Carbon Pulse

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can play an important role in decarbonising the US economy, but more incentives are needed as existing policies don’t sufficiently support accelerated deployment.

Companies should consign “carbon neutrality” claims to the dustbin, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Initiative (VCMI) advised on Wednesday as it launched guidelines for buying carbon credits that it hopes will inject heavy doses of confidence and capital into the voluntary carbon market and end accusations of greenwashing.

The EU is willing to join international talks to weigh whether climate geoengineering interventions could be viable in tackling climate change, the bloc's climate and foreign policy chiefs said on Wednesday while cautioning that such initiatives should not divert global efforts to cut emissions.

Japan’s J-Credit scheme regulator on Wednesday cleared a first project for generating credits from cutting methane emissions from rice paddy cultivation, with several market participants positioning themselves to utilise the methodology, which was approved in March.

Multiple voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants have submitted responses to a UN consultation regarding removal activities that may be credited under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, urging differentiation between types to take into account varying permanence, reversal risk, and storage implications.

Infrastructure consultants AECOM have launched a metric for biodiversity assessment (BA) in Singapore to help calculate the impact on nature of site developments, and plan to expand the tool for the use of developers and civil servants across Southeast Asia.

Sumitomo Forestry, a major forestry company in Japan, has begun building an AI model for the management of tropical peatlands through the collaboration between its climate tech joint venture and a Japanese startup.

European carbon prices see-sawed on Wednesday morning, retracing some of Tuesday's gains as sentiment appeared to weaken along with gas and power, before rallying to stand little changed at midday as gas and power prices recovered early losses, while Commitment of Traders data showed that investment funds reversed their net position last week.

Pharma giant AstraZeneca has announced it would invest $400 million to plant over 200 million trees by the end of the decade as part of its plan for reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

India on Wednesday released draft rules for a market-based mechanism that will help the country meet a wide range of environmental goals by crediting activities ranging from tree planting and water conservation to waste management, air pollution reduction, and sustainable agriculture.

China has reviewed preliminary results for the construction of a registry and trading system designed for the nation's long-suspended voluntary carbon credit scheme, marking a step closer to the revival of the domestic offset market.

Singapore and the Dominican Republic have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on collaboration under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the island state’s eleventh such carbon trading agreement.

Consultancy firm PwC has walked back findings from a report it wrote last year claiming a biodiversity market in Australia could unlock A$137 billion ($91 bln) in finance by 2050.

An Australian investment manager has successfully completed a funding round on a new equity fund focussing on natural capital and abatement, electrification and the circular economy, thanks to a contribution from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has completed concept designs and acquired approval in principle (AiP) for a liquefied CO2 (LCO2) project from two major maritime classification societies, it announced on Wednesday.

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

The cross-stakeholder Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity initiative (VCMI) on Wednesday published its guidelines to help buyers ensure integrity when purchasing carbon credits for voluntary climate pledges, a partial release coming a year on from its initial draft that leaves further details for later in the year.

Two US senators have introduced a bipartisan clean cookstoves bill aimed at mitigating health, environmental, and economic issues caused by exposure to smoke from traditional stoves and open fires.

The UK government will consult later this year on how it can develop as a global carbon crediting hub, an official said on Tuesday, while ruling out prospects that the country could buy Article 6 credits in the near term.

The Washington Department of Ecology on Tuesday published the schedule for distributing no-cost allowances to natural gas utilities under the state’s cap-and-invest regulation with one company receiving the majority.