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.
The draft ISO 14060 net-zero standard requires companies to begin purchasing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits within five years of setting a net-zero target, scaling up to full counterbalancing of residual emissions. This contrasts with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) 2.0 standard, which only mandates CDR purchases from 2035, starting at 1% of emissions. Both standards specify durable, high-quality removals for residual emissions, with ISO requiring at least 100 years of storage and SBTi specifying 'long-lived' removals. The ISO standard integrates CDR procurement into transition plans from the outset, unlike SBTi's later-stage approach.
Peru's government has approved four additional Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodologies for use in its National Registry of Mitigation Measures (RENAMI). This allows projects certified under the VCS Programme using these methodologies to be registered in RENAMI. The newly approved methodologies are VM0038 for Electric Vehicle Charging Systems, VM0042 for Improved Agricultural Land Management, VM0044 for Biochar Utilization, and VMR0014 for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. This decision expands the types of VCS projects eligible for RENAMI, which tracks Peru's progress towards its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
BeZero Carbon announced on 25 June 2024 its acquisition of Cedar, a platform specialising in automating sustainability workflows. The acquisition aims to integrate Cedar's technology into BeZero Carbon Markets, expanding its self-service data and analytical tools for subscribers. Cedar's founding team, including CEO Farouq Ghandour, will join BeZero Carbon. This move is intended to provide users with more sophisticated due diligence tools and enhance access to insights and data for investment decisions.
The European Commission launched the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Buyers’ Club website, establishing a voluntary market platform to aggregate demand for permanent carbon removals, including biochar, DACCS, and BioCCS. This initiative aims to mobilise public and private capital and facilitate initial purchases of permanent carbon removals by December 2026. The platform addresses a financing gap and fragmented corporate demand that previously hindered pilot projects from reaching a Final Investment Decision. It will provide revenue certainty for suppliers and lower transaction costs by coordinating private investment and offering standardised tools. The Buyers' Club seeks to accelerate market uptake and deployment of these technologies across the EU.
A new study published in Nature Climate Change by researchers from Nanyang Technological University and the World Bank found that most forest carbon projects have 'mixed, negligible or negative impacts' on ecological integrity. Evaluating 133 projects against matched controls, the study used five ecological-integrity indicators. Only nine of 116 projects (8%) showed positive effects across all five indicators, while 19 projects (16%) exhibited 'poorer ecological conditions than the surrounding unprotected forests'. The findings suggest fundamental shortcomings in these climate solutions, often due to a carbon-centric design that prioritises carbon storage over ecological integrity.
KARBNZ Global is developing a natural capital platform across over 1.1 million hectares in Brazil, integrating afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) carbon credits, biomass production, and biochar carbon removal. This approach aims to create diversified revenue streams from a single operational footprint, addressing historical vulnerabilities of nature-based investments. The company will convert forestry residues and agricultural waste into biochar, valued at $300-$600 per tonne, and produce certified biomass pellets for energy markets. This strategy seeks to establish predictable operational revenue before ARR credits are finalised, enhancing project resilience and attracting institutional investment. The initiative aims to demonstrate that landscape-scale climate interventions can function as resilient, institutional-grade operating assets.
The Bonn climate conference saw proponents advocate for a 'learning by doing' approach to Article 6 carbon markets ahead of COP31. Carbon Market Watch criticised this approach, stating it poses risks for climate and society. While funding arrangements for Article 6 were the only official negotiation item, the broader discussion focused on implementing the mechanisms despite unresolved issues.
IETA has partnered with Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) to host its annual Asia Climate Summit (ACS) from 7-9 July in Hong Kong. The summit will address the fragmentation of Asia Pacific's carbon markets, which currently account for over 50% of global emissions. Discussions will focus on Article 6 implementation, CORSIA, carbon pricing, and market integrity to drive decarbonisation across the region. This collaboration aims to position Asia as a strategic hub for carbon market development, bringing together regulatory, financial, and market infrastructure expertise.
Bio360 Africa 2026, in partnership with the Southern African Biogas Industry Association (SABIA), convened stakeholders in Johannesburg to address challenges in scaling Africa's biochar sector. Discussions highlighted widespread data fragmentation and a lack of producer trust as key barriers to biochar technology adoption and carbon market integration among South African farmers. Industry leaders proposed deploying high-integrity measuring platforms and localised corporate partnerships, alongside transparent tracking programmes like Carbon Crop Rewards, to demystify compliance. These initiatives aim to provide verified quantification metrics meeting international standards, such as Puro.earth, to enhance financial sustainability and climate resilience for agribusinesses. The goal is to overcome operational uncertainty and facilitate the monetisation of high-integrity carbon removal credits.
A Nuffield Australia report, supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, indicates Australia risks falling behind in the global biochar market due to a lack of coordinated domestic incentives. The study identifies three farmer-led business models—medium-scale centralised systems, small-scale mobile units, and medium-scale cooperative frameworks—to overcome structural and financial barriers for Australian producers. Financial modelling suggests a medium-scale facility producing 1,000 tonnes of biochar annually could generate over AU$550,000 from carbon credits alone. The report advocates for integrating biochar into Australia's formal carbon credit frameworks to secure economic returns. This move aims to position Australian agriculture competitively against international investments in biochar.
The Government of Singapore, via the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), and the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) signed a Cooperation Agreement on 24 June 2026. This agreement aims to strengthen collaboration on developing credible, interoperable, and high-integrity carbon markets. The partnership will advance the work of the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets and promote high-integrity carbon market development in Asia through joint initiatives, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing. This move reflects increasing international efforts to build interconnected carbon markets and enhance confidence in high-integrity carbon credits.
Novo Nordisk has signed a 20-year partnership with re.green to restore 500 hectares of native forest in Paragominas, Pará, Brazil. This project aims to generate 87,000 carbon removal credits over its duration, with the first issuance expected in November 2031. The initiative will focus on natural regeneration and active planting, with periodic verifications every three years through 2045. Credits generated will be certified using ICVCM science-based methodologies.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has released a draft of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard (CNZS) 2.0, which proposes allowing environmental attribute certificates, including carbon credits, for scope 3 abatement up to 5% of a company's total emissions. This marks a shift from previous SBTi guidance that largely excluded carbon credits from abatement targets. The draft also introduces a 'beyond value chain mitigation' category, permitting carbon credit use for neutralising residual emissions and financing climate action. This development could significantly influence corporate climate strategies and the voluntary carbon market by providing a clearer, albeit limited, role for carbon credits in meeting net-zero targets.
Verra reinstated the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project, run by Northern Rangelands Trust, last week, despite a 2025 court ruling that two of the project's conservancies were unconstitutionally established. The project, which has sold over 6 million carbon credits, faced a previous suspension in 2023 and again in 2025. Indigenous Peoples accuse Northern Rangelands Trust of 'tricks and dishonest dealings' and coercion regarding land use agreements, stating the project lacks their free, prior, and informed consent. One of the legally challenged conservancies, Biliqo Bulesa, contributes approximately 20% of the project's carbon credits. Companies like Meta and Netflix have purchased credits from this project, which has generated an estimated US$42 million to US$90 million.
Climeworks Solutions, a subsidiary of Climeworks, secured 14 new carbon dioxide removal agreements in the first half of 2026, totalling approximately 450,000 tonnes of carbon removal. These multi-year contracts involve global corporations including Tapestry, NTT DATA, and TD Bank. The agreements utilise Climeworks' diversified carbon dioxide removal portfolio service, which combines direct air capture with external high-permanence methodologies like biochar, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and enhanced rock weathering. This aggregated procurement framework aims to address market fragmentation and provide predictable capital for early-stage removal technologies. The deals expand Climeworks Solutions' client base to over 200 multinational companies.
Carbonmark, a blockchain-powered carbon credit marketplace, announced a partnership with Satellites on Fire, a climate tech company specialising in early wildfire detection. This collaboration aims to integrate Satellites on Fire's real-time monitoring capabilities, using satellite data, tower cameras, and AI, into Carbonmark's infrastructure. The partnership seeks to enhance the integrity and permanence of forestry-based carbon projects by providing continuous, data-backed visibility into project conditions and enabling faster responses to wildfire risks. This initiative supports a shift towards more dynamic, data-informed carbon markets, where integrity is maintained throughout a project's lifecycle.
A new H1 2026 report from AlliedOffsets indicates a 4% year-on-year increase in carbon credit retirements to 104 million credits, despite a 44% decline in global issuances to 108.2 million credits. Biochar has emerged as the dominant carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway, accounting for 57% of all-time CDR issuances and 53% of permanent retirements. Cumulative CDR offtake agreements total 48.5 million tonnes, significantly outpacing the 2.65 million tonnes of actual credits issued since 2022. Corporate buyers are increasingly prioritising high-integrity removal pathways, with biochar delivering 1.58 million of the 2.75 million total CDR issuances to date. The market is also seeing a 64% year-on-year increase in Core Carbon Principles-approved credit issuances, reflecting a shift towards verified quality.
Frontier, an advance market commitment for carbon removal, has approved Puro.earth's Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) methodology for certifying carbon credits. This marks the second Puro.earth methodology recognised by Frontier, following the approval of its Geologically Stored Carbon methodology in 2024. The ERW 2025 methodology, developed with academic and industry experts, introduces updated requirements including two independent measurement methods and improved accounting for CO2 losses. This approval enables suppliers to use the framework for ERW credits within Frontier's commitment to purchase $1.8 billion of permanent carbon dioxide removal by 2040.
Brazil's state oil company Petrobras and national development bank BNDES selected Systemica, brCarbon, and re.green to supply 5 million carbon credits from Amazon forest restoration. This marks Brazil's first public auction for Amazon restoration credits, with contracts running for 25 years. Systemica and brCarbon secured 2 million tonne lots at $55.33 and $55.76 per tonne respectively, while re.green secured 1 million tonnes at $73.82 per tonne. The ProFloresta+ programme aims to mobilise R$450 million in planting investments and create 6,300 jobs. This initiative establishes a precedent for publicly disclosed carbon credit prices from ecological restoration in Brazil.
The Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets announced a new policy playbook at London Climate Action Week to guide national policies and market functions. The playbook aims to accelerate demand for high-integrity carbon credits among the Coalition's 11 country members. This initiative provides direction for investors, buyers, and other stakeholders to increase carbon credit purchases. The announcement comes as carbon credit markets show strong momentum in 2026, indicating movement towards maturity.
The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) has joined the Supporting Alliance for CORSIA Eligible Emissions Unit (EEU) Supply, an initiative coordinated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This alliance, now comprising 50 entities, aims to expand the supply of high-integrity emissions units for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). IETA will provide technical support to scale the market and strengthen supply, alongside new members including the governments of Guyana, Madagascar, the United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The initiative seeks to ensure the availability of high-quality emissions units to meet the aviation sector's growing demand under CORSIA.
Frontier, an advance market commitment for permanent carbon removal, has approved Puro.earth's Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) 2025 methodology. This approval allows Frontier suppliers to use the updated framework to certify ERW credits for existing procurement commitments. The methodology requires suppliers to combine two independent measurement methods and includes refined accounting for carbon losses and measurement uncertainty. This marks the second Puro.earth methodology accepted by Frontier, following its Geologically Stored Carbon framework in 2024. The decision aims to establish rigorous, scientifically verifiable delivery standards for engineered carbon dioxide removal pathways.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur) have validated biochar implementation to address agricultural waste burning and soil degradation. Field trials confirmed that converting agricultural waste into biochar can mitigate regional air pollution, which currently sees 9 to 10 million tonnes of CO2e released annually from crop residue burning. The application of biochar enhanced soil water-holding capacity by 10% to 25% and increased crop productivity by 10% to 30%. This initiative aims to provide scalable pyrolysis technologies, such as the KISAN kiln, for immediate rural deployment, diverting biomass from open-air combustion.
Mati Carbon delivered 492.4 tonnes of CO2 removal credits, becoming the first company to issue credits under Isometric's V1.2 Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) protocol. The credits originated from the Seoni and North Chhattisgarh projects, certified under the new, more rigorous standard. This delivery marks a significant milestone for the ERW sector, demonstrating the operationalisation of advanced methodologies for durable carbon removal. Mati Carbon, a grand prize winner of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition, focuses on ERW deployment in the Global South to enhance soil and farmer incomes. The company has also released a public tool to help stress-test ERW data, aiming to advance industry-wide analytical frameworks.
The Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets responded to the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) draft Net Zero Aligned Organizations Standard (ISO 14060). The draft standard outlines requirements for organisations developing, implementing, and reporting on net zero pathways, including emissions reduction targets and transition plans. The Coalition's response addresses the implications of this standard for corporate net zero strategies and the role of voluntary carbon markets. This development signals a move towards more standardised corporate net zero reporting.
Isometric, a London-based carbon removal certifier, raised $40 million in a Series A funding round led by AVP, with participation from existing investors and new personal investments. The company, founded in 2022, uses an AI-powered platform called Certify to verify carbon removal claims, having certified over 16 million tonnes to date. This new capital will fund the expansion of its AI certification technology beyond carbon markets into the broader industrial economy, targeting a $350 billion global certification market. Isometric aims to consolidate fragmented certification processes onto a single platform with a unified quality standard. The company holds accreditations from ICVCM, ICROA, and CORSIA.
The Integrity Council (ICVCM) launched the first module of a new guidance series on 22 June 2026, designed to help organisations navigate high-integrity carbon markets. This initial module provides an introduction to carbon markets and the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), explaining their operation and role in climate action. It aims to build a shared understanding for policymakers, businesses, and civil society organisations regarding high-integrity carbon credits. The ICVCM plans subsequent modules, with the next one tailored for governments and policymakers later this year, focusing on developing carbon market frameworks and utilising CCP-labelled credits for Article 6 cooperation.
PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara, an Indonesian state-owned plantation enterprise, is partnering with a South Korean consortium including Hwasung Tech-Win Co., Ltd. to convert palm oil processing waste into green energy and value-added materials. The collaboration aims to produce biopellets, biochar, carbon-based fertilisers, and biodiesel from Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB), which are currently underutilised. This initiative seeks to address the disposal challenges of agricultural waste in Indonesia's palm oil sector and establish frameworks for international carbon market credits. The project will integrate specialised biomass conversion technologies within Agrinas Palma’s existing infrastructure, converting problematic byproducts into marketable, carbon-stable end products. This move supports Indonesia’s decarbonisation targets and expands Agrinas Palma's revenue streams.
A new draft international standard, ISO/DIS 14060, for net zero aligned organisations was released for ballot on 17 June 2026, with comments open until September. This draft defines environmental commodity certificates (ECCs) as contractual instruments representing verifiable GHG attributes of low-carbon products or technology, explicitly excluding carbon credits. The standard outlines guardrails for ECC use, including subordination to the mitigation hierarchy and a requirement for organisations to explain why direct procurement of low-carbon products is not possible. This follows the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 in providing a defined role for such instruments, reinforcing the market's focus on additionality and integrity. It indicates a consistent direction across frameworks regarding the use and quality of environmental attribute certificates.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) released its Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, introducing the Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) framework to integrate carbon removal into corporate compliance. Effective 1 February 2027, this update shifts carbon removal from a voluntary ESG add-on to a formal requirement for thousands of companies. The OER framework establishes three voluntary recognition tiers for 'Climate Contributions' with financial benchmarks up to $80 per tonne of CO2e. Post-2035, larger corporations must cover an annually increasing percentage of emissions with verified, long-lived carbon removals, aiming for 100% neutralisation by their net-zero target year. SBTi is launching a Call for Evidence to evaluate permanence, which will determine if biochar credits can count towards mandatory quotas.
Climeworks Solutions, a subsidiary of Climeworks, secured 14 new carbon dioxide removal (CDR) partnerships in the first half of 2026, totalling approximately 450,000 tonnes of CO2 removal. These partnerships involve major global corporations with annual revenues exceeding $5 billion, including Tapestry, NTT DATA, and TD Bank. The deals utilise a diversified portfolio of CDR pathways, combining direct air capture with biochar, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, enhanced rock weathering, and afforestation, reforestation and revegetation. This expansion brings Climeworks Solutions' global client base to over 200 companies, building on a 100% delivery rate across its portfolios in 2025.
Verra has reinstated the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project (Verra Project 1468) after an independent review confirmed community support and governance arrangements. The project, operated by the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), was suspended in January 2025 following a Kenyan court ruling questioning its community governance. NRT conducted over 300 community consultations and a ratification vote by approximately 1,500 community members, assessed by an independent verification body, to demonstrate compliance with Verra's standards. This process, which included community registration and election of governance structures, allowed the project to return to active status on the Verra registry. Future verifications will continue to monitor compliance with ongoing legal proceedings related to the initial court ruling.
Verra has reinstated the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project (Verra Project 1468) following a community ratification process affirming participation. The project was previously placed under quality control review in January 2025 due to a court ruling questioning the establishment of the Biliqo Bulesa Conservancy on unregistered community land. The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), the project proponent, undertook an independently assessed process to confirm community governance and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) under Kenya’s Community Land Act. This process included community registration, elected governance structures, consultations, and a ratification vote involving approximately 1,500 community members. Verra accepted the validation/verification body's assessment that the project now meets applicable requirements.
Frontier, a carbon removal purchasing coalition, secured an additional $915 million in capital commitments from technology companies including Google, Anthropic, and Salesforce. This new funding increases Frontier's total capital pool to $1.8 billion, designated for Advance Market Commitments in engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The coalition will use the capital to fund long-term offtake agreements, lasting eight to ten years, with 10 to 15 vetted CDR enterprises. This initiative aims to reduce demand risk for early-stage CDR technologies and support their path to scalability by guaranteeing future demand.
The NARA Climate Community Biochar Project, a joint venture involving NARA Climate, Criou Energy Ltd., and Planboo, issued and sold its first 144 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits. These credits, verified as C-Sinks on the Carbon Standards International (CSI) registry, were generated from a refugee-led biochar initiative in Kenya's Turkana region. The project uses invasive Prosopis juliflora as feedstock to produce biochar, which improves saline soils and creates employment. This marks the world's first refugee-led carbon project, with all initial credits already purchased by international buyers.
The NARA Climate Community Biochar Project, located in Kenya's Turkana region, issued and sold its first 144 tCO2e of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits. These credits, verified and issued as C-Sinks on the Carbon Standards International (CSI) registry, were generated from biochar produced using the invasive Prosopis juliflora shrub. The project, a joint venture between NARA Climate, Criou Energy Ltd., and Planboo, is described as the world's first refugee-led carbon project. It provides approximately 123 jobs across five community cooperatives and aims to improve food security and income opportunities in the arid region.
Seventy-two organisations have called on the Livelihoods Funds and its investor Danone to cease trading carbon credits from a mangrove restoration project in Aceh, Indonesia. The project, registered with Verra in April 2020, has operated since 2011, aiming to restore over 5,000 hectares of degraded mangrove forests. Critics allege the project, which intends to generate 124,706.67 tonnes of CO2e, severely impacts Indigenous peoples and their autonomous protection of forests. The Livelihoods Funds project is considered a significant blue carbon initiative, especially following a 2025 agreement between Verra and the Indonesian government to integrate local projects into the global carbon market.