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A strong outcome for a new global climate finance goal is possible at COP29 in Baku, with negotiators coalescing around the scale of finance required, though the nitty gritty of where that capital should come from and which countries should contribute is still up in the air, experts said on Wednesday.

The World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC) is failing to enforce its own greenhouse gas emission requirements with clients, which already fall short of what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5C temperature goal, the finance institution's ombudsman warned.

The densely forested west African country of Liberia is looking to harvest Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement after signing a letter of engagement with the Coalition of Rainforest Nations (CfRN), it was announced Wednesday.

Governments at the ongoing COP16 biodiversity summit must ramp up their efforts to break the deadlock on the toughest issues under discussion, as talks still hang in the balance with only two days to go, the UN secretary-general told a press conference on Wednesday.

EU carbon allowance prices fell back on Wednesday amid a wider retreat in energy markets, as weekly positioning data showed speculative players had cut their net short position in carbon significantly, easing the upward pressure on prices, while investment funds continued to add length in natural gas.

Many companies importing goods covered by the EU’s carbon tax will fail to report their actual emissions data in time for the European Commission Thursday deadline - as they struggle to navigate difficult reporting requirements, inconsistencies, and flaws in the policy, according to consultancies and businesses.

European Greens are calling on countries to clinch an ambitious agreement on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement governing international carbon markets and the trade of emission reductions, saying rich countries must fulfil their climate obligations first rather than seek credits from emission reductions projects abroad.

The UK government will put billions of pounds into carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), nuclear power, hydrogen, renewables, zero-emission vehicles, and sustainable agriculture over the next fiscal year, and plans to introduce a carbon border tax on imports from 2027, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday.

Finland’s flagship carrier announced on Wednesday it had pushed its climate neutrality goal from 2045 to 2050, saying this was due partly due to the company’s decision to exclude carbon offsets from its climate solutions portfolio.

Independent carbon credit registries will continue to play a role, and foster healthy competition, even after a centralised UN registry is created under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, according to a member of the UN group mandated to determine the international carbon market rules. 

A report by BoM and CSIRO checks ‘vital signs of Australia’s climate’ – and shows temperature trends will only worsen

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“It is a wicked problem,” says Dr Karl Braganza at the Bureau of Meteorology, after running through Australia’s latest State of the Climate report.

The effects of rising heat on land and in the oceans, coupled with rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, are changing Australia’s climate rapidly and “flowing through to how our society, economy and other things operate”.

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The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) on Wednesday announced a first batch of companies that have set targets under its framework, with three major corporations taking on commitments related to freshwater and land.

A tiny exploration company betting on finding native hydrogen deep in the South Australia desert has found an even more valuable co-located gas rarely found on Earth that is essential to nuclear fusion.

A London-headquartered standard has launched an online portal to improve the efficiency of the certification process for nature-based carbon offset projects, the organisation announced this week.

Revenues from the voluntary carbon market are just as good as those from logging in the Peruvian Amazon, according to a company that has transitioned from timber operations to selling carbon credits.

South Korean steelmaking major POSCO should announce a plan to close down three blast furnaces by 2030 to help limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, a report has urged.

UN aviation body ICAO has awarded full approval to at least four more voluntary carbon standards for Phase 1 of CORSIA (2024-26), Carbon Pulse has learned, meaning their credits will become eligible for use by airlines during the current stage of the international offsetting scheme.

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and meeting the commitment made at COP28 last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, needs commitments from governments, money from the private sector, but more than anything manufacturing and supply chains to develop further, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Wednesday.

Australia’s first full-time chair of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC), which deals with carbon farming credits, has praised the quality of carbon method proposals submitted through the expression of interest (EOI) process, but could not say how long it would take for those selected to be developed.

A French issuer of trade credits has introduced a product that issues surety bonds and guarantees for low-carbon technologies and renewable energy projects, and holds the premiums as investments in certified green bonds, it announced on Wednesday.