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The offsetting mechanism within Colombia’s carbon tax saw increased use last year over 2023, two years after a national restriction was introduced, according to new Q4 2024 statistics.

Durable carbon removals (CDR) dominated the headlines last week after the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) released its long-awaited draft of version 2 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard for public consultation.

A lack of transparency in national climate strategies, particularly around the role of engineered carbon removal (CDR) and land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), is raising doubts over the credibility of 2050 net zero targets, according to a report released over the weekend.

The European Commission has approved a German state aid scheme aimed at accelerating the decarbonisation of industrials covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

The potentially detrimental impact on nature as a result of the drive for energy transition minerals and metals is an “unresolved red light” that governments are struggling to navigate, with a clear need for stricter regulatory frameworks, said industry experts at an event on Monday.

Chris Bowen announced $814m for the clean energy source despite projects in doubt across NSW, Queensland and South Australia

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The green hydrogen revolution wasn’t supposed to go like this. In September, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, declared Australia “the green hydrogen capital of the world” with “50-plus companies on the ground” and a pipeline of investments worth $200bn.

The nascent industry has been touted as the start of a renewable energy revolution, with more than $8bn in support promised across federal and state governments. But just months on from Bowen’s announcement, several major proposals are either shelved or in serious doubt, prompting the question: is green hydrogen’s race over before it began?

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This is my last column in this series. ‘Farewell, all joys!’

This morning I learned the word “limn”. It looked at first like a typo, and I almost ignored it. But I pressed on the letters on my phone, which caused its meaning to pop up in a little box, like a window appearing in a wall. To limn is to “depict or describe in painting or words”.

I was drinking cold coffee in my kitchen, and preparing to write this column – my last. Because I knew that I would do the swan, a large, long-necked water bird had started gliding around my mind, so it seemed clear that the word limn looks like a swan: the tall l with the tiny flick of a dipped head, and the letters after.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All’s changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can
Her heart inform her tongue, –the swan’s
down-feather,
That stands upon the swell at full of tide,
And neither way inclines.

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European carbon prices were largely rangebound on Monday morning as the imminent expiry of March options contracts continued to focus the market around the leading strike prices, while natural gas fell back amid renewed efforts at reaching a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.

A Nigerian climate tech firm has partnered with an agriculture university to generate high-quality carbon removal credits by planting indigenous African trees on the university’s land.

Forest restoration efforts should better consider outcomes for biodiversity, with emerging market-based mechanisms offering a promising opportunity to secure additional funding, according to a recent paper.

A Switzerland-based climate finance firm, in partnership with a consultancy, has secured a contract with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to assist the Jakarta municipal government in establishing a carbon pricing framework.

The risk division of a large French-headquartered insurance company and a UK-based consultancy firm have released a report to help businesses assess their nature-related impacts and dependencies.

A new public-private partnership in Ghana is set to mobilise $25 billion of climate finance to restore degraded land and waterways, while generating hundreds of millions of investment-grade carbon and biodiversity credits, the partners announced on Monday.

Quality standards are essential for captured CO2 to be traded across the EU and flow across borders into pipelines, but too-high standards also risk inflating costs for industry, and regulators are seeking to find for the right balance.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is planning to pilot the use of its nature restoration metric at landscape scale in a collaboration with Australia-headquartered mining company Fortescue.

The head of oil major Shell's voluntary carbon offset sales team has joined a REDD+ project developer, they announced Monday.

Japan would be better able to shore up its domestic energy security via investing more in renewables within its own borders than LNG projects outside of them, especially in geopolitically fraught areas, a think tank warned this week.

The effectiveness of the CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme could be limited by implementation challenges such as the structural barriers in applying corresponding adjustments under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, according to a report released over the weekend.

A Tokyo-listed beverage group has formulated a carbon credit purchase and development policy that prioritises offsets from forestry and sustainable agriculture projects.

Commitment may quell caucus angst about party’s environment credentials, but could face backlash from Western Australia’s industry and government

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Labor has vowed to establish a federal environment protection agency if it wins the election, just weeks after the 2022 election promise was shelved amid a political and industry backlash in Western Australia.

The public commitment will help placate Labor MPs anxious about the party’s green credentials after the government went ahead with laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry from legal challenge over its impact on the endangered Maugean skate.

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