Carbon Pulse

*PREMIUM LISTING - With the rapid growth in carbon markets driving a new wave of project development, Verra is seeking a Senior Program Officer to join the Climate Policy and Strategy Team within the Legal, Policy and Markets Department.

US federal agencies alongside California’s ARB and Attorney General’s Office released on Wednesday details of a proposed settlement totalling $2 billion with a US-based engine maker for alleged violations of both the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and California law.

An Irish road congestion toll in effect as of Jan. 1 provoked sharp rebuke from a Dublin-area official on Thursday as the EU country lags on sustainability commitments amid tightening purse strings and reluctance to tax heavy-emitting industries.

The European Parliament's environment and industry committees on Thursday approved some of the last files that will soon be regulating greenhouse gas emissions across the bloc, in one of the last meetings as EU lawmakers approach elections time.

The CEO of one of the world’s largest fertiliser producers Yara International has warned the EU risks swapping its Russian energy dependence to dependence on the country's fertilisers and food, as imports to the EU and other countries grow and home-grown production falls.

A consulting giant has entered into a strategic agreement with a major US carbon removals developer that includes a deal to buy direct air capture (DAC) credits.

Biochar-based carbon removals accounted for a minority of investment in durable CDR solutions in 2023 despite widespread enthusiasm for the technology among public and private sector actors alike, trailing behind funding in direct air capture (DAC), according to a report released Thursday.

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Two biodiversity credit developers are among the eight members of a cohort focused on nature technology and innovation launched by network Climate Collective.

Russian petrochemical company Sibur has added three climate projects to the Russian Registry of Carbon Units, giving it the largest portfolio of projects to reduce emissions among the country's businesses.

Carbon capture technology provider Capsol Technologies has been awarded a feasibility study for a cement plant in Latvia, with the facility forming part of a major CCS initiative intended to capture much of the Baltic region's ETS-covered emissions. 

A Sri Lankan government fund plans to issue more than 8 million carbon credits over a decade to a REDD+ project in Brazil, though experts say the carbon sequestration figures the project lists appear to be exaggerated by several orders of magnitude.

Biodiversity credit markets risk distracting governments from their role in financing nature by taking up limited time and capacity, non-profit Campaign for Nature has claimed in a paper.

Swiss researchers have developed a net zero emission concrete process that relies on producing uniform carbon-rich pellets that can be easily incorporated into concrete aggregate, with potential to generate carbon removal credits in future.

A Saudi Arabian climate technology company that has developed carbon-negative concrete has struck a deal with one of the country’s house builders to explore building a construction plant that could generate 1.3 million carbon credits a year.

European carbon moved in line with natural gas prices for much of Thursday morning, dropping early on with gas before breaking loose from the correlation later to set a new three-week low in a busier-than-normal session as energy markets were weaker across the board.

Support amongst the world’s largest asset managers for shareholder resolutions involving environmental and social (ES) issues has “catastrophically crashed”, according to a campaign group that promotes responsible investing.

The coming Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections could reshape the direction of Taiwan's energy policy, given the lack of consensus among presidential candidates on whether to build more nuclear plants.

The world's biggest blue carbon project, based in Pakistan, is likely to have been slightly overcredited, and it is difficult to determine the actual amount of carbon involved in the project, according to a rating agency.

An environmental group has urged the government of South Korea to make substantial changes to a basic plan underpinning the next phase (2026-30) of the domestic carbon market, as the current calculation method for allocated carbon permits is considered too generous for emitters.