Carbon Pulse

Rwanda has launched a 56-page carbon market framework at COP28, which focuses on establishing readiness for crediting and international trade under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, also announcing two bilateral agreements with Asian countries.

It's Day 4 of COP28 and the focus begins to move away from world leaders, after a busy few days filled with international pledges, towards the nitty gritty of negotiations in Dubai. The devil, as they say, will be in the details in terms of progress on the global stocktake, as well as on carbon markets. Oh, and today is the first ever Health Day at a UNFCCC COP.  In our daily running blog, Carbon Pulse will report relevant or useful updates throughout the day. Timestamps are in local time (Gulf Standard Time, GMT+4).

Singapore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda at COP28 in Dubai, as the Southeast Asian country continues seeking international partnerships leveraging the Article 6.2 bilateral approaches of the Paris Agreement.

Partners and backers of the Blue Mediterranean Partnership on Saturday announced €9.5 million in new funding for the initiative, with additional funding expected to materialise over the next few months as efforts are geared up to support the marine biodiversity hotspot.

A new initiative has launched on sidelines of COP28 in Dubai that will seek to combine Indigenous knowledge and mapping technology to help governments in their efforts to protect 30% of their terrestrial and marine areas by 2030.

Philanthropic funding will be needed to address capacity gaps in low- and middle-income countries and facilitate high-integrity carbon markets, according to a report released Sunday.

The Caribbean island of Dominica has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UAE-based carbon credit project developer and buyer Blue Carbon at COP28 in Dubai, focusing on mitigation and carbon removal initiatives across several sectors.

It's Saturday night in Dubai and while most of the world has been enjoying the weekend, tens of thousands of delegates at COP28 remain hard at work.  Carbon Pulse isn't take a break either... Our 11 reporters currently on the ground in the UAE were out in full force to bring you the multitude of announcements and other news that emerged during the UN climate summit's very busy third day.

Governments, private sector, and philanthropic initiatives have so far announced partnerships and funding pledges in the hundreds of millions of dollars for rainforest protection and restoration in multiple nations, specifically involving mobilising finance from international carbon markets and credit sales.

An energy subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate SK Group has teamed up with international and domestic partners to speed up the construction of the country's hydrogen ecosystem, the companies announced Saturday.

The UN, UAE, and Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Industrial Transition Accelerator initiative on Saturday, pledging $30 million to scale up decarbonisation of heavy-emitting industries.

Verra is set to soon issue its first carbon credits aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement from projects in Africa, and also expects to launch its Verified Carbon Standard Version 5.0 in 2025, a senior member of the standards body told a panel at a COP28 side event.

Leaders from 120 countries have pledged to triple renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW globally, signing up to a Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge at the UN climate summit in Dubai on Saturday.

Carbon removal technologies such as direct air capture are essential to limiting global warming to 1.5C, said panelists at a number of COP28 side events, but require increased investment and support as they face distinct hurdles to increase capacity.

The US is pledging a further $3 billion to the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF), Vice President Kamala Harris announced at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Saturday.

Brazil launched at COP28 on Friday its proposal for a global instrument dubbed the “Tropical Forest Forever Facility” aimed at mobilising $250 billion to protect standing tropical forests in up to 80 countries, with the UK also committing £35 million to protect the Amazon in the country.

A group of international agencies, funded by a $40 million commitment from a philanthropic organisation, announced a global initiative on the sidelines of COP28 on Saturday to help track and drive methane emissions reductions from the oil and gas industry.

A voluntary carbon credit ratings agency has partnered with an Asian government to help it use "high-quality" carbon credits towards meeting Paris Agreement goals, they said at a joint launch event on Saturday.

The US has finalised standards to reduce methane pollution and other harmful air pollutants from the oil and gas industry, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan announced at COP28 in Dubai on Saturday.

Crediting standard Cercarbono has released for public consultation a broad programme that will allow a wide range of activities to earn voluntary biodiversity credits, covering terrestrial, marine, freshwater, wetland, and urban activities.