Carbon Pulse

A climate tech startup is partnering with a British utility to explore decarbonising the gas grid through injecting carbon-negative biomethane, looking to support the UK's objective of achieving net zero.

The high cost of engineered carbon removals may come increasingly at odds with government priorities to ensure energy security and affordability, requiring greater international cooperation in developing the novel technologies and reducing reliance on them, a research paper warned on Thursday.

The Bulgarian government plans to restart two 227 MW units at one of the largest coal power plants in the region, the Balkan country’s energy ministry announced.

Europe’s container ships have not improved their energy efficiency in six years, despite it being one of the easier options to reduce emissions in the sector, according to NGO analysis published on Thursday.

The UK will put £1.98 billion over three years into the World Bank's fund for the lowest-income countries, which the government said will unlock large volumes of investment from the private sector and other sources.

The president's office in Peru has issued a supreme decree that seeks to enshrine into law a new national climate strategy, aligning it with 2050 net zero plans and carving out a major role for REDD+ avoided deforestation and carbon finance.

The decision over which cookstove methodologies will be eligible for the Core Carbon Principle (CCP) high-integrity badge is set to be delayed until next year amid ongoing “complex discussions involving many stakeholders”, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) told Carbon Pulse.

Serbia launched its second renewable energy auction on Wednesday, which includes a tender for power contracts to develop 300MW of onshore wind power.

North American pension funds could see their returns fall by as much as 50% by 2040 under a high-warming scenario, with further declines expected through 2050, according to analysis published Thursday.

European carbon moved in a comparatively narrow range and was little changed by midday on Thursday, as EUAs calmed amid the US Thanksgiving holiday, while energy prices edged lower as markets sought direction.

The European Commission on Wednesday approved Sweden's request to unilaterally extend the scope of its Emissions Trading System for heating and transport fuels (ETS2) to new sectors, including railways, vehicles used in agriculture, forestry, and fishing.

Tech startup BNGx on Thursday launched what it claims is the “first fully digital” marketplace for biodiversity net gain (BNG) units with a tailored process to connect buyers with sellers, joining a few other existing exchanges.

Environmental groups have condemned ArcelorMittal’s decision to freeze its green steel projects in Europe, saying the move was “motivated by political games” in order to extract more policy support and subsidies from the incoming European Commission.

Seven countries, led by Italy, are calling on the EU to hit the brakes on decarbonisation policies that might damage the bloc's automotive sector, according to a document seen by Carbon Pulse ahead of a presentation to competition ministers on Thursday. 

Industry groups have ramped up pressure to ensure that a list of banned plastic products is excluded from the UN treaty under negotiation in Busan, South Korea, while environmental organisations have responded by warning such a move could significantly weaken the text.

A Swiss insurance company will support an enhanced rock weathering startup and a concrete-based carbon storage project as part of its revised emissions reduction strategy.

The lack of a standardised metric to measure plastic units has fuelled concerns over crediting mechanisms at the ongoing UN plastic talks in South Korea, with experts claiming the emerging market is not built on strong scientific foundations.

South Korea needs drastic policy changes to improve the efficiency of the country's obligatory carbon market, including the phase-out of free allowance allocation for the power sector, environmental groups have urged. 

A law firm that took on one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies has been ordered to pay its legal costs of over A$9 million ($5.84 mln) after it lost the case.

COP16 negotiations will resume in Feb. 2025 in Rome after UN biodiversity talks were abruptly suspended in early November in Colombia.