drinks containers in exchange for a small financial reward. Uptake for the project, a digital deposit return scheme (DDRS) in which citizens get 10p for every container they recycle, has been good with 1,300 of the 4,300 households eligible signing up and 25,000 containers set to be processed.

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Lloyd’s of London, Zurich and Swiss Re among top 10 insurers of largest US coalmines, study finds

Lloyd’s of London and other big European insurers are underwriting almost a third of US coal production despite their net zero pledges, according to research, with the Lloyd’s insurance market emerging as the second-biggest player.

A report from the Insure Our Future campaign group found that Lloyd’s, Zurich and Swiss Re are among the top 10 insurers of the 25 biggest US coalmines, which produced more than 60% of the country’s output last year. They underwrite 13 mines producing 30.7% of US coal.

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European carbon prices were marginally firmer in choppy Thursday morning trade, underpinned by a second strong auction in a row as participants continued to speculate over investment funds' likely positioning in the coming days, while energy markets were firmer amid gas supply interruptions in the North Sea.

A twice-weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

Police investigating after former tree of the year winner thought to have been deliberately felled

A police investigation has been launched into the felling of one of the most photographed trees in the country, the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, which was found cut down on Thursday morning.

The world famous tree, voted tree of the year in a Woodland Trust competition in 2016 and featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, is thought to have been deliberately felled.

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Four major global materials in the supply chain of construction firms have relatively low biodiversity impacts, though the built environment overall still rely on ecologically destructive processes, a UK industry-led members network said Thursday.

Chinese carbon permits continued to climb over the past week amid stable trading volumes, reaching a fresh record high on Wednesday ahead of a week-long holiday, with analysts expecting the growing momentum to continue to the end of the compliance period despite government measures to suppress prices.

Emerging critical infrastructure technology company has raised more than $15 million to bankroll a push into the United States and Europe to support energy utilities.

The post Neara raises $15 million for bankroll its push to ease renewable bottlenecks appeared first on RenewEconomy.

While the link between global CO2 emissions and GDP growth is getting weaker, it has yet to decouple entirely, said a research note published Thursday.

Volume lost during hot summers of 2022 and 2023 equal to total depletion between 1960 and 1990, says report

Swiss glaciers have lost 10% of their volume in just two years, a report has found.

Scientists have said climate breakdown caused by the burning of fossil fuels is the cause of unusually hot summers and winters with very low snow volume, which have caused the accelerating melts. The volume lost during the hot summers of 2022 and 2023 is the same as that lost between 1960 and 1990.

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A shift to a new and improved satellite monitoring system will likely raise fresh issues with the carbon crediting of Australian human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects, according to an expert.

A direct air capture company has joined forces with a carbon mineralisation firm to initially remove 500 tonnes of CO2 per year to be permanently stored in rock from a project in Oman, they announced Thursday.