A new report by Swedwatch, HEKS, and Silnorf details alleged human rights impacts from Miro Forestry Developments Limited's 10,000-hectare tree plantation carbon project in Sierra Leone, registered with Verra in 2021. Communities reported loss of land and livelihoods, limited consultation, and insufficient compensation, disproportionately affecting women. The project, which started generating credits in 2016 and aims for 700,000 credits in 2024, was developed with South Pole. Dutch Green Business Group reportedly purchased 128,000 credits from the project, which has sold over 480,000 credits in total.
Singapore-based exchange Climate Impact X (CIX) and London-based platform Carbonplace announced their intent to merge, aiming to create a unified infrastructure for global carbon markets. The proposed merger, subject to regulatory approvals and expected to complete integration by Q1 2027, combines CIX's front-end price discovery with Carbonplace's back-end multi-registry settlement and custody systems. This move seeks to address market fragmentation, improve liquidity, and enhance price transparency across voluntary, Article 6, and compliance markets. The combined entity will integrate the full transaction lifecycle, supported by 12 major financial institutions, connecting project supply with institutional buyers. This development aims to provide a streamlined, bank-grade settlement network essential for scaling high-integrity carbon markets.
Australian technology firm NoviqTech Limited is shifting its strategy to become an industrial-scale carbon dioxide removal provider, centring operations around its Coralia biochar platform. This pivot aims to generate high-integrity carbon credits, support sustainable construction, and provide clean energy applications. The company will integrate its existing digital infrastructure with biochar deployment for full lifecycle verification of carbon credits. NoviqTech also plans to incorporate biochar into low-carbon concrete formulations through a research partnership with Swinburne University of Technology. This move follows the termination of a planned AUD 1 million software divestment in August 2026.
Supercritical and Ground Up have formed an exclusive partnership to expand biochar carbon removal operations across India, targeting at least 50,000 tonnes of verified carbon removal by 2028. Ground Up's Project Nandani in Kolhapur has already issued its first Isometric-validated carbon removal credits, with 2,500 tonnes expected this year. The expansion will add production facilities alongside India's largest sugar mills, utilising agricultural waste to produce biochar. This partnership provides Ground Up with capital and volume commitments to scale its operations beyond the pilot phase. The first expansion site has secured funding and is scheduled to begin production next year.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has recognised Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Version 5 as meeting its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). This approval, announced on Wednesday, applies to the VCS Version 5, which Verra released in December 2025. The recognition provides a pathway for projects using eligible VCS methodologies to achieve the CCP label, signifying adherence to ICVCM's quality criteria. Verra's registry currently includes over 2,500 VCS projects across more than 130 countries.
Verra has launched a public consultation on a significant revision to its VM0033 Methodology for Tidal Wetland and Seagrass Restoration, v2.1, aiming to publish v3.0. The consultation, open from 3 September 2026 to 5 October 2026, introduces a modular framework, a new dynamic performance benchmark for tidal wetland projects, and an updated approach to leakage emissions. The draft incorporates the latest scientific advancements in tidal wetland ecosystems and includes new associated modules for biomass, soils, afforestation, and leakage. Silvestrum Climate Associates led the revisions, which will undergo independent expert review concurrently with the public consultation. Verra plans to digitalise v3.0 around its publication date.
Carbon removal marketplace Supercritical has partnered with biochar developer Ground Up to expand biochar carbon removal operations across India. The initiative will establish industrial-scale biochar production hubs near agricultural residue streams, such as sugarcane mills, using localised pyrolysis infrastructure. This aims to generate high-integrity carbon credits and supply biochar-based soil amendments to Indian farmers. The partnership seeks to mitigate open-field burning of over 500 million tonnes of annual biomass, addressing agricultural land degradation and generating long-term carbon sequestration of 1.5 to 2.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of biochar.
A Mongabay investigation has raised concerns about the transparency and efficacy of spekboom-led ecosystem restoration projects in South Africa, which are financed through carbon markets. The World Bank issued a $120 million outcome-based bond for these projects, with Amazon committing to buy carbon credits from the first developer. However, the report highlights instances of project failure and a lack of public scrutiny over international corporations' investments. One project, Return to Thicket, is replanting spekboom cuttings rescued from a previously failed restoration effort, aiming to sequester 10.3 metric tons of CO2 per hectare per year over three decades across 2,100 hectares.
Deep Sky's Deep Sky One direct air capture (DAC) project has received an AAA-A Pre-Issuance Rating from Sylvera, marking Sylvera's first pre-issuance rating for a DAC project. The rating indicates low integrity risk, very low additionality risk, and strong performance in carbon accounting and permanence. This assessment, based on a DAC-specific framework, provides an early signal of project quality and delivery risk for one of the largest DAC projects under development. The rating aims to offer a shared standard for credible DAC projects, supporting financing and offtake decisions in the nascent market.
A new cross-sector coalition, announced by Aliança Brasil NBS, the GCF Task Force, and ABEMA, has formed in Brazil to strengthen the country's REDD+ market and attract investment into forest conservation. The initiative will act as a permanent forum to coordinate a common REDD+ agenda, improve dialogue with the federal government, and address regulatory barriers. The coalition aims to link forest protection with economic development, particularly in the Legal Amazon, by channelling private capital and supporting local livelihoods. Its agenda includes coordinating voluntary and regulated carbon markets, preventing double counting, and integrating jurisdictional programmes with private projects. This development occurs as Brazil progresses its emissions trading system and Article 6 implementation.
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) and the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (EAA) have partnered to bolster carbon markets across East Africa. Announced on Tuesday, the agreement will support East African governments in developing policies, expertise, and infrastructure for enhanced participation in carbon markets. This includes assistance with national carbon market strategies and the establishment of market authorities. The partnership will also provide technical support to EAA member countries via VCMI’s Access Strategies programme, with a VCMI policy expert based in Kampala, Uganda, offering on-the-ground assistance. This initiative builds on previous cooperation, addressing issues such as the shortage of Africa-based validation and verification bodies, which has caused delays for up to half of projects.
The 12th Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (FOSPA), held in Puyo, Ecuador, in August 2026, issued the Political Declaration of Puyuk, rejecting carbon markets, debt-for-nature swaps, and other climate financing mechanisms as 'false solutions'. Over 2,500 Indigenous Peoples and community representatives from the Amazon basin attended the event. The Declaration specifically denounced 'digital jaguar carbon credits,' citing concerns that such projects violate Indigenous territories and greenwash polluting industries. This rejection follows earlier statements from Indigenous organisations criticising projects like Greenoxx's Jaguar Amazon REDD Project for allegedly dispossessing Indigenous Peoples and failing to protect rainforests. FOSPA called for non-repayable climate financing instead of market-based approaches.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has recognised Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Programme Version 5, released in December 2025, as meeting its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) criteria. This follows the ICVCM's approval of VCS Version 4.7 in May 2024. VCS Version 5 introduces stronger safeguards, enhanced transparency, and improved usability, with updated templates now operational. The ICVCM also approved 13 specific methodologies and the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework under the CCP Assessment Framework.
German authorities have withdrawn carbon credits from 30 projects in China, totalling 2.1 million tonnes of CO2, after investigations found them to be 'suspicious', to have overstated reductions, or to be completely fake. ExxonMobil purchased 96,000 of these credits for approximately US$4.9 million through its Belgian subsidiary, according to a registration document seen by Bloomberg. The projects were part of a German government-backed 'upstream emission reduction' programme for oil companies, which launched in 2018. Companies that bought the withdrawn credits have been ordered to compensate for the shortfall, with 24 of the 30 projects still under ongoing investigation. This follows a 2024 exposé by German TV station ZDF and a May 2026 Bloomberg investigation into the projects.
IDH, reVive, and BioFlux released a white paper detailing the economic and operational viability of biochar applications within agricultural supply chains. The report analyses how integrating biochar systems can convert agricultural residues into durable carbon sinks, improve soil health, and enhance supply chain resilience. It establishes a strategic framework for corporations and investors to deploy pyrolytic systems across international sourcing landscapes. The publication aims to resolve market knowledge gaps by delineating structured project frameworks connecting residue management with carbon accounting and soil amendment strategies. It also provides an analytical baseline for assessing project readiness and managing operational risks for agricultural stakeholders.
Verde Resources Inc. and Highway International Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pilot carbon-sequestering road infrastructure in Singapore. The agreement involves evaluating Verde's biochar-based 'Net Zero Blueprint' platform for use in asphalt production and paving. The collaboration aims to test material performance, asphalt mix designs, and carbon accounting procedures, with the goal of Highway International becoming a commercial licensee for such projects. This initiative seeks to transform regional biomass waste into stable, engineered biochar, permanently sequestering biogenic carbon within asphalt matrices.
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) and the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (EAA) announced a partnership on 1 September to support the growth of high-integrity carbon markets in East Africa. The collaboration will provide technical assistance to EAA member countries through VCMI's Access Strategies programme, focusing on policy development, capacity building, and infrastructure for national carbon markets. This initiative aims to help governments unlock climate finance and design national policies, building on prior work to address the shortage of Africa-based validation and verification bodies. East Africa currently accounts for approximately 10% of global voluntary carbon credits, with projects in the region issuing nearly 115 million credits between 2022 and 2025.
Climate Impact X (CIX) and Carbonplace announced their intention to merge on 26 August 2026, pending approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The integration of the two platforms is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2027. This consolidation affects the institutional segment of the voluntary carbon market, bringing together CIX's marketplace and Carbonplace's bank-distributed settlement network. The combined entity aims to streamline large-volume carbon credit transactions.
A new report by the World Economic Forum and SIX Group highlights the need for a standardised market infrastructure to scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. The report states that durable CDR methods currently remove less than two megatonnes annually, far short of the four gigatonnes required by 2035. Market fragmentation, reliance on bespoke contracts, and regulatory uncertainty deter institutional capital, hindering project financing and scale. The report proposes a six-layer market architecture to unify quality standards, legal contracts, and registries, aiming to transform CDR into a bankable, liquid global asset class. This framework seeks to integrate regional developments and streamline transactions to attract necessary investment.
The remove accelerator programme has completed its 2026 pre-purchase agreements by contracting with London-headquartered hardware manufacturer Exothermite. Exothermite will deliver permanent biochar carbon dioxide removal (CDR) generated from agricultural waste biomass. This deal finalises remove's 2026 purchasing cycle, which included capital commitments to Climitra, Ground Up, and Carbonway. The transaction, facilitated through remove's 'Leap' phase, provides Exothermite with commercial validation and non-dilutive capital to scale its distributed biochar technology. This initiative aims to de-risk early-stage Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) technologies and accelerate industrial biochar adoption.
Climate platform Commons has partnered with InPlanet to add high-integrity enhanced rock weathering (ERW) carbon removal credits from InPlanet's Brazilian projects to its portfolio. Commons, a finance app for individuals and organisations, selected InPlanet following a rigorous evaluation process. InPlanet focuses on scientific rigor, transparency, and extensive field research in its ERW operations. This collaboration aims to scale durable carbon removal while providing benefits to farmers and local communities through improved soil health. InPlanet also contributes data to academic research to advance ERW as a trusted carbon removal solution.
The remove accelerator programme has finalised its 2026 pre-purchase agreements by securing a deal with Exothermite, a London-based biochar machine producer. Under the agreement, Exothermite will supply permanent biochar carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from waste biomass. This contract concludes remove's 2026 pre-purchase activities, which also included deals with Climitra, Ground Up, and Carbonway. The accelerator's 'Leap' phase offers over $17,000 (€15,000) in purchase agreements to support participating start-ups.
Togo's Environment Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Valor Carbon, Valitera, and Arborify to secure $8.5 million from an unnamed US investment bank for a nationwide clean cooking programme. This initiative aims to deploy improved cookstoves across the country by 2032, potentially extending to 2037, building on a pilot that distributed 107,000 cookstoves in three regions. The programme seeks to reduce reliance on firewood and charcoal, mitigate deforestation, and cut emissions, linking clean energy deployment with carbon market financing. This expansion will accelerate the transition to cleaner household energy and create carbon market opportunities.
The ICAR–Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CCARI) and Core CarbonX Solutions Pvt. Ltd. launched 'Carbon Pathshala' in Old Goa, India, to train approximately 100 farmers in generating biochar-based carbon credits. The workshop, part of an ongoing research project, demonstrated converting agricultural residues into biochar using a portable pyrolysis unit. This initiative aims to provide smallholder farmers with additional income through verified carbon credits and enhance soil health. It establishes a framework for connecting coastal agroforestry residue management to voluntary carbon trading platforms.
Carbon asset manager Econetix and Vietnamese developer EcoNations launched an integrated bamboo biochar initiative in Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam, targeting 30,000 Puro.earth Carbon Removal Certificates (CORCs) annually. The project combines a 240-hectare bamboo plantation with a 40-tonne-per-day biochar manufacturing facility, operating under a 20-year crediting period from 2028 to 2048. To mitigate feedstock risk, the facility will initially use FSC-certified acacia and eucalyptus biomass, transitioning to 74% self-sufficiency from its dedicated bamboo plantation by Year 6. The initiative projects a cumulative removal of 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime, leveraging a dual revenue model from CORC sales and local biochar distribution. Econetix's digital Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) platform will monitor the project.
Farmers participating in Uganda's Trees for Global Benefits project, which has issued over 7.5 million Plan Vivo-certified carbon credits since 2003, are reportedly cutting down trees planted for carbon offsetting. The farmers cite reduced food harvests due to tree growth and non-receipt of promised payments as reasons for felling the trees, some of which are converted to charcoal. DanChurchAid, a Danish NGO, invested 8 million kroner (US$1.2 million) in the project to facilitate carbon offsetting agreements for Danish companies. This development raises concerns about the long-term integrity and social impact of carbon credit generation from such projects.
Temasek-backed Climate Impact X (CIX) and UK-based Carbonplace announced their intent to merge, combining CIX's exchange and price discovery capabilities with Carbonplace's settlement infrastructure. The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, aims to create a comprehensive platform for environmental markets, integrating sourcing, trading, settlement, custody, and retirement. The combined entity will operate across Singapore and London, backed by 12 institutional shareholders including DBS Bank and Standard Chartered. CIX Chief Executive Oi-Yee Choo will lead the new company, with Carbonplace CEO Scott Eaton serving as president. Integration is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2027.
Carbon Standards, a Swiss-based registry, launched a 30-day public consultation for its new EU Biochar Carbon Removal Standard (EU BCR) on 27 August 2026. This methodology offers a certification pathway for permanent carbon removals from biochar activities, aligning with the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF).
It applies to biochar production and storage facilities within the European Union, providing two tracks: Track A for soil application and Track B for incorporation into cement, concrete, or asphalt.
The standard details biomass sourcing, feedstock classification, and digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) requirements, also mandating European Biochar Certificate (EBC) compliance.
Stakeholders can submit feedback until 24 September 2026, enabling project developers to issue CRCF-compliant carbon removal credits.
Gold Standard has published Tool 10, a technical addendum to the UNFCCC Article 6.4 Methodological Tool 'Emissions from electricity generation and consumption', to help renewable energy projects in countries with limited electricity data meet high-integrity carbon accounting requirements. An independent assessment found that fewer than 15% of host nations globally possess the digital infrastructure for the preferred approaches in the latest UNFCCC grid-emissions methodology. Tool 10 introduces provisional measures, including a 10% conservativeness discount for annual data when hourly dispatch data is unavailable, and a 5% ceiling and 24-month administrative lag buffer for vintage-decay factors. It also clarifies conditions for treating intermittent generation sources with Battery Energy Storage Systems as non-intermittent. This initiative aims to make carbon finance more accessible in developing markets while maintaining environmental integrity.
Sylvera's analysis of initial Article 6.2 reporting reveals common issues in timeliness and completeness from host countries. These gaps, while expected in the early stages of the mechanism, pose challenges for verifying corresponding adjustments and ensuring credit integrity. The firm notes that such issues are critical for stakeholders including host countries, airlines under CORSIA, sovereign buyers, investors, and insurers. Effective national reporting is essential for preventing double-counting and maintaining the credibility of authorised carbon credits under the Paris Agreement.
Governments are increasingly influencing carbon markets, with 148 Article 6.2 agreements or memoranda of understanding signed globally. While progress is steady, only a few have resulted in actual Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome (ITMO) transfers, with Thailand's transactions with Switzerland being a clear example. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is transitioning to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) by late 2026, raising quality concerns for projects using older methodologies. Host countries are beginning to treat mitigation outcomes as sovereign assets; Kazakhstan, for instance, legislated a 30-50% ITMO retention ratio for its own Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This trend, coupled with rising demand for high-integrity, authorised credits from compliance schemes and corporate net-zero commitments, is creating a supply shortage.
Carbon credit registry Verra has authorised an insurance policy from Artio for its durability pilot, expanding reversal risk management options for project developers. The Artio product meets all technical criteria for the pilot and is available to eligible Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Programme projects. Project proponents must receive Verra's authorisation before engaging with Artio. Launched in December 2025, the durability pilot allows financial instruments like insurance as alternatives to traditional pooled buffer accounts for Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) projects.
Rainbow initiated a public consultation on 21 August 2026 for its new biomass burial carbon storage module, part of its BiCRS methodology. The consultation period for public feedback will conclude on 21 September 2026. This module provides guidelines for credibly storing biomass underground to prevent decay and CO2 release, covering eligible technologies, biomass types, storage sites, and certification requirements. It specifies eligible biomass categories, including woody biomass and thermochemically converted biomass like hydrochar and biochar, and requires storage for at least 100 years in suitable subsurface sites. This development offers a new pathway for permanent CO2 storage for hydrochar and biochar developers.
The Carbon Exposure podcast concluded its fourth season with a debate on whether carbon credits function more as a commodity or a bond. Moderated by Daniel Lee of the Carbon Markets Academy of Singapore at NTU, the discussion featured Rene Velasquez, who argued for the commodity case, and Tommy Ricketts, CEO of BeZero Carbon, who presented the risk-based bond case. The debate explored how differing perspectives on carbon credit nature influence market structure, pricing, and liquidity. Key topics included the role of ratings as a quality proxy and the implications of standardisation versus inherent probabilistic complexity for market scalability.
The Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Programme, led by the Center for Conservation Innovations Philippines Inc. (CCIPH), aims to conserve over 40,000 hectares of ancestral Iraya Mangyan forest from 2020 to 2049. The programme combines Indigenous patrols, ancestral-domain support, carbon monitoring, and livelihood projects under REDD+, supporting approximately 2,500 households. While local officials report reduced timber poaching and mining, the programme awaits independent verification, a finalised benefit-sharing agreement, and carbon revenue, expected no earlier than 2029. The long-term success hinges on transparent revenue-sharing and sustained community involvement during this waiting period.
BeZero Carbon has released a guide detailing the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) regulations for carbon credit rating providers. The guide outlines the requirements for transparency, governance, and methodology that rating agencies must meet to operate in the EU. This publication aims to help market participants understand the new regulatory landscape for carbon credit ratings. The ESMA regulation, effective from 30 June 2024, seeks to enhance the reliability and integrity of carbon credit assessments.
Verra has approved an insurance policy from Artio for use in its durability pilot programme, offering project proponents an additional option to address reversal risks. This policy meets Verra's durability pilot insurance criteria and is available to participating Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) projects. Launched in December 2025, the pilot tests fund-based or insurance-based pathways as alternatives to the pooled buffer account for durability. Projects must submit an expression of interest and receive Verra approval to participate.
Aker Solutions and Microsoft have signed a strategic agreement in Norway to accelerate global carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects. The partnership combines Aker Solutions' engineering and EPC capabilities with Microsoft's digital tools, AI, and digital MRV systems. This collaboration aims to reduce project risk, enhance business cases, and increase the bankability of CCS and CDR developments. The integrated model supports developers from feasibility studies to long-term operations, addressing hurdles like high capital investment risks and complex financial pathways.
In April 2026, the NGO Coalition of Liberia urged President Joseph Boakai to defer endorsement of the country's Draft Carbon Market Policy, citing a lack of genuine, inclusive, and credible national validation. Over 46,000 people have signed a petition supporting this call, organised by Rainforest Rescue. Civil society organisations remain concerned about land rights, revenue sharing, and free, prior, and informed consent for communities affected by carbon trading. The policy's development involved technical support from the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and Gordian Knot Strategies, with the African Development Bank denying claims of pressuring Liberia to pass the framework. UNDP Liberia is also working with the Carbon Market Authority to advance carbon market development, aiming to translate natural capital into sustainable economic value for communities.
Sequest announced a new carbon dioxide removal methodology that uses hyper-arid desert conditions to store agricultural biomass residue, preventing decomposition and creating a durable carbon sink. The approach involves transporting crop residues to desert locations and enclosing them in engineered chambers to maintain moisture levels below microbial activity thresholds. The 'Horizon' project in Saudi Arabia is the initial operational deployment, targeting an annual net removal of 1,000 tonnes of durable carbon dioxide. Puro.earth has completed a preliminary assessment of the core methodology, which aims to provide a scalable, low-complexity solution for durable carbon removal.