Representatives Tonko and Peters and Senators Whitehouse and Coons reintroduced the Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act (CDRLA) this week. The bill proposes a federal carbon removal purchasing programme with specific evaluation criteria and volume targets for the next decade. This initiative aims to provide market certainty for the nascent carbon removal industry, which has relied heavily on a small pool of voluntary purchasers. The reintroduction follows the EU's plans to integrate certain carbon removal solutions into its Emissions Trading System, highlighting the need for US investment in carbon removal policy support.
The UN Article 6.4 Supervisory Body approved a new methodology on 30 July, enabling grid-connected renewable power projects to generate UN-backed carbon credits. This marks the first time such projects can issue credits under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, expanding its scope beyond landfill gas methane and nitric acid N2O. The methodology establishes qualification criteria, measurement protocols, and verification checks for emission reductions. This decision aims to support renewable energy deployment in countries facing financing barriers, aligning with global goals to triple renewable capacity by 2030. The Supervisory Body also updated registry procedures but deferred a decision on household cooking energy efficiency.
Sylvera has launched the Open Carbon Data Project, an initiative to generate open-access forest carbon data for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The Rockefeller Foundation and Meta provided a combined $900,000 in funding for the project. Sylvera partnered with the State University of Santa Cruz, World Resources Institute, and the Symbiosis Coalition to create a benchmark-grade forest carbon dataset. This data aims to improve measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) for forest carbon, lowering market participation barriers for smallholders and increasing investor confidence. The data will be released later this year under a CC BY 4.0 open license.
Puro.earth has issued the world's first permanent carbon dioxide removal certificate for a project integrating biochar production with high-efficiency biogas utilisation. Developed by Novocarbo and Reverion in Linden, Germany, the facility combines high-temperature pyrolysis with advanced fuel cell systems. This operational model captures and permanently stores biogenic carbon from both thermal pyrolysis of organic waste and electrochemical conversion of biogas. The combined system achieves a net-negative carbon footprint, demonstrating a scalable framework for bioenergy facilities to become multi-revenue carbon removal hubs.
Dr Ma Jun, Chairman of the China Green Finance Committee, urged the Malaysian state of Sabah to convert agricultural and forestry waste into industrial biochar for export. Speaking at the Sabah Asia-Pacific Impact Investing for Sustainable Development Summit 2026, Dr Ma highlighted Sabah's unmonetised natural resources and overreliance on volatile carbon credit markets. He recommended adopting Chinese biochar processing technologies and leveraging China's green finance ecosystem, including Green Panda Bonds, to fund capital expenditure. This initiative aims to establish a high-revenue export industry, generating billions of ringgit by producing high-value substitutes for coking coal and chemical fertilisers.
Avio Smart Market Stack Limited and ProClime Services Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding to commercialise biochar-based soil enhancement solutions across India. The partnership combines Avio's rural distribution network, spanning over 5,000 villages, with ProClime's expertise in biochar production and carbon project development. This initiative aims to address soil degradation and improve agricultural productivity while generating verified carbon credits for farmers. The collaboration will develop biochar-integrated fertiliser formulations and utilise sustainable feedstocks like bamboo and agricultural residues. Farmers are expected to benefit from increased yields and secondary income through global carbon markets.
Be Zero suggests that regulation from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) could enhance the voluntary carbon market's integrity and functionality. The organisation argues that ESMA's oversight, typically applied to financial markets, could bring much-needed standardisation and transparency to carbon credit trading. This regulatory framework could address current market fragmentation and foster greater investor confidence. Such a move would align the VCM more closely with established financial instruments, potentially increasing its scale and effectiveness in climate action.
Sylvera has launched the Open Carbon Data Project, an initiative to generate high-resolution, open-access forest carbon data across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, Meta, and others, the project aims to provide scientifically rigorous data for measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) in carbon markets. This dataset will improve the accuracy of forest carbon stock measurements and validate satellite-based monitoring models. The data will be released later this year under an open licence, accessible to developers, registries, policymakers, and researchers globally, aiming to lower barriers for smallholder projects and increase investor confidence.
Indian firm ProClime and Japan's Cadira Capital Management formed a partnership to mobilise an initial $10 million for biochar carbon removal projects in India. This investment will fund seven plants across six Indian states, converting waste biomass into biochar. The facilities are projected to generate approximately 35,000 carbon dioxide removal credits annually, certified under Puro.earth and Isometric. Cadira will manage capital formation, while ProClime will handle development, operations, and carbon credit origination. Raicho Capital advised on the partnership, aiming to scale permanent carbon removal and create local economic opportunities.
Verra has launched its rebuilt carbon credit registry, powered by S&P Global Energy, migrating over 5,900 projects, 10,500 account holders, and 1.4 billion credits. The new platform integrates with Verra's Project Hub, allowing users to track a project's full lifecycle from listing to retirement within a single interface. This upgrade aims to provide infrastructure for carbon markets at scale, with future phases planned to include API connectivity and enhanced Article 6 functionality. Verra stated there are no changes to core fees or account requirements for existing account holders.
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have launched a new research initiative to explore how carbon markets can finance climate adaptation in vulnerable countries. The programme aims to identify ways for these nations to use carbon credit markets to fund adaptation plans, addressing an estimated annual finance gap of USD 310–365 billion by 2035. Findings will inform GGGI's Carbon Transaction Facility Readiness programme and VCMI's Access Strategies Program, focusing on policy options and readiness gaps for host countries. The initiative seeks to unlock new capital streams, potentially generating up to USD 50 billion if carbon credits account for a fifth of nature-based resilience solutions.
Sylvera has released its first framework for 'superpollutant' carbon credits, specifically covering landfill methane (LFM) projects, in December 2025. This follows increased market attention on superpollutants, with registry Isometric expanding into these credits in October 2025 and the CCAC launching a Superpollutant Country Action Accelerator at COP30 in November 2025. Superpollutants, including methane, nitrous oxide, and F-gases, have a greater warming impact per tonne than carbon dioxide and are estimated to have driven around 45% of historic global warming. Methane, for example, is approximately 30 times more potent than CO₂ over 100 years, with its warming impact concentrated in the near term due to a shorter atmospheric lifespan. The framework aims to help buyers identify high-integrity superpollutant projects.
Sylvera has introduced a new ratings framework to assess the quality of Alternate Wetting & Drying (AWD) projects in the voluntary carbon market. The framework evaluates projects across four pillars: Carbon Accounting, Additionality, Permanence, and Safeguarding & Co-Benefits. Carbon Accounting, which assesses over-crediting risk, combines Project Reporting and Carbon Modelling, examining monitoring methods, baseline assumptions, and accounting boundaries. This initiative aims to help buyers confidently assess AWD projects, a fast-growing project type addressing methane emissions from rice cultivation.
Microsoft has finalised a 10-year offtake agreement with carbon removal developer Liferaft for one million biochar carbon removal units. Facilitated by Supercritical, this represents the largest US biochar transaction to date. The carbon credits will be generated from Liferaft's industrial production facilities in Iowa and Illinois. This agreement addresses historical challenges in scaling biochar deployment by establishing consistent, large-scale removal streams with robust monitoring, reporting, and verification standards.
Frontier Infrastructure Holdings partnered with Carbonfuture for a multi-year agreement covering 750,000 durable CO2 removal credits from Frontier's ethanol bioenergy carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) initiative, Project Sprint. This deal represents the largest ethanol BECCS carbon removal agreement announced to date. Carbonfuture will offer these credits, certified under Puro.earth's Geologically Stored Carbon Methodology, to corporate and institutional buyers. CO2 sequestration and initial credit deliveries are projected to begin in Q4 2027, utilising Frontier's CO2-by-rail platform to transport captured biogenic CO2 for permanent geological storage in Wyoming.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) published a report on 29 July 2026, detailing challenges in the oversight of Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs). The report, from its Continuous Improvement Work Program, identifies issues such as inconsistent oversight approaches, VVB shortages, and competency requirements for assessing safeguards. It concludes that strengthening oversight requires a system-wide approach involving accreditation bodies, carbon-crediting programmes, and market participants. The ICVCM proposes ten recommendations to improve VVB oversight and enhance confidence in validation and verification systems.
Amy Merrill, CEO of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), stated that governments in the UK, New Zealand, and the African Union are incorporating Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) eligibility into national policy. The ICVCM's 'double-tick' system assesses carbon crediting programmes at the governance level and individual methodologies on scientific merit. Credits passing both checks receive the CCP label, which has become a reference standard for high-integrity credits. National carbon crediting programmes are now also eligible for ICVCM assessment.
Puro.earth issued the first CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs) for permanent carbon sequestration from biogas production to Inherit Carbon Solutions. The project, at Norway's VEAS wastewater treatment plant, captures biogenic CO2 from anaerobic digestion. HoopCO2 operates the on-site capture unit, and Northern Lights JV transports and injects the liquefied CO2 into geological aquifers beneath the North Sea. The facility received over 700 CORCs for its initial four months of operation and expects to sequester up to 7,000 metric tons of biogenic CO2 annually. This establishes a commercial model for linking regional biogas facilities with geological storage for engineered carbon removals.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) updated its Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2.0, introducing Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) guidelines that recognise landscape interventions as valid Scope 3 decarbonisation measures. This update elevates insetting to a standardised carbon dioxide removal requirement for land-dependent industries. Corporations like Nestlé, Danone, and Mondelēz face challenges managing land-based Scope 3 emissions, as external carbon offsets do not fulfil near-term climate targets under SBTi Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) rules. Companies are deploying biochar for insetting, which sequesters carbon and enhances soil fertility, with examples including Exomad Green's field trials in Bolivia and Better Cotton's partnership with Planboo. This strategy helps companies meet SBTi carbon removal requirements and secure resilient supply chains ahead of the 2035 OER enforcement deadline.
Carbonmark has launched an online marketplace enabling individuals and small businesses to purchase and retire carbon credits. The platform allows fractional purchases from 1 kg (0.001 tonnes) and offers Stripe-powered checkout for various payment methods. This initiative aims to democratise access to the voluntary carbon market, which traditionally required brokers and large minimum orders. Retirements on Carbonmark are recorded on a public blockchain, providing tamper-proof certificates for verification.
A recent commentary explores how carbon markets can achieve success while simultaneously benefiting communities in the Global South. The article suggests that the foundational premise of carbon markets, which involves directing private finance to at-risk forests and rewarding protectors, remains valid. It highlights the role of forests in providing essential ecosystem services and capturing carbon. The piece argues that these markets can help companies address their emissions responsibilities.
A survey by the Carbon Business Council, Bellwether Research, and Intage found that 56% of Japanese adults support public and private investment in atmospheric carbon removal after being informed about the mechanisms. The study, conducted among 1,061 adults, highlighted low initial public awareness of national decarbonisation mechanisms, with 58% unfamiliar with the GX-ETS. When educated, 70% supported capturing carbon from industrial sources and 57% favoured joint government-private sector leadership in carbon removal. These findings suggest that clear communication can generate public backing for carbon removal technologies in Japan. The survey aims to inform the transition of Japan's GX emissions trading system towards mandatory compliance.
Agreena and Verra are collaborating to expand the AgreenaCarbon programme (Verra Project 4022), enabling thousands of European farmers to sequester soil carbon and earn carbon finance. The programme uses Verra's VCS Program and methodology VM0042 to quantify soil carbon accumulation across 4.5 million hectares in 20 markets. Agreena provides a framework for farmers to implement climate-smart practices, with up to 85% of carbon credit sales value returned directly to participating farms. This initiative aims to mitigate economic and physical barriers for farmers transitioning to regenerative agriculture, including those in Ukraine.
Verra launched its new registry platform on 27 July 2026, developed in partnership with S&P Global Energy. This upgrade involved migrating over 5,900 projects, 10,500 account holders, 1.4 billion credits, and 125,000 documents. The new system integrates with the Verra Project Hub, streamlining project tracking from listing to retirement within a single platform. Future updates will include transaction-ready API connectivity and enhanced Article 6 functionality.
Chinese industrial pyrolysis equipment manufacturer Beston Group joined the Rainbow Partner Program as an Industrial Pyrolysis Manufacturer. Rainbow vetted two of Beston’s biochar production units, the BST-50 continuous operation system and the BST-06Quicker mobile model, under its Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) V1.1 methodology. This integration provides an endorsed technology pathway for biochar carbon dioxide removal developers using the Rainbow Standard. Developers can select pre-evaluated equipment, reducing technical assessments and accelerating project timelines to carbon credit issuance. The BST-50 can produce over 5,400 tonnes of biochar annually, while the BST-06Quicker is a mobile unit for rapid site validation.
Sylvera has published a guide explaining Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), also known as commodity certificates, which separate the environmental benefit from a lower-carbon commodity for independent sale. This concept, already established with RECs and GOs, is expanding to hard-to-abate sectors like cement and steel. The guide highlights that ISO 22095-3 and SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2.0 (June 2026) support the use of EACs for Scope 3 targets via book-and-claim mechanisms. PepsiCo's May 2026 agreement with TalusAg for 30,000 tonnes of low-carbon ammonia EACs, with an option for 41,000 more, exemplifies their use as a catalytic investment tool. Quality factors for EACs include carbon intensity, additionality, and delivery risk, though a reliable quality-to-price correlation is not yet established.
The International Carbon Registry (iCR) has announced that all projects listed on its registry will now be required to have an independent MSCI quality rating and a Kita risk assessment. This initiative aims to provide buyers with consistent, defensible information on credit quality and risk, moving beyond self-assessment. MSCI will grade projects on a D-to-AAA scale across six criteria, while Kita will provide insurance-grade underwriting of potential risks. This integration ensures independent third-party evaluation for every project, enhancing market transparency and comparability.
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) published an article on 24 July 2026, detailing how high-integrity carbon credit markets can finance climate-resilient agriculture in Africa. The VCMI suggests carbon markets can support practices that sequester millions of tonnes of CO2 annually while building resilience for vulnerable communities. This approach is presented as a catalytic solution to the climate finance gap, provided it aligns with national policy priorities like the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The EU's Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF), adopted in December 2024, is cited as a precedent for certifying agricultural carbon removals, which could influence global investments.
The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) has released a new booklet, 'REDD and Carbon Projects: Communities on Alert', detailing the threats carbon projects pose to Indigenous Peoples and forest-dependent communities. The publication, an update to a 2012 booklet, argues that these projects fail to address climate change or deforestation, instead creating conflict and undermining food sovereignty. It provides background on carbon projects, outlines 11 'alerts' based on community experiences, and highlights actions communities have taken to oppose them. WRM asserts that carbon offsets allow corporations and governments to delay ending fossil fuel consumption while continuing polluting activities.
Sylvera has introduced a new framework to evaluate carbon projects focused on plugging orphan oil and gas (OOG) wells, which are a significant source of methane emissions. The framework assesses projects across four pillars: Carbon Accounting, Additionality, Permanence, and Safeguarding & Co-benefits, using a methodology-agnostic approach. OOG well-plugging projects aim to permanently seal abandoned wells that lack a solvent owner, stopping ongoing methane emissions. The voluntary carbon market has issued over 8.3 million credits from 80 registered OOG projects as of early 2026, with plugging costs ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per well. This framework addresses market complexities such as variable methane emissions, differing crediting methodologies, and questions surrounding plug permanence.
A new study from MIT Sloan School of Management analysed over 7,200 voluntary carbon market transactions between 2018 and 2024, representing 11% of the global secondary market by value. The research found that buyer identity accounted for 62% of price variation, with prices for the same volume of reductions ranging from cents to over $100 per tonne. The 20 largest buyers paid 16% to 23% less than other market participants, and financial services and consumer goods companies paid 9% to 22% more than industrial manufacturers. The study also noted that projects with lower climate effectiveness, such as forest protection, sold at two to four times the price of more reliable technologies like waste management.
The European Union has proposed integrating certified permanent carbon removals, including biochar, into its Emissions Trading System (ETS) starting in 2030. This regulatory shift aims to create compliance-driven demand for carbon removal solutions, moving them from voluntary markets into a legally binding framework. The proposal leverages the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF) to establish rigorous certification protocols for permanent storage. Industry experts, such as CarbonConnect GmbH, suggest this could significantly boost the commercial viability of hemp-derived biochar. If adopted, the framework will establish standardised market demand for certified permanent removal suppliers.
Puro.earth has certified a bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project at the VEAS wastewater treatment facility in Slemmestad, Norway, issuing over 700 CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs). Developed by Inherit Carbon Solutions, HoopCO2, and Northern Lights JV, this is the world's first verified project to capture biogenic CO2 from biogas production and permanently sequester it geologically. The certification covers the initial four months of operation, from February to May 2026, under Puro.earth's Geologically Stored Carbon methodology. The project aims to process up to 7,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually, offering verified carbon removal credits to buyers including Microsoft, DNV, and Nordea.
Carbonmark has launched an AI agent capable of autonomously discovering, pricing, and retiring carbon credits on the Base blockchain using the x402 endpoint. This agentic commerce system allows for machine-to-machine transactions, providing continuous price discovery and secure settlement in seconds. As of July 2026, the endpoint lists approximately 329,000 tonnes of on-chain liquidity, with prices ranging from $0.09 to $1,268 per tonne. This development aims to increase transparency, improve price discovery, and lower market entry barriers for carbon offsetting.
France's Label Bas Carbone (LBC) scheme, launched in 2018, has certified over 600 forestry and agriculture projects by 2026. The programme underwent significant reforms in 2025 to align with the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF). LBC credits, averaging €32 per tonne CO2e, are considered audit-ready for CSRD's ESRS E1 standard due to national oversight and a structured retirement mechanism. Notable projects include Reforest'Action, Terra Fertilis, France Valley's Carbon and Biodiversity Fund, ONF's reforestation portfolio, and France Carbon Agri Association.
Biochar Industrial Group (BIG) has launched its 'Biochar-as-a-Service' model, partnering with Releaf Earth in Nigeria to convert palm kernel shell waste into biochar. This collaboration, an initial commercial deployment, aims to transform agricultural residues into environmental and financial assets. BIG provided engineering oversight for the thermal conversion process and managed data documentation for carbon credit verification. The project generated verified carbon removal credits, which were sold to international technology companies, creating a new revenue stream from agricultural byproducts. This initiative addresses waste disposal challenges and establishes a carbon-rich soil amendment for regional agriculture.
More than three-quarters of over 1,500 legacy carbon projects seeking to transition from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) failed to secure host government approval by the June 30 deadline. China and India, hosts of two-thirds of the applicants, approved none of their projects, preventing over 900 million potentially outdated credits from entering the new market. Brazil, however, approved nearly all 92 of its projects, primarily hydropower, landfill gas, and wind farms. This outcome is seen by researchers as a positive development for the maturing carbon market, reducing 'hot air' from the previous system. Projects still require further documentation and final approval from the Article 6.4 Supervisory Body to issue credits.
Biochar Today has proposed a three-tier framework to classify biochar products, aiming to improve market clarity and carbon credit integrity. The framework categorises biochar based on documentation strength, feedstock identity, production records, intended application, and carbon credit eligibility. This system seeks to provide a common language for stakeholders to understand the quality and traceability of biochar products. It is intended to complement, rather than replace, existing certification systems and carbon accounting methodologies. The initiative addresses the increasing diversity of biochar products entering the market and their varying levels of transparency.
Nearly 300 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia received their first carbon payments, averaging 1,700 Ethiopian birr per farmer, through the ETH-Soil project. Coordinated by the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ) and funded by Germany's BMZ, the project uses Artisan C-Sink certificates for carbon sinks established by 2025. This initiative addresses land degradation and high synthetic input costs by utilising locally produced biochar-based fertilisers. The payout model ensures at least 60% of certificate revenues go directly to rural communities, with the remainder funding technical training and quality control. This marks a significant step for rural agricultural carbon finance in Ethiopia.
POSCO International and the International ESG Association (IESGA) signed an MoU on 23 June 2026 to evaluate biochar's carbon reduction potential in large-scale commercial agriculture. The joint initiative targets palm plantations operated by PT Prime Agri Resources Tbk in Indonesia, recently acquired by POSCO. Led by IESGA presidents Professor Yong Sik Ok and Professor Jay Hyuk Rhee, the project aims to establish field-level metrics for soil carbon storage. This research seeks to validate academic biochar applications on a massive commercial scale within the international agricultural sector. The project will establish a 'Carbon Mapping' system to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and baseline carbon levels, identifying optimal zones for biochar application from local agricultural by-products.