DBG Energy Limited announced plans for a $20 million industrial-scale biochar production facility in Belize, targeting completion in 2027. The facility will process 70,000 tonnes of biomass annually to produce 16,000 tonnes of biochar for domestic agriculture. The project has secured an export contract to monetise over 42,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent removal credits annually in the United States. This initiative aims to enhance crop resilience, manage invasive species, and integrate Belize into the global green economy.
Verra published a checklist for project proponents developing projects under VM0050 Energy Efficiency and Fuel-Switch Measures in Cookstoves, v1.0, and for their validation/verification bodies. The checklist details key elements Verra staff focus on during registration, verification, or joint registration-verification requests. This resource aims to help users understand the methodology and strengthen submitted documentation. Verra stated that the checklist is not exhaustive and that the VM0050, v1.0 methodology takes precedence in case of discrepancies. The organisation plans to release similar resources for other methodologies.
Be Zero, a non-profit organisation focused on methane and other short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) reductions, has published a guide for buyers of superpollutant carbon credits. The guide aims to clarify the market for these credits, which target greenhouse gases with high global warming potentials. It outlines key considerations for purchasers, including project types, measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) standards, and additionality. This initiative seeks to increase transparency and buyer confidence in a niche but growing segment of the voluntary carbon market.
Be Zero has introduced a new service offering holistic 'beyond carbon' appraisals for voluntary carbon market projects. These appraisals aim to provide a comprehensive assessment of co-benefits and risks, moving beyond traditional carbon credit verification. The initiative seeks to enhance transparency and trust in carbon transactions by offering a more detailed project evaluation. This development responds to increasing buyer demand for greater assurance regarding the broader impacts and integrity of carbon projects.
Non-profit organisation Remove Global launched an India Accelerator Program to support early-stage carbon dioxide removal (CDR) startups. The eight-month programme provides non-dilutive financial capital, technical coaching, and network access, building on its European incubation track record. It offers a unique financial solution of a €15,000 (approximately ₹15 lakh) purchase agreement or recoverable grant, ensuring founders retain at least 70 percent company ownership. The initiative aims to establish India as a hub for high-integrity atmospheric carbon sequestration and connect local innovators with global CDR markets and buyers.
Alejandro Castilla, business development professional at ecoLocked, highlighted the importance of trust and collaboration in scaling the biochar industry during the Biochar Summit 2026. Castilla, who works on bridging biochar production, carbon removal, and the construction industry, emphasised biochar's role in gigaton-scale decarbonisation. He noted that successful biochar projects prioritise partnerships across the value chain, from biomass sourcing to end-use applications. Castilla is expanding his work into Latin America, focusing on connecting innovation with market adoption.
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) released its 2025 Global Biochar Market Report, indicating global biochar production reached 520,810 metric tonnes in 2025, a nearly threefold increase from 180,150 metric tonnes in 2023. Gross revenues for commercial producers rose from $47 million to $245 million over the same period, with implied revenue per tonne almost doubling to $543. The report, based on data from 930 stakeholders across 96 countries, notes a shift in production leadership to Asia, with Africa showing the fastest regional growth. Despite this expansion, the industry faces challenges including low awareness, insufficient market demand, and limited access to capital. Carbon finance mechanisms and integration into high-value manufacturing are helping to formalise market dynamics and diversify cash flows.
The Government of Misiones, Argentina, has officially adopted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Verra to support the province's engagement in carbon markets. Under the MOU, Verra will provide capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and training on topics including the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Programme, Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Framework, and Article 6.2. This agreement follows Verra's recent approval of Misiones' government-led forest carbon programme, the first at a jurisdictional scale. The collaboration aims to strengthen Misiones' technical and institutional capacities, promoting forest conservation and generating local benefits.
GreenPlinth Africa and the Lagos State Government have initiated a nationwide clean cooking programme in Nigeria, aiming to distribute 80 million efficient cookstoves. Lagos State will provide 6 million stoves free of charge, with distribution beginning in June 2025 in the Makoko community. The programme, endorsed by the Federal Government, projects annual carbon credit revenues of up to $5 billion at full implementation. It targets over 167 million Nigerians who rely on traditional solid fuels, aligning with UN Article 6.4 mechanisms for monitoring and verification.
The International Carbon Registry (iCR) has outlined its 'integrity stack' approach, integrating third-party ratings and risk assessments into its programme requirements. This framework combines iCR's foundational rulebook with three independent pillars: ISO 14065 validation and verification, MSCI Carbon Project Ratings, and Kita risk assessments. The iCR registry serves as the digital home, tracking credit issuance, transfer, and retirement. This system aims to provide a comprehensive, multi-faceted view of carbon credit quality and risk for buyers, with each pillar carried out by independent parties.
Gold Standard has approved the Sovereign Corresponding Adjustment Revocation & Enforced Withdrawal (SCREW) policy from Blenheim Partnerships Limited, making it the fifth insurance policy eligible for Gold Standard Verified Emission Reductions (GS-VERs) under CORSIA. This marks the entry of the first traditional political risk insurer into the CORSIA market, following an independent assessment by Howden. The approval is expected to increase insurance capacity for projects supplying credits to CORSIA, where demand currently outstrips supply in the first phase. Since October 2025, three project developers in Rwanda and Tanzania have used insurance to secure CORSIA-eligible credit labelling.
The European carbon registry Rainbow has updated its Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) methodology to version 1.1, integrating criteria from the European Union’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation. This update, which includes revised baseline scope, expanded risk mitigation triggers, and stricter third-party verification for projects issuing over 5,000 credits annually, aims to ensure interoperability and market compliance. By aligning with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/285, Rainbow seeks to streamline project development and credit issuance for European biochar and BioCCS installations. This move addresses market fragmentation and strengthens transparency, supporting the registry's recent Core Carbon Principles eligibility.
The UNFCCC secretariat hosted a REDD+ Global Summit in Nairobi in May 2026, gathering nearly 100 participants from 59 countries, four donor nations, 13 international organisations, and three civil society groups. The summit aimed to discuss opportunities and challenges in accessing REDD+ finance but concluded with a 'forward-looking sentiment' focused on future improvements. Critics argue the meeting failed to address REDD+'s ineffectiveness in halting deforestation, which saw 4.3 million hectares of tropical primary forest lost in 2025. The summary report omitted discussions on fossil fuels, the climate crisis, or the use of REDD+ credits by polluters to legitimise continued emissions.
Verra will issue at least 20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in carbon credits to three Indonesian forestry projects, following their approval under the country's updated carbon market regulations. The Katingan Peatland Restoration and Conservation Project, the Sumatra Merang Peatland Project, and The Mayas Project have all secured the necessary Ministry of Forestry approvals. This initiative marks the first credit issuance under Indonesia's operational national carbon market, combining Verra's crediting programme with the country's domestic oversight. Indonesia will track these credits via its national registry, with Verra and the Ministry of Forestry developing an API for data sharing.
Cold Steppe has completed construction and commissioning of a $15 million industrial-scale biochar facility in Stuttgart, Arkansas. The plant currently processes 20,000 tonnes of rice hulls annually to produce 10,000 tonnes of biochar, with plans to double capacity by the end of 2026. This facility addresses the challenge of commercialising high-silica rice hulls, an abundant agricultural byproduct in the region. The biochar produced is intended to enhance local agricultural soils by improving moisture retention and fertiliser efficiency, creating a closed-loop regional economy and generating carbon removal credits.
Google's 2026 Environmental Report revealed an 18 per cent increase in its total greenhouse gas footprint, driven by a 25 per cent surge in supply chain and technical infrastructure emissions due to AI buildout. To address this, Google contracted 1.38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent removals, integrating biochar into its portfolio for permanent carbon isolation. The company also secured over 12 gigawatts of new clean energy in 2025 and mandated 100 per cent clean electricity for key hardware suppliers by 2029. This strategy aims to mitigate emissions from its 37 per cent year-over-year increase in data centre electricity load. Google's move signals the growing corporate reliance on engineered durable carbon removal amidst rapid technological expansion.
Mast Reforestation has sold all 4,277 carbon removal credits from its pilot biomass burial project, Mast Wood Preserve MT1, within six weeks of issuance. Buyers included Bain & Company and the Royal Bank of Canada, securing multi-year acquisition agreements. The project involved burying ten million pounds of fire-damaged logs in subterranean repositories to prevent atmospheric greenhouse gas release. Verified by Puro.earth and rated by BeZero Carbon, the sales fully financed ponderosa pine planting across 125 acres of burned land. The company plans to expand its capacity to 150,000 tonnes annually.
DBG Energy announced the development of the Belize River Valley Biochar Project, an industrial-scale carbon removal and agricultural infrastructure facility in Belize. This project introduces a continuous-process manufacturing operation designed to achieve high-volume, verifiable carbon dioxide removal. The initiative addresses challenges of scale, permanence, and supply control within the carbon dioxide removal sector by integrating a dedicated biomass feedstock programme with thermochemical conversion infrastructure. The facility aims to generate certified, durable carbon removal credits for institutional markets and produce high-value biochar for soil enhancement, with the resulting biochar supplied to domestic agricultural producers and global export markets.
Stellar Green Co. and Sylvera have launched an initiative to evaluate the quality of Japan's forest J-Credits. This partnership aims to re-examine the domestic J-Credit system through a global lens, providing credit-purchasing companies with a framework to explain credit quality to stakeholders. The initiative will not publish individual project evaluations but will explore 'explainable quality' by considering Japan's forest management practices and institutional context against global standards. This development responds to increasing demands for accountability and transparency in corporate carbon credit procurement.
The United States carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market is projected to grow from $1,125.41 million in 2026 to $15,260.45 million by 2035, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 33.6%, according to Precedence Research. Biochar is identified as a foundational product category within this market, holding a 22.80% share of the domestic CDR sector. This expansion is driven by federal incentives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, and corporate commitments from technology and financial institutions. Companies like Alphabet, Meta, Stripe, and Shopify are actively securing advanced market commitments for high-quality carbon removal. The report highlights biochar's role as an affordable, immediately scalable mitigation asset for corporate governance and VCM price stabilisation.
Verde Resources and Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions have signed a 10-year commercialisation agreement to deploy engineered biochar in cold paving applications. Verde Renewables, Verde's US subsidiary, will be the preferred biochar vendor for Ergon, the largest asphalt and pavement preservation product supplier in the United States. The deal, announced on 3 July 2026, builds on an October 2025 collaboration and is expected to generate shared carbon credits. Commercial test projects are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, with plans for international expansion and exploration of other sustainable building material applications.
National Australia Bank (NAB) finalised a five-year agreement with Arnhem Land Fire Abatement NT to purchase 150,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The credits, generated through savanna fire management projects, will offset NAB's residual operational emissions until 2031. This multi-year forward procurement contract aims to provide supply certainty for NAB and a stable revenue stream for the Indigenous-owned carbon farming organisation. The deal supports six fire management projects and reinvests all proceeds into local land and cultural conservation efforts, including employment for over 300 Indigenous rangers. This transaction reflects a shift towards multi-year procurement strategies within the Australian carbon market.
National Australia Bank (NAB) has acquired approximately 150,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) from Arnhem Land Fire Abatement NT (ALFA NT) in a five-year agreement. The deal, announced on Wednesday, represents NAB's largest single purchase of Australian carbon credits and will cover a significant portion of its residual operational emissions through 2031. ALFA NT, a First Nations-owned organisation, generates these credits through planned early dry-season burning across Arnhem Land. This transaction provides NAB with long-term supply certainty and follows recent federal government reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism and new savanna fire methodologies introduced in April 2026. All revenue from credit sales is reinvested into land and cultural management, supporting over 300 Indigenous Rangers.
REDD Monitor has called on Verra to refrain from verifying the Kajiado Rangelands Carbon project in Kenya, citing concerns over its developer, Mark Ritchie. Ritchie, involved in the previously suspended Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project, is developing the 1.5 million-hectare Kajiado project through Soils for the Future and CarbonSolve. The article highlights Ritchie's promotion of 'climate positive beef' and his past association with Belcampo, a meat company that faced scandal over mislabelled products. These issues raise questions about the integrity and scientific basis of Ritchie's carbon accounting methodologies.
BeZero Carbon, a London-based carbon credit ratings agency, acquired New York AI startup Cedar in late June 2026. The acquisition integrates Cedar's team and AI-powered climate data automation technology into BeZero Carbon's platform. This move aims to address the VCM's fragmented data structures, enabling faster, more granular risk assessments for institutional investors and project developers. The combined entity plans to roll out automated risk-scoring capabilities across more project classifications within 12 to 18 months.
Carbonmark has released an API designed to integrate carbon credit retirement directly into e-commerce checkouts. The API allows online businesses to discover, price, and retire carbon credits on demand, with fractional retirement capabilities down to 0.001 tCO₂e per order. Retirements are recorded on a public blockchain, providing tamper-proof and independently verifiable records for each transaction. This development aims to streamline the process of offsetting residual e-commerce emissions, moving from quarterly procurement to per-order action.
The Government of Himachal Pradesh, in partnership with Dr. Y.S. Parmar University and ProClime Services, has established India’s first indigenous biochar production facilities at Neri and Jahu in Hamirpur district. This initiative aims to process problematic biomass, such as pine needles and lantana, into biochar, providing financial incentives to local communities at Rs. 2.50 per kilogram of feedstock. The programme targets extending climate-smart agriculture across 50,000 hectares, managing 13.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, and is projected to generate approximately 28,800 carbon credits over ten years. This model integrates local environmental remediation with market-based carbon finance, enhancing soil health and providing rural employment.
A new report by Boeing, GenZero, and Abatable indicates Southeast Asian nations could generate up to $8.5 billion over the next decade by supplying carbon credits to the aviation industry's CORSIA programme. The region currently supplies 7% of global CORSIA-eligible credits, but this could increase eightfold to 20.8 million units if governments authorise 54 existing projects. The $8.5 billion figure is based on a potential supply of 348 million CORSIA-eligible units priced at $23 each. The report urges governments to issue letters of authorisation for these projects, which are currently backlogged, to unlock this economic potential. This action would also allow ASEAN airlines to meet their first-phase CORSIA obligations domestically.
Sylvera has updated its Improved Forest Management (IFM) ratings framework, integrating its proprietary Biomass Atlas to independently verify project-reported carbon stock changes. The revised framework introduces a more robust additionality assessment, differentiating between avoided-logging and removals-only projects, and incorporates an Internal Rate of Return (IRR)-based financial additionality test. It also enhances permanence risk assessment by using Biomass Atlas data to cross-validate natural disturbance impacts and identify unreported carbon stock reversals. These changes aim to address long-standing integrity concerns in IFM projects, such as baseline inflation and weak additionality. IFM credit issuances have doubled since 2022, accounting for 61% of nature-based issuances in 2026, with North America leading in quality supply.
Biochar On Site and 3Degrees Group are hosting a webinar on 1 July to discuss integrating distributed biochar production into existing carbon credit frameworks. The event will focus on enabling small-scale, mobile biochar projects, which use methods like flame cap kilns and mobile carbonisers, to access carbon markets. These organisations aim to align low- and mid-tech biochar systems with methodologies from registries such as Verra and the Climate Action Reserve. This initiative seeks to create new revenue streams for small operators, making localised biochar projects economically viable and supporting wildfire risk reduction.
Verra released the second component of its quality control review (QCR) for the Kariba REDD+ Project, focusing on safeguards. The project's validation/verification bodies (VVBs) reassessed original audit evidence regarding trophy hunting, benefit sharing, and financial compliance. The VVBs found no evidence of a breach of Verra's rules in these areas at the time of their original assessments. However, the project proponent, Carbon Green Investments, withdrew the project from the Verra Registry during the QCR, preventing the VVBs from gathering new evidence. Verra noted that a project of this type seeking registration today would face a materially higher bar due to enhanced safeguards in the latest VCS Program.
Deep Sky has delivered the first certified direct air capture (DAC) credits in North America from its Deep Sky Alpha facility in Alberta, Canada. These credits, certified under Isometric's Direct Air Capture Protocol, are also the world's first Core Carbon Principles (CCP)-labelled DAC carbon removal credits. Microsoft and Royal Bank of Canada will receive these credits as part of a multi-year carbon dioxide removal purchase agreement extending through 2034. This marks Isometric's first issuance of DAC credits and demonstrates a rigorous certification pathway for DAC technology.
The European Commission has launched the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Buyers' Club website, a voluntary market platform to aggregate corporate demand for certified CRCF units, including biochar. Operating across the EU, the initiative aims to mobilise capital and accelerate the transition of high-integrity carbon removal technologies to commercial scale. The platform addresses fragmented demand and lack of commercial predictability by coordinating public and private funding, offering standardised contractual templates, and facilitating pooled buying capacity. This framework establishes a stable, price-setting venue, with initial buyers registering interest to execute the first certified offtake agreements by late 2026. This aggregated demand provides revenue certainty for large-scale biochar suppliers, supporting the EU's climate neutrality objectives.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has published its final Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, which mandates that companies must neutralise long-lived greenhouse gas emissions with equally permanent carbon removals by their net-zero year. The new standard introduces a 'like-for-like' principle, meaning fossil CO2 emissions cannot be offset with short-lived carbon credits. It also establishes a voluntary Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) programme with three tiers for pre-net-zero removal procurement, becoming mandatory for Category A companies from 2035. The final version removed language that would have barred companies from using credits also counted in host-country climate plans, allowing eligibility regardless of corresponding adjustments. This clarifies procurement timelines and reinforces the value of durable carbon removal for corporate climate strategies.
The Bangladesh government and ProClime, an international climate delegation, met in Dhaka to discuss expanding green cooperation, focusing on renewable energy, sustainable development, carbon markets, and biochar deployment. The partnership aims to establish frameworks for green capital deployment and environmental conservation across South Asia. This initiative seeks to attract large-scale, sustainable commercial investments into Bangladesh's green sector, particularly for emerging technologies like biochar infrastructure. By leveraging ProClime's expertise, the collaboration will direct green investments towards regional sustainable development projects and integrate state environmental priorities with private carbon asset mechanisms. The engagement is intended to enhance Bangladesh's visibility in global carbon credit networks and facilitate future commercial biochar facility deployments.
Ibero Massa Florestal's Avenal project in Portugal, commissioned in 2024, processes woody biomass using pyrolysis technology to produce 1,670 tonnes of biochar annually. This process is certified to permanently mitigate 5,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. The facility aims to mitigate wildfire risk by clearing forest residues and has secured formal certification for carbon removal applications. The company plans to triple its production capacity following this validation. This initiative links landscape conservation to international carbon markets, offering a scalable regional climate solution.
Siam Modern Green Energy (SMGE) inaugurated its biochar manufacturing plant in Surat Thani, Thailand, on 15 June 2026. The facility converts agricultural waste into biochar and certified carbon removal credits, establishing a biochar industrial chain in Southeast Asia. This initiative addresses inefficient agricultural waste disposal and aims to provide verifiable carbon removal assets for the voluntary carbon market. The plant integrates third-party verified Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) methodologies to issue high-integrity carbon removal certificates. It also creates employment and new revenue streams for local farmers.
Climeworks Solutions, a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) portfolio service, signed 14 new agreements in the first half of 2026, totalling 450,000 tonnes of CDR. These agreements involve major corporations including NTT DATA, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Tapestry, spanning sectors like banking, aviation, and healthcare. The service aggregates high-quality CDR pathways, combining Climeworks' Direct Air Capture expertise with diverse methodologies such as biochar, BECCS, ERW, and ARR. This initiative aims to streamline procurement and provide diversified risk profiles for corporate buyers seeking scalable carbon removal solutions.
RenewCred, an Indian climate-tech platform, has deployed an AI and blockchain-backed infrastructure to convert agricultural waste into verifiable carbon credits. Collaborating with local project developers like Shree Radharani Agrotech and JEET Agrotech, RenewCred enables smallholder farmers to monetise crop residue through biochar production. The platform anticipates generating approximately 100,000 carbon credits in the current fiscal year, mitigating 100,000 tonnes of CO2e. This initiative addresses the challenge of post-harvest crop residue management in India, aiming to reduce open-field stubble burning and provide additional income for farmers.
Amazon has launched a programme allowing Climate Pledge signatories and selected suppliers to purchase high-integrity carbon offsets from its pre-financed mitigation portfolio. Participants can buy credits in tranches as small as 100 units from three foundational projects: a 1PointFive direct air capture facility, an Indian agricultural methane reduction initiative, and a South African landscape restoration project. This initiative enables smaller entities to access premium removal assets without long-term offtake commitments, addressing a supply deficit for high-integrity credits. Amazon aims to facilitate supply chain decarbonisation and accelerate the deployment of technological removals by acting as a market aggregator.