Carbon Pulse

A partial repeal of climate-related tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), alongside a carbon fee, brings the US closer to achieving its Paris Agreement targets than an expansion of IRA measures alone, and could additionally generate over $2 trillion, according to a working paper modelling climate policy reform to follow the November US elections.

The carbon sequestration capabilities of saltmarshes in the UK and northwest Europe may have been significantly overestimated compared to global averages, according to new research.

A Canadian tech firm has launched an initiative to develop a voluntary carbon credit protocol specifically for grid-scale battery storage.

The province of British Columbia and the Kwiakah First Nation on Friday announced the creation of the Macinuxw Special Forest Management Area, a new conservation and regenerative forestry zone within the southern Great Bear Rainforest.

Both emitters and speculators added to their net holdings of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI Allowances (RGAs), while the latter group continued to shorten their net position in Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs), according to weekly data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

A private Calgary-based developer and a global integrated trading company agreed on Friday to develop a carbon capture and storage hub in Alberta with the potential to store up to 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants expect a substantial demand return, but this could still be years away, with stakeholders at an industry event this week highlighting that investors in the market are now looking more closely at project origination and becoming increasingly selective about the activities they finance.

Voluntary carbon market (VCM) buyers and developers largely remain committed to investing in both nature-based and engineered carbon removals (CDR), according to a range of experts speaking at the Carbon Unbound conference in New York this week.

WWF has announced it will take the Norwegian government to court over its decision to open up areas in the Arctic region for commercial seabed mineral activities.

The High Integrity Forest (HIFOR) investment initiative backed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released on Thursday its methodology to identify and issue units that could fit the nascent biodiversity credit market.

Nature tech solutions have the potential to reduce costs of biodiversity conservation and support the development of financing mechanisms such as voluntary biodiversity credits, though greater collaboration between private and public sectors is needed to scale the market, a report has said.

A Nigerian government agency has invested in a domestic cookstoves manufacturing firm and a carbon offset project developer to increase production of cookstoves and to leverage the credit proceeds, the agency announced Thursday.

Verra has launched a public consultation on a methodology for afforestation, reforestation and revegetation, as well as a tweak to a second related methodology for the project activity, it announced Friday.

EU carbon prices eased back for the third successive session, though still remain on course for a strong weekly gain, with analysts pointing to a resumed correlation with gas, soft fundamentals, and an overall lack of clear market direction.

The Council of EU member states voted Friday to adopt the bloc's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), requiring companies with a turnover of more than €450 million to observe human rights and environmental obligations along their entire supply chain or face fines of up to 5% of their global turnover.

A group of seven EU countries are presenting plans on Friday for greater use of recycled materials, biomass, and captured CO2 to replace fossil carbon in the chemical sector, arguing this will help restore the industry’s lost competitiveness.

Prices in China’s CO2 allowance market over the past week remained stable with healthier trading volumes, though the continued absence of policy updates is expected to limit the potential for price growth.

An Australian agri-tech company has developed beta soil organic carbon measurement models that it says can reduce the reliance on extensive physical soil sampling.

Conservation International has announced its intention to participate in the nature and biodiversity credit markets, outlining guardrails it will abide to, including refusing to sell units to fossil fuel companies and firms without zero deforestation targets.

A Glencore pilot carbon capture and storage project was knocked back by the Queensland state government Friday over what it said were serious environmental concerns, shutting the door to any further CCS projects in the area.