Carbon Pulse

The rich world's failure so far to provide evidence it has met the $100 bln pledge for developing nations will hinder negotiations at upcoming UN summits, according to a report by a development charity published Monday, as climate finance tensions come into focus at talks that begin in Bonn this week.

Japanese start-up Green Carbon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Philippines’ state-owned National Development Company (NDC) with a view to generating 45 million carbon credits annually across a range of project types.

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

Speculators extended net holdings across North American carbon markets this week, while producers shed significant length across California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI Allowances (RGAs), data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

Carbon credit certifier Verra on Friday agreed to join an initiative to bolster development of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) in Brazil, aiming to help scale the nation’s nature-based activities.

A persistent loophole in EU ETS regulations has been artificially tightening the carbon market for years, according to observers, steepening the annual drawdown in permit supply with knock-on effects for allowances prices and costs for European industries.

A cookstove project in Malawi has been downgraded by a carbon credit rating agency to having a low chance of achieving its stated carbon avoidance because of concerns about usage and stove effectiveness, while credits from a biodigester project in India were given a very low chance of avoiding a tonne of CO2.

The European Commission's transport boss underlined this week that their institution has no intention of proposing new measures aimed at curbing private jet emissions despite a push from a group of several member states to tighten environmental measures on their use.

A bill designed to inform California's forthcoming review of its WCI-linked cap-and-trade regulation was held on Thursday, while a suite of voluntary carbon offset and climate disclosure bills in the Golden State sailed through their first floor votes this week.

Swedish steelmaker SSAB has taken a major step towards plans to convert the entire Nordic production system to fossil free by around 2030.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's aspirations to become a global hub for decarbonisation and sustainable finance will hinge on the construction of more robust market infrastructure and improved transparency on creation and use of carbon credits, concluded a roundtable debate at a conference held in Bahrain.

EU carbon prices climbed on Friday morning after the daily auction cleared at a premium to the spot market for the fourth time in a row, reversing the previous session's slide that had seen prices fall to a four-month low, while energy markets also recovered some of yesterday's sharp decline.

The Australian government should clarify the purpose of its planned biodiversity market and rule out the use of credits for offsetting purposes for at least three years, according to an umbrella organisation for some of the nation’s biggest conservation groups.

Allowance prices in China’s national emissions market reached year-to-date high this week despite shrinking trading volumes, with analysts expecting price level to remain flat this month amid lukewarm sentiment.

In the context of accusations of widespread over-crediting in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), one emergent accounting approach could tackle some of the challenges with auditing of forestry projects, offering real-time and dynamic monitoring of climate impact via remote sensing technologies.

A Tokyo-listed bank has teamed up with a domestic offset provider to further integrate carbon credit purchase in its services for clients as part of its sustainability strategy.

Australian carbon project developers have been given one month’s notice to register new human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects, ahead of the method’s expiration date in September this year, the Clean Energy Regulator said Friday.

Environmental and climate groups have slammed an Australian gas distribution company’s decision to offer cash incentives to customers who switch from electric to gas appliances, saying it flies in the face of efforts to transition away from the fossil fuel to reduce emissions.  

If the world is to meet the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), governments must act swiftly to put in place regulations that incentivise nature positive investments and penalise nature negative activity, a global asset manager has said.

Australian airline Qantas will establish a A$400 million ($263.2 mln) fund to provide direct investments in climate-related projects and initiatives, with a focus on sustainability aviation fuel (SAF) and nature-based solutions, the carrier announced this week.