Carbon Pulse

The relevance of biodiversity was rated as “moderate” by the average financial institution board in the Netherlands, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) said in a study.

A twice-weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

The growing inclination for farmers to generate and sell carbon credits, rather than help their food and agricultural clients achieve their insetting objectives, could hinder supplier relationships in the agricultural sector, a global business association representative told a conference this week. 

Governments and business leaders from the Global South have called for a coordinated approach to accelerating growth of carbon markets ahead of the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai, reaffirming their faith in voluntary markets, and calling for the harmonisation of methodologies in relation to the Article 6.4 mechanism of the Paris Agreement.

A Japanese steelmaker is looking at beginning the long path to creating lower emissions steel via a collaboration with ZE Energy and NextCarbon to use biomass coke.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on Tuesday teamed up with the carbon exchange in Mainland China’s Shenzhen with plans to speed up the development of a carbon market ecosystem spanning Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macao.

An outlook on Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) prices has estimated direct cuts in emissions covered under the Safeguard Mechanism are unlikely to be seen until the end of the decade.

European carbon prices set yet another five-month low in early trading on Tuesday but failed to follow up with a breach of the mid-year low, as traders began to speculate over the market's potential to stage its traditional rally in November and energy prices weakened.

A forestry strategy with a nature positive objective in Latin America of $10-40 million is being prepared by asset manager Forest Investment Associates (FIA), Carbon Pulse has learned.

A NASA-backed project aims to map the biodiversity of South Africa using devices that are usually found on the space station to study planets and stars, according to participating scientists.

Operators of CCS networks set to come online around the world in the next few years may be able to reduce CO2 storage liabilities for emitters, thanks to a new partnership between two tech firms that enables network operators to model their entire CO2 network from the point of carbon capture to final injection point.

Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) is being hampered by a lack of grants and a surfeit of loans with onerous interest rates, according to Reuters.

The hopes for naturally occurring hydrogen received a shot in the arm Tuesday morning as a discovery in a distant part of Australia made by a company worth just over A$35 million ($22 mln) was reported to the nation’s stock exchange.

NZUs have traded mostly sideways since the national election earlier this month, as the market awaits the release of the critical “special votes” result which will dictate the final makeup of the government.

A climate-focussed think tank has lashed out at a collaborative report by Australia’s top science body, suggesting the emissions calculations it has made for a frontier gas project and possible LNG plant are inaccurate.

Compliance carbon markets are expected to grow by around 5% in 2023, despite a predicted decline in total trading volumes as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, according to a new report.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Most businesses around the world say government regulation is the most important driver when it comes to accelerating their own transition to cleaner energy, outweighing the impact of pressure from consumers and investors, according to a report released Tuesday.

Demand for credits eligible for the first full phase of the CORSIA is building ahead of the aviation offset scheme's transition next year, but market participants are questioning whether supply of the required correspondingly-adjusted credits will be available, a conference heard on Monday. 

Researchers have unveiled a new approach to valuing carbon credits that they say brings much-needed transparency, accountability, and comparability to the global voluntary carbon markets, specifically nature-based projects.