Carbon Pulse

California’s regulator told stakeholders Wednesday the agency’s ongoing work on the cap-and-trade rulemaking on a parallel track with its low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programme regulation changes, while WCI partner Quebec said it is contemplating adjustments to its compliance offset scheme.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) on Wednesday doubled down on assuring carbon market participants of the stability of the state’s cap-and-trade system, citing “broad” support from the business community — including tech giant Microsoft and oil firm BP — and beyond, despite a November ballot initiative which looks to repeal the measure.

An already delayed proposal for a national cap-and-trade system in Mexico will likely not see concrete regulations put forth until a new presidential administration takes over in October, an expert told conference attendees Wednesday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced its emissions standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles effective as of model year 2027, seeing weakened targets relative to its first proposal, but still anticipated to avoid 7.2 billion tonnes of CO2 through 2055.

The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has approved its first grants, agreeing to spend $40 million on four projects in Brazil, Gabon, and Mexico, administrator Global Environment Facility (GEF) announced Wednesday.

While the growing number of project rating firms is an overall net positive for global voluntary markets, the head of an advisory firm and project developer warns their lack of resources and relative newness could lead to unfair negative sentiment toward poorly-rated projects.

Seven solutions could unlock private demand for UK natural flood management projects, boosting the market for such initiatives should the government adopt them, a Green Finance Institute (GFI) expert group has said.

An English estate is partnering with a climate tech firm to use innovative technologies like vertical farming and micro-propagation of genetically relevant plant stock to improve the survival rate of voluntary carbon credit-generating reforestation projects.

Japanese and Korean steel industries appear to be actively lobbying the EU and other institutions to weaken the carbon border adjustment mechanism’s ambition, according to analysis by a think-tank.

The UN’s international shipping body has drawn up a legal framework for decarbonisation measures which includes a carbon pricing mechanism, according to a draft text seen by Carbon Pulse on Thursday, despite fears by some delegates that this option could still be removed.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is targetting this summer for a final version of its voluntary carbon guidelines, encouraging the public to report instances of fraud and manipulation as part of the agency’s efforts to support market credibility.

WCI partners California and Quebec on Wednesday confirmed their interest in potentially extending their carbon market alliance to Washington, despite the voter-led ballot initiative that could upend the Evergreen State's cap-and-invest scheme.

EU importers of goods that fall under the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) may face hefty penalties this year due to international suppliers refusing to provide them with data on their embedded emissions, which importers need to comply with the new mechanism, experts have told Carbon Pulse.

Further struggles await a law aiming to enshrine the target to restore at least 20% of the EU land and sea areas by 2030, with some of the bloc's 27 environmental ministers announcing their intention to halt the process next week.

Scotland’s flagship 2030 climate goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75% compared to 1990 is no longer credible, the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) warned on Wednesday.

A project for generating biodiversity net gain (BNG) units while farming organic cattle in south England has been announced by nature restoration company Restore.

The run-up to November's COP29 climate summit kicks off this week, with around 40 climate ministers and leaders meeting in Denmark to talk about the two key issues on the table for Azerbaijan: strengthened climate pledges and more finance.

A court in the Netherlands has ruled that climate claims, including use of voluntary carbon credits, made by a European air carrier constituted greenwashing, in a decision that could set a legal precedent for wider offset use in international aviation.

Transport alone is set to make up nearly half of Europe’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030, according to fresh data published on Wednesday.