Verra announced the full operationalisation of its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Version 5 on 9 June 2026, with the release of updated templates and guidance documents. This update allows all project proponents to begin using VCS Version 5, which was initially launched in December 2025. The new release includes standalone templates for stakeholder engagement plans and ESG risk assessments, alongside comprehensive guidance on right to operate, sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, and safeguards. These changes aim to improve usability and accessibility for project proponents and validation/verification bodies, supporting the integrity and scalability of the VCS programme.
Oman's Muscat Municipal Council and Net-Zero Centre have established a national emissions framework, including the 'Meezan' platform, to track and verify carbon emissions. This initiative, presented by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, aims to coordinate multi-sectoral emissions reduction pathways and align with Oman Vision 2040. The framework addresses the previous lack of a unified regulatory system, which hindered international investment and compliance monitoring. By standardising industrial carbon data and creating clear regulations for domestic carbon markets, Oman seeks to attract foreign capital and integrate carbon removal technologies. This move is intended to position Oman as a global partner in sustainable development and meet its 2050 net-zero target.
The UN's carbon market has approved its first two cookstove projects, which Carbon Market Watch claims significantly overestimate their climate impact. This follows a 2025 analysis by Carbon Market Watch on Clean Development Mechanism Programme of Activities 10415, indicating persistent overcrediting issues. The organisation states that these approvals occur despite ongoing efforts to curb such overestimations. The projects are the first of their kind to be approved under the UN's carbon market.
The Green Finance Institute (GFI) has facilitated a £1 million commercial loan from Oxbury Bank to UK biochar developer Restord, marking the first commercial bank debt for a British carbon removal enterprise. This financing, part of GFI's Carbon Dioxide Removal Catalyst initiative, integrates a forward purchase of carbon credits by Terraset to provide revenue certainty. The deal also involves a localised supply chain with The Green Waste Company and Woodtek Engineering. This structured transaction aims to provide a blueprint for scaling the UK's biochar sector by addressing the 'commercialisation gap' and enabling Restord to remove approximately 2,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
The Livelihoods’ Mangrove Restoration project in Senegal, which has sold nearly 500,000 carbon credits, faces scrutiny over potential over-crediting and minimal community benefits. A 2017 verification report noted 25% tree cover loss in sample plots, impacting emission reduction calculations, and a subsequent 2021 report confirmed no replanting with recommended species. Critics highlight that a 2020 study found 96% of mangrove regeneration in the area was spontaneous, suggesting over-crediting, and only 5.2% of the project budget reached local communities. BeZero rated the project 'BBB' due to non-permanence and over-crediting risks, specifically citing potential overestimation of soil carbon.
Climeworks Solutions signed a ten-year agreement to supply Toronto-Dominion Bank with a diversified portfolio of carbon removal credits. The agreement marks TD Bank as Climeworks Solutions' first Canadian financial services customer. The portfolio will include biochar, enhanced rock weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and future direct air capture credits from North American projects. Climeworks Solutions will manage project sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio optimisation, aiming to mitigate delivery and methodology risks for the bank. This contract provides TD Bank with a reliable stream of high-integrity removal credits and supports Climeworks Solutions' infrastructure expansion in Canada.
JPMorganChase expanded its partnership with Charm Industrial, purchasing 61,500 tonnes of carbon removal credits for multi-year delivery. This new deal brings JPMorganChase's total CDR purchases from Charm Industrial to 90,000 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent, making it one of the largest bilateral bio-oil carbon removal offtakes. Additionally, JPMorganChase provided a $20 million venture debt facility to support Charm Industrial's commercial growth in Colorado, specifically for its pyrolysis and injection operations. The capital will aid in processing forest residues from wildfire mitigation projects and foster rural economic development. Charm Industrial specialises in permanent carbon removal via bio-oil injection and biochar.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched the Supporting Alliance for CORSIA EEU Supply, a coalition of over 32 members, to address a shortage of carbon credits for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The alliance aims to make 225 to 250 million CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units (EEUs) available by spring 2027. This initiative responds to bottlenecks in the authorisation process under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, which requires host country approval for credit transfers. IATA warns that billions of dollars in climate finance are at risk if these bottlenecks persist. The alliance will offer pro bono technical support to host countries to facilitate their Paris Agreement obligations.
Carbon Direct, Microsoft, and Stripe have published 'Sustainable Agricultural Biomass Sourcing for CDR: A Buyer’s Guide' to standardise diligence for agricultural residue feedstocks. The framework, developed in the United States but globally applicable, provides criteria for commercial buyers and project developers. It addresses ecological, social, and economic risks from mismanaged biomass sourcing as the carbon removal market expands. The guide mandates feedstock traceability, community and worker protection, soil and environmental safeguards, and market integrity mechanisms. This initiative aims to provide immediate, actionable standards for high-durability carbon removal, enabling credible scaling across diverse jurisdictions.
Puro.earth submitted an application to the European Commission to become a recognised certification scheme under the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF) on 6 June 2026. The new Puro.earth CRCF Programme will operate alongside its existing Puro Standard and CCS+ Programme. This initiative aims to provide commercial infrastructure for European project developers to issue officially recognised CRCF Certified Units. The platform made technical amendments to its Puro Standard General Rules (v4.3) and Geologically Stored Carbon methodology to align with EU Commission requirements. This move seeks to integrate durable carbon removal credits into European compliance mechanisms.
JPMorgan Chase has signed a second agreement with Charm Industrial to purchase 61,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits, bringing its total commitment with the developer to 90,000 tonnes. The financial institution also extended a $20 million venture debt facility to support Charm Industrial's operational expansion. This deal aims to address the deficit of high-quality credits and institutional capital in the voluntary carbon market. Charm Industrial converts biomass into bio-oil for permanent underground sequestration, and the debt facility will fund the deployment of processing machinery, including for wildfire mitigation in Colorado. This expanded agreement establishes a replicable financing mechanism, providing immediate operational liquidity for scaling biomass processing infrastructure.
India-based climate infrastructure company Equilibrium has finalised a multi-year agreement with CO2 removal financier Altitude for 180,000 tonnes of biochar carbon dioxide removal (CDR). This represents one of India's largest long-term biochar offtake arrangements, expanding the country's role in the global carbon removal market. Altitude will provide capital to support the production and delivery of these credits, enabling Equilibrium to accelerate infrastructure deployment and expand its multi-site development strategy across agricultural regions. The initiative aims to convert agricultural residues into stable carbon matrices, addressing declining soil organic carbon and reducing reliance on synthetic inputs in India's agricultural sector. This agreement validates Equilibrium's waste-to-value model and promotes farmer-led adoption of enriched carbon applications.
Enable Earth and RegenSoil have partnered to convert agricultural waste into carbon products and credits in Thailand. Enable Earth processes animal feed corn waste into solid carbon matrices, international carbon credits, and industrial green heat. This initiative aims to establish a commercial-scale circular economy model in Southeast Asia, addressing the historical lack of practical application for pyrolytic carbon sequestration technologies in the region. The company generates revenue from agricultural sales, carbon credit monetisation, and green heat distribution, with corporate partners using pyrolytic off-gas to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Carbon analytics firm Sylvera reports that only 47 million tonnes of carbon credits currently meet all requirements for the first phase of CORSIA, despite a potential supply of 640 million tonnes. This shortfall, impacting an estimated $2-5 billion compliance market, stems from host countries' failure to formally authorise credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Even with likely authorisations, the accessible pool of 118 million tonnes remains significantly below the 174.5 million tonnes of expected demand for CORSIA Phase 1. Sylvera attributes this to a market standoff where buyers delay purchases due to supply uncertainty, and host governments are reluctant to issue authorisations at current price levels.
The EU Commission is mandated to review the environmental effectiveness of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by July 2026. This review may lead to the EU imposing additional supply criteria for CORSIA-eligible credits beyond those set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Such a move could significantly impact the existing CORSIA supply base and the broader carbon market. The potential changes represent a major political hurdle for CORSIA, which has experienced several turbulent years.
Sylvera has identified over 21 mechanisms for producers to monetise investments in decarbonisation, including compliance schemes, voluntary markets, environmental attribute certificates, green premiums, and tax incentives. The firm notes that carbon intensity calculations vary across schemes like CBAM, EU ETS, RFNBO, and LCFS, affecting eligibility and potential earnings. Sylvera states that the financial value of each pathway changes over time, complicating investment decisions for producers. This complexity can lead producers to undervalue their low-carbon products or delay decarbonisation efforts. The analysis aims to help producers navigate these options to maximise returns on their decarbonisation investments.
Sylvera has outlined the types of carbon credit insurance available, distinguishing it from buffer pools. This insurance covers risks such as reversal, invalidation, and delivery/performance failures, addressing concerns for buyers, investors, and developers. Reversal risk is particularly relevant for nature-based solutions, while invalidation risk covers credits retroactively deemed invalid by registries due to errors or fraud. Delivery and performance risk addresses non-delivery in pre-issuance offtake agreements. The insurance does not cover market price risk, regulatory changes, or reputational damage.
Sylvera has published an analysis on 'green cement', defining it as carbon-differentiated cement with significantly lower carbon intensity than conventional Portland cement. The report highlights that cement production, at 4 billion tonnes annually, contributes substantially to global emissions, with 60% from calcination and 40% from fuel combustion. Decarbonisation methods include clinker substitution using supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash or calcined clay, and carbon capture technologies. The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will create financial incentives for lower-carbon cement from 2026, while companies like Microsoft and Meta are already sourcing low-carbon cement for construction projects.
TSE Group, in collaboration with Carbon Standards International (CSI) and the International Biochar Initiative (IBI), announced a pilot initiative to convert palm oil agricultural residues into biochar in Indonesia and Malaysia. The project, to be detailed at the Biochar Summit 2026, aims to establish scalable biochar systems using a continuous-operation pyrolysis kiln optimised for high-moisture tropical feedstocks. This initiative addresses the 140 million metric tonnes of unutilised biomass residues annually, which are typically discarded or openly burned, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. By integrating CSI's industrial carbon standards, the programme seeks to verify the stability and quality of the biochar, with a maximum potential to yield 32 million metric tonnes of durable carbon dioxide removal annually.
Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL) has commissioned an industrial-scale biochar facility in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, with an annual production capacity of approximately 20,000 tonnes. The plant processes over 50 metric tonnes of agricultural and fruit processing residue daily, aiming to integrate carbon dioxide removal and circular manufacturing into agricultural systems. This initiative addresses inefficiencies in traditional agricultural waste management, such as open burning, and seeks to improve soil fertility while reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers. JISL's shares rose by 13.4 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange following the announcement. The company plans to develop multiple additional reactors.
Alt Carbon has issued 9,566 tonnes of verified carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits from Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), becoming the largest ERW credit issuer by volume. These credits were delivered to buyers including Stripe, Google, Shopify, and Match Group via Watershed, as well as CEEZER, South Pole, and NextGen. The credits, independently verified and issued on the Isometric Registry, cover multiple crop types and geographies in India. This issuance confirms ERW's growing acceptance as a scalable, high-integrity CDR method.
Deep Sky and TD Bank Group have signed a ten-year agreement for the purchase of over 18,000 verified direct air capture (DAC) carbon removal credits. TD Bank will receive credits generated from Deep Sky's Canadian DAC facilities, with third-party verification ensuring the integrity of the removals. This deal supports Canada's emerging carbon removal sector and reflects growing corporate demand for engineered, permanent carbon dioxide removal solutions. The partnership demonstrates increasing confidence in long-term carbon removal procurement to address residual emissions.
India-based climate infrastructure company Equilibrium has signed a multi-year agreement with CO2 removal financier Altitude for 180,000 tonnes of biochar carbon dioxide removal (CDR). This deal supports Equilibrium's expansion of biochar facilities across India, leveraging the country's agricultural residue. Altitude's investment aims to scale CDR infrastructure and support high-quality projects globally. The agreement is one of India's largest long-term biochar offtake deals, positioning the country as a significant biochar scaling hub.
The City of Stockholm has signed an agreement to purchase 750,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) over 15 years from Stockholm Exergi's new BECCS facility. This commitment, equating to 50,000 tonnes annually, makes Stockholm the world's fifth-largest buyer of permanent carbon removal. The captured CO2 will be stored at the Northern Lights Facility in Norway. This public procurement demonstrates a model for cities to integrate CDR into climate strategies and provide a sustained demand signal for the nascent carbon removal market.
Verra published VMR0018, a minor revision to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology AMS-III.Y. for methane avoidance through solids separation from wastewater or manure. The update allows separated solids from animal manure for bedding and includes quantification procedures for biofiltration systems, expanding the methodology's scope. It also mandates the use of VCS tools VT0009 and VT0008 for baseline and additionality assessments. AMS-III.Y. will be inactivated as a standalone methodology in the VCS Programme from 1 July 2027, requiring new projects to apply VMR0018. Registered projects under AMS-III.Y. or VMR0003 must update to an active version of VMR0018 at their next crediting period renewal after this date.
A study published in Communications Sustainability found that biochar carbon credit prices increase by 0.143% for every 1% rise in associated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) claims. Researchers analysed 171 transactions up to 2024 using a hedonic pricing model, revealing that buyers pay a premium for co-benefits. Credits linked to three SDGs were approximately 6% more expensive than those with two, equating to over ten dollars per tonne of CO2e. Economic claims generated the highest premium, leading to a 23.9% price increase per additional claim, while environmental claims were associated with a 6.2% price discount.
Sylvera data indicates that while 640 million tonnes of carbon credits are theoretically eligible for CORSIA Phase 1 compliance, only 47 million tonnes currently meet all requirements due to slow host country authorisations. This bottleneck leaves an estimated $2-5 billion in compliance spend at risk, despite a Phase 1 demand of 174.5 million tonnes. Even with optimistic projections, accessible supply reaches only 118 million tonnes, falling short of demand. Sylvera has launched an 'Article 6 & CORSIA Hub' to track supply, demand, and sovereign risk, aiming to address this market dislocation.
Graphyte announced that Sumitomo Corporation has acquired an equity stake in its Loblolly carbon removal project in Arkansas, marking one of the first project-level financings for a durable carbon removal facility. Concurrently, NYK Group agreed to purchase carbon removal credits generated by Graphyte's Carbon Casting technology. The Loblolly facility has issued over 15,000 durable carbon removal credits and aims to increase annual production to 50,000 credits. This investment model could facilitate future capital for carbon removal infrastructure, and the credit purchase reflects growing corporate interest in durable solutions for residual emissions.
The third edition of the 'State of Carbon Dioxide Removal' assessment reports that novel carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is growing at approximately 40% annually, reaching 0.002 GtCO2 per year. The report notes that while overall climate technology investments have slowed, funding for CDR companies has remained resilient, despite more fragile future demand expectations. It highlights a continuing gap between CDR levels in country pledges and those required for Paris-compatible pathways. The assessment explores current removal levels, voluntary CDR demand, policy, and costs, emphasising the need for a diverse portfolio of approaches.
The Argentine province of Misiones has become the first subnational authority to receive certification under Verra’s Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework. The certification covers three million hectares of Atlantic Forest and logged approximately 13.1 million metric tonnes of verified CO2 reductions between 2017 and 2022. This programme is the first worldwide to achieve certification under Scenario 2 of Verra’s framework, allowing governments to generate credits for forested areas not covered by individual projects. Verra expects this model to accelerate similar programmes in other countries, demonstrating how public policy and carbon markets can collaborate for climate action.
Puro.earth has introduced a Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) programme to certify eligible carbon credits under the European Commission's CRCF Regulation. The programme, which will operate alongside Puro.earth's existing Puro Standard and CCS+ programmes, aims to enable engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR) suppliers to issue CRCF credits once approved. Puro.earth applied to be recognised as a certification scheme under the CRCF Regulation following an EU Commission webinar on 1 June. This initiative targets EU-based project developers in bioCCS, DACCS, and biochar carbon removal, as well as international companies with European emissions. The CRCF programme will operationalise methodologies developed by the European Commission, providing certification infrastructure and registry services.
Patrick Greenfield, a biodiversity reporter for The Guardian, revisited the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in Kenya, the first Verra-registered REDD+ initiative, two years after his investigative reporting on carbon credit integrity. He found that long-promised community funding was no longer arriving due to collapsed carbon prices and a shift from VM7 to VM48 methodologies, impacting conservation efforts. Greenfield suggests that the voluntary carbon market's 'demand collapse' narrative is 'self-pitying', arguing that misallocated capital, rather than media criticism, was the core issue. He also noted that established market participants continue to dominate discussions on the market's future.
Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey Sustainability have launched Frontier, an advance market commitment (AMC) to purchase $1 billion of permanent carbon removal over nine years. This initiative aims to accelerate the development of carbon removal technologies by guaranteeing future demand. Frontier will facilitate prepurchase agreements for early-stage suppliers and offtake agreements for growth-stage suppliers, prioritising technologies with long-term potential for permanence, low cost at scale, and significant capacity. This marks the first application of the AMC model, previously used for vaccine development, to carbon removal at scale.
Frontier, an advance market commitment launched by Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey Sustainability, has facilitated its first carbon removal purchases for Stripe. Stripe will spend $2.4 million buying carbon removal from six companies: AspiraDAC, Calcite-Origen, Lithos Carbon, RepAir, Travertine, and Living Carbon. An additional $5.4 million is contingent on these projects reaching agreed technical milestones. Prices for these removals range from $500 to $1,800 per tonne of carbon removed, with Frontier acting as the first customer for all six early-stage technology projects.
Frontier, a carbon removal buyer, has published a framework to help early buyers quantify carbon removal deliveries. The framework addresses challenges in measuring removed carbon across nascent technologies like direct air capture and enhanced weathering. It aims to provide a systematic approach for assessing removal confidence, balancing cost, scale, and uncertainty. Frontier collaborated with CarbonPlan to map quantification confidence and uncertainty across six carbon removal pathways within its portfolio. This initiative seeks to standardise quantification in a market currently lacking formal protocols.
Frontier has facilitated $11M in carbon removal purchases from seven companies on behalf of Stripe and Shopify, marking its largest purchase round to date. The purchases include technologies from Arbor, Captura, Arca, Carbon To Stone, Cella, CREW, and InPlanet, with $7.5M contingent on technical milestones. Stripe also provided $500K in R&D grants to Kodama Systems and Nitricity. This round saw increased diversity in carbon removal approaches, including direct ocean capture and enhanced weathering in tropical soils. The transactions reflect growing corporate investment in diverse carbon dioxide removal pathways.
Autodesk, H&M Group, JPMorgan Chase, and Workday have joined Frontier, committing to purchase a combined $100 million of permanent carbon removal by 2030. This addition brings Frontier's total advance market commitment to over $1 billion since its launch in April 2022. The new commitments will facilitate multiyear offtake agreements, enabling more mature carbon removal suppliers to secure financing for scaling operations. Frontier has now facilitated purchases from 15 carbon removal startups across eight technological pathways.
Frontier has facilitated its first set of carbon removal offtake agreements, totalling $53 million, with Charm Industrial. The agreements cover the removal of 112,000 tonnes of CO₂ between 2024 and 2030 through Charm's biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) process. Buyers, including Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, and Meta, will pay a per-tonne price designed to decline by at least 37% by 2030. These offtake agreements provide Charm Industrial with guaranteed future demand, aiding its scaling efforts in permanent carbon removal.
Frontier facilitated $7 million in carbon removal purchases from 12 companies on behalf of buyers Stripe, Shopify, and H&M Group. This third round of purchases includes solutions from companies like Airhive, Alkali Earth, and Banyu Carbon, spanning 14 distinct carbon removal approaches. The selected companies, headquartered in five countries, project a collective removal of over 500,000 tonnes of CO2 annually by 2026. Stripe also provided an additional $700,000 in R&D grants to four other carbon removal start-ups.
Frontier has facilitated $46.6 million in direct air capture (DAC) offtake agreements with CarbonCapture Inc. and Heirloom, totalling 72,400 tonnes of CO₂ removal. Buyers will pay CarbonCapture $20.0 million for 45,500 tonnes by 2028 and Heirloom $26.6 million for 26,900 tonnes by 2030, with options for future purchases at lower prices. This initiative involves Frontier Founding Members such as Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey Sustainability, alongside other corporate buyers. The agreements include costs for measurement, reporting, and verification, with prices expected to decline significantly over time.