Carbon Pulse

The European Commission will publish preliminary 2023 verified emissions figures for the EU ETS on Apr. 3, it announced late Tuesday.

Pressure is mounting on the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to recognise the use of voluntary carbon credits in setting and achieving emission targets after a comprehensive survey of large corporations found the move would accelerate their spend in the market by 9% a year.

The world’s largest oil and gas companies are far from aligning with the Paris Agreement’s goals, instead targeting new fossil fuel developments and production in the near term, according to analysis published on Wednesday.

The first New Zealand ETS auction for 2024 has partially cleared, with 2.974 million NZUs being sold, the first time the government-run auctions have sold units since Dec. 2022.

Although enhanced rock weathering has picked up in popularity as a method of CO2 removal, a US-based research group found there was a significant range in its effectiveness across studies and that results should not be taken at face value.

Members of the European Parliament appeared divided as they discussed a set of potential new rules for the agri sector in a double meeting with the Commission on Tuesday.

TotalEnergies announced on Monday the acquisition of a 25% stake in Bayou Bend carbon capture and storage facility plus shares in two other projects, in a $148 million deal for the CCS subsidiary of Talos Energy.

The UK is seeking feedback on a policy framework to support biomethane production, including on how to distinguish its emissions from those from fossil gas in the country's ETS.

Community leaders of a Kenyan REDD avoided deforestation voluntary carbon project that was mired by a sexual offences scandal have sternly rebuked the handling of the investigation, alleging disgruntled former employees were offered cash to make statements that were embellished to suit the narrative.

The chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee has called on the EU to be “flexible” with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), saying legislators should be ready to amend the regulation if needed at the end of the transitional period.

There is a risk of the “dark side of carbon dioxide removals (CDR) taking over” if technologies to suck CO2 from the atmosphere are included in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), experts warned at an event in Brussels on Tuesday.

Oil major Shell spent $86 million on voluntary carbon credit-generating projects last year, and saw its retirements rise 275% year-on-year to 21.8 mln.

Gold Standard will update its requirements to comply with those of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), meaning voluntary carbon credits will need to include data on the entity and purpose of retirement when the action is completed on its registry.

Denmark-based Velux Foundation has allocated $1 million to a newly launched programme aimed at developing metrics to support financial institutions in measuring their impacts and dependencies on oceans, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Projects to rewild habitats offer similar CO2 sequestration rates as new native woodland initiatives over a 19-year period, in addition to better biodiversity outcomes, according to a study of an estate in southern England.

A Vancouver-based asset manager has launched an investment screen focused on biodiversity in an effort to align its portfolio with conservation goals.

A London-based brokerage will acquire a New Zealand energy and carbon firm to offer its international clients better access to the NZ ETS.

UK environmental watchdogs have announced investigations into arms of the governments in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland for possible failures to comply with bird protection laws, in a move seen as significant.

European carbon allowance prices continued to be driven by fluctuations in natural gas prices on Tuesday morning, briefly topping a technical resistance level as the TTF front month rose to a six-week high, before both contracts fell back into negative territory.

A group of nearly 100 former government officials and civil servants in India has published an open letter to the government, urging it to withdraw the recently published guidelines for awarding credits to forestry projects under the country’s Green Credit Scheme.