Carbon Pulse

Guyana is receiving millions of The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) credits from the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), becoming the first jurisdiction to earn REDD+ credits and first ever recipient of TREES units, according to a press release Thursday.

California compliance offset retirements fell sharply during the 2021 interim cap-and-trade deadline, dropping by more than half versus the 2018-20 period, as emitters faced a lower usage cap and were required to turn in more credits with direct environmental benefits (DEBs) to meet newly implemented restrictions, according to official data published Thursday.

An international emissions trade expert has left one of the world’s leading carbon credit buying entities to start a consultancy specialised in Article 6-era transactions.

Countries should use their “own” cheap abatement for their own climate targets, a leading COP27 negotiator told a webinar Thursday after pointing out that costs to meet net zero are going to rise.

The US EPA on Thursday published preliminary Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending quotas for the next three years, and also proposed a pathway for electricity to generate credits (RINs) under the federal biofuels programme.

A Toronto-headquartered global asset manager announced on Thursday a new forest fund to invest in internationally diversified forestland assets with strong carbon storage potential and high conservation value.

Swiss Re has extended its portfolio of biochar-based carbon credits by signing a large multi-year offtake agreement with German-based digital MRV marketplace Carbonfuture, the two companies announced Thursday.

The European Commission and Parliament agree the size of the Innovation Fund is crucial to support industry decarbonisation, the Parliament heard on Thursday, with lawmakers calling for unity against a member state plan to divert some of the Fund's carbon market revenue to the REPowerEU initiative. 

The Integrity Council for the voluntary carbon market (IC-VCM) announced the appointment of three new members to its governing board on Thursday, including two Indigenous Peoples members, fulfilling a long-standing promise from the cross-stakeholder initiative, which aims to provide guidance on what constitutes “high quality” for voluntary carbon offsets.

EUAs rose for the sixth time in seven days as buying once again drove the market to a new three-month high, while energy prices gave back some early gains as several EU countries called for a more dynamic natural gas price-capping mechanism than that which was proposed by the Commission in November.

The EU's flagship Fit for 55 climate plan is set to outsource deforestation and sacrifice carbon storage and biodiversity in Europe in an effort to drive bioenergy expansion, according to a paper published in a research journal that points out one amendment under consideration could reduce this risk.  

Taiwan should prioritise the development of biomass carbon sinks and emerging nature-based solutions to help reach its 2050 net zero targets, a government-funded research institute has urged.

The premium of UK carbon prices to their European counterparts has eroded completely in the last two months as the two markets have moved in opposite directions since the differential reached its peak in September, and funds have amassed a net short position in the UK market.

Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto aims to boost the role of offsets over the next decade to help meet its 2030 climate target, it announced at an investor seminar Thursday, where it laid out details about its $7.5 billion investment plan across several abatement programmes to cut its operational emissions in half by the end of the decade.

Rapid decarbonisation in China's power sector should put the country on 1.9°C pathway, though more actions are needed for the country to help limit global warming to 1.5C, a recent report has found.

South Korea on Thursday named two more securities firms that will act as market makers in the nation’s emissions trading scheme while at the same time more than doubling the KAU holding limits for financials in a bid to boost market liquidity and stabilise prices.

Australia will have to increase its emissions reduction rate to about 17 MtCO2e per year – a 40% increase from current rates – if it intends to reach its 2030 and 2050 climate goals, the country’s climate change minister said in a speech to parliament on Thursday.

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

California regulator ARB in a public workshop on Wednesday reviewed the state’s forestry offset protocol, exploring expert insights and public input on the relevant science, data, and tools for future amendments to the programme under the WCI-linked cap-and-trade system.

The British Columbia Low Carbon Fuel Standard (BC-LCFS) saw credit generation outpace deficits for the second straight year in 2021 as fuel suppliers engaged in more low-carbon projects, according to provincial data published Wednesday.