Carbon Pulse

The third Climate Report released Thursday by one of Australia’s top four banks showed it has cut more money for fossil fuels developers, but an activist shareholder group said it still has loopholes.

EU carbon prices firmed robustly on Thursday morning as energy markets initially strengthened on forecasts for cooler weather and modest renewable generation, before gas gave up almost all its gains on reports that Europe will have little difficulty sourcing supplies this winter.

The new global finance goal that is due to be agreed at COP29 this month must include a massive boost for adaptation, according to a flagship UN report published on Thursday.

Volumes in Australia’s compliance credit market are on track to beat last year's by more than a third, and in October recorded its third-highest amount of trade of any month at 3.6 million Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), according to a report released Thursday.

The cost of direct air capture credits can drop to $100 per tonne in the near term, by equipping the technology to do more than just remove carbon from the atmosphere, the chief development officer of a decarbonisation solutions provider has told Carbon Pulse.

Despite prior optimism for progress in Baku on UN carbon markets, political uncertainty following this week's US election result has dampened enthusiasm for a strong outcome on Article 6 at COP29, with multiple key technical elements of international carbon trade still to be clarified, as well as the thorny question of whether crediting standards brought into force ahead of the summit will be formally endorsed in Baku.

Last month saw the highest October figures for voluntary carbon credit retirements and issuances for three years, data analysed by Carbon Pulse shows.

LSEG customers can now access news and intelligence on carbon markets, greenhouse gas pricing, and climate policy via their Workspace platform, thanks to a new partnership with specialist provider Carbon Pulse.

China's Hubei province has announced plans to push forward a local carbon offset programme and encourage the development of forest carbon projects within the region.

Papua New Guinea will send a delegation to COP29 in Azerbaijan this month after first its prime minister and then its foreign minister had said it would not as a protest against the lack of climate finance for maintaining its vast carbon sink forests.

Five European countries may be breaching EU law when it comes to their climate and energy obligations, according to a series of legal complaints filed on Thursday that call on the European Commission to take action.

The environmental secretary of Brazil's Para said the state will launch at COP29 a R$250 million ($44 mln) concession for the restoration of 10,000 hectares of forest with the intention of generating carbon credits.

In a lawsuit filed by an association of US business groups against California's climate disclosure rules, a US district court ruled in favour of the state on Tuesday, but the case remains active in pursuit of more evidence.

A Switzerland-based non-profit on Thursday launched a free tool designed to help financial institutions assess their nature-related impacts.

A US-based carbon registry has posted changes to its methodology for earning voluntary carbon credits from transitioning to advanced refrigeration systems.

A peer-reviewed study of dozens of afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects in Colombia has found that while they have removed over 100 million tonnes of CO2, afforestation often uses non-native species or situates projects in ecologically inappropriate biomes.

The newly confirmed EU environment commissioner at her hearing with the European Parliament on Tuesday evening said she will explore ‘well-designed’ nature credits during her tenure at the European Commission.

The UAE has included steeper emissions reduction levels in its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), published Wednesday, pledging a 47% drop by 2035 compared to a 2019 baseline.

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) offers an opportunity to raise climate finance in Africa, but more needs to be done to raise the price of carbon and quell the volatility in order to unlock value on the ground, according to a high-profile African economist and former minister.

Big changes are needed in the UK’s agri-food system to reach net zero emissions and improve resilience to global shocks, including on carbon audits and reducing livestock numbers.