Carbon Pulse

The EU is allocating €28.5 million in investments towards small-scale industrial CO2 removal and CCUS projects as part of its LIFE programme, a bloc-wide initiative for funding environmental and climate actions.

The Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), a US-led jurisdictional carbon crediting programme, on Friday detailed its recent developments, while the top US climate envoy said that federal guidelines for the use of offsets will be published in the coming days.

The CEO of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has reaffirmed the organisation's dedication to robust science-based decarbonisation standards, saying he “deeply regrets the concern and distress” caused by a proposed change in its policy regarding offsets.

Traders reduced exposure across North American carbon markets this week except for RGGI compliance entities, according to latest data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commissions (CFTC) released Friday.

A CO2 pipeline developer is being taken to court by one of its suppliers for terminating their agreement, amid increasing opposition from permitters and stakeholders that has delayed construction of a major US project.

International climate finance flows will depend on movement within the G20, not the UN negotiations at COP29 this year, several sources told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings held this week in Washington DC.

With its certification for emissions' removals, the EU is moving to lock out international carbon credits to meet its own climate targets, at the expense of developing countries that are in direst need of green finance, critics say.

The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has launched a corporate pilot to develop the first scientific targets for seafood value chain impacts, ahead of the full roll out in mid-2025.

Social Carbon has opened a consultation on proposed updates to its standard for crediting voluntary projects, as well as the requirements for validation, monitoring, and verification, as it seeks to align with the ICVCM.

A fund for investing in projects that contribute to reaching global biodiversity targets has been launched by an environmental impact platform and a payments network.

Peatland could generate voluntary biodiversity credits for sale in combination with carbon credits in the UK next year under Peatland Code proposals launched this week.

The Clean Energy Regulator has written to entities covered under the Safeguard Mechanism raising concerns that they are not implementing strategies fast enough to meet their compliance obligations ahead of the February surrender deadline, a source has told Carbon Pulse. 

European carbon prices started the day sharply higher on Friday morning as traders reacted to the overnight attack by Israel on Iranian facilities, before falling back as markets appeared to price in a de-escalation of tensions in the region.

A German climate technology firm has entered a partnership in the US to create biochar carbon removals from wastewater sludge disposal.

India is seeking an exemption from Britain's planned carbon adjustment border tax (CBAM) as part of negotiations aiming to finalise a free trade deal with the UK, according to an exclusive in the Guardian newspaper.

The International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) has launched its second consultation on the emerging biodiversity market, seeking to gather views on possible basic models.

China’s national carbon market saw allowance prices reach a fresh high again over the past week but with lower trading volumes, as observers expect tighter allocation of permits in the upcoming market plan.

A Danish environmental consultancy has released an open-access metric to measure the biodiversity value of sites in the Americas, seeking to inform restoration projects as well as supporting corporate disclosures on nature-related impacts and dependencies.

New Zealand has committed NZ$41 million ($25 mln) in climate finance to Southeast Asia via the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM), it said Friday, while entering into early talks with the Philippines over potential cooperation on Article 6.

A state-owned water supplier in South Korea has secured partnerships with two Central Asian countries as it seeks to explore the potential of emissions reduction projects using renewable energy in the region.