11th Week CCM 2026. Sovereign assets, governments taking over carbon markets, stricter methodologies, ETS and California inspire Brazil, signs of global warming intensify
- Art Dam
- 51 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Monday, 16 March 2026.
11th Week Carbon Credit Markets in 2026.
Increasingly transparent, sovereign, and rigorous carbon credit markets: global frameworks like Japan's IGES organize Article 6 data and enhance international comparability; countries are beginning to treat credits as sovereign assets, creating their own infrastructure and using them as economic and diplomatic instruments; consolidated experiences, such as the European ETS and the California market, demonstrate real economic gains and inspire Brazil's progress towards a regulated market; and more robust standards, such as Cercarbono's REDD+ V3.1 Methodology, reinforce credibility by requiring official data, avoiding double counting, and protecting communities.
Other recent highlights reinforce signs of accelerating global warming and its impacts: a study published in Nature indicates that the planet is warming at 0.35°C per decade, a rate almost twice that observed in the 1970s; Greenland recorded its hottest January on record, with temperatures up to 7.8°C above normal; analyses by The Nature Conservancy show that tropical and subtropical regions are already facing extreme heat that is physically dangerous for everyday activities; and Climate TRACE reports that global emissions reached a new record in 2025, with a significant increase in methane. In the field of public policy, UN Climate Change opened contributions to the COP30 Roadmaps, while in São Paulo, Brazil, a new simulator promises more transparency and predictability in environmental licensing. For those seeking opportunities, the Science Careers platform brings together hundreds of international vacancies in science and technology.
We have also listed several unmissable events.
More details below and - if you like - listening to "Carbon’s Shifting Fast"
Carbon Credits
IGES launches a global database of carbon market projects to guide Article 6 implementation
The A6ISR 2025 Global Carbon Market Project Database, developed by the Japan‑based Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), compiles detailed data on carbon market projects worldwide and supports the Article 6 Implementation Status Report (A6ISR), which tracks progress on implementing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The platform consolidates information on Article 6.2 bilateral cooperation, Article 6.4 transition pathways, and independent standards, strengthening transparency, comparability, and decision‑making at a crucial moment for global climate governance. Access it via the link or directly through the Excel file below.
Carbon credits are becoming sovereign assets — and Sovereign Carbon Infrastructure‑as‑a‑Service is emerging
This idea of sovereign assets reflects the fact that governments are taking on a central role in authorizing and commercializing these credits, using them as instruments of foreign policy, climate finance, and international negotiation, while building markets that are more robust, transparent, and aligned with national mitigation goals. This shift includes the creation of national carbon‑registry infrastructures, treated as sovereign systems capable of converting natural resources into assets and positioning countries within the growing field of natural‑capital markets.
In fact, this trend has been visible for some time, as highlighted in the 2022 white paper released by the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and Deutsche Bank, “UNFCCC REDD+ and the power of sovereign carbon”, which presents sovereign carbon credits as a new class of institutional assets designed to mobilize capital to combat large‑scale deforestation.
There are also ongoing discussions about carbon‑registry infrastructures as systems that allow countries — in a sovereign manner — to transform natural resources into assets and participate in an emerging climate market. A recent partnership announced in the United States illustrates this movement, formed to deliver Sovereign Carbon Infrastructure‑as‑a‑Service (SCIaaS).
Brazil projects gains from the carbon market after decades of international experience
The projection presented by the Ministry of Finance, in partnership with the World Bank, indicates that progress in decarbonization and the implementation of a regulated carbon market in Brazil is expected to play an increasingly important role in the country’s economic dynamics, driving investment decisions, competitiveness, and productive modernization. The study reinforces that the transition to a low‑emission economy will be central to national development and to Brazil’s integration into global value chains that demand climate metrics and verified environmental performance.
It is also worth highlighting the global context, marked by more than 20 years of operation of the European ETS (Emissions Trading System), created in 2005, through which emissions from covered sectors have fallen by about 50% and are on track to reach 62% by 2030, while generating significant revenues — more than €250 billion since its creation — that finance clean‑energy and modernization projects across Europe.
Another global reference demonstrating the economic potential of decarbonization through emissions‑trading systems is the market established about 10 years ago in California, United States.
Cercarbono tightens rules and strengthens REDD+ credibility with the new V3.1 Methodology
The REDD+ V3.1 Methodology from Cercarbono establishes stricter standards to reinforce credibility, transparency, and accountability in forest carbon markets, requiring that baselines follow official data reported by governments to the UNFCCC, eliminating double counting through exclusive spatial boundaries, and guaranteeing community rights with mandatory requirements for consent, participation, and independent verification. Without changing the mechanism’s scope, the update ensures continuity for previous credits and guides new projects in a context of increasing global scrutiny.
Others Brief Highlights
New study “An acceleration of global warming since 2015” reported on March 6 by Nature, indicates that global warming is accelerating — heating at a rate of about 0.35 °C per decade — nearly doubling the pace observed in the 1970s. The full article helps readers understand both the findings and the methodological critiques raised by experts.
The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) reported that Greenland’s west coast recorded the warmest January ever observed, with the capital Nuuk reaching an average of 0.1 °C — that is, 7.8 °C above normal — breaking a 109‑year record.
The article “Unliveable Earth: Daily Life Is Becoming More Dangerous as Planet Heats Up” (The Nature Conservancy) shows that tropical and subtropical regions — especially South and Southwest Asia, including the Gulf States — are already facing a critical situation in which extreme heat makes even light outdoor activities physically unsafe.
Climate TRACE, a global coalition that monitors emissions in near real time, reported that global greenhouse gas emissions reached a new record in 2025, inviting the public to explore the full analysis on its website, which details a 0.5% increase in total emissions and a historic surge in methane emissions.
UN Climate Change opened calls in March 2026 for contributions to the two COP30 Presidency Roadmaps — on the transition away from fossil fuels and on achieving zero deforestation by 2030 — and invites interested parties to submit their inputs by March 31, with further details available at the official link.
Environmental Licensing Fee Simulator in São Paulo, Brazil. Fiesp, Ciesp, and Cetesb recently signed an agreement that reduces costs and redefines timelines for environmental licensing, bringing greater transparency and predictabilityto the process.
The Science Careers platform brings together hundreds of international job openings in fields such as biomedicine, chemistry, engineering, computing, life sciences, and physics, and also offers career tools and access to leading employers.
Events
🇮🇹 March 17 - 19, 3rd European Carbon Farming Summit. Padova Congress, Itália.
🇵🇾 March 25 & 26, Paraguay Carbon Forum, Asunción, Paraguay
🇧🇷 March 26, Fórum Crea - SP - Visão ESG: O Papel da Engenharia na Resiliência dos Negócios. São Paulo, Brasil
📅 April 29, Verra’s April 2026 Stakeholder Update Webinar
🇨🇴🇳🇱April 28 - 29, First International Conference on Phasing Out Fossil Fuels, by the Governments of Colombia and the Netherlands. In the city of Santa Marta, Colombia.
🇧🇷 May 13-14, Fórum CCS Brasil. British Consulate-General São Paulo, Brazil.
🇦🇺 May 20 - 21, Carbon Farming Industry Forum 2026. Freemantle, Australia
🇸🇬 May 20–22, Innovate4Climate (I4C) 2026. In Singapore
🇪🇸 May 21-22, 13th Meeting of the Roundtable on Financing Water. OECD, Bank of Spain (Banco de España), CDP and the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)
🇵🇪 May 27 & 28, Peru Carbon Forum 2026, 3ra edición, ESAN, Lima, Peru
Between COP30 and COP31, when governments, financial leaders and implementers stop negotiating text and start building the concrete mechanisms that actually deliver results.
🇰🇷🇺🇳April 21 - 25, Climate Week 1, Yeosu, Republic of Korea.
🇦🇿🇺🇳 October 5 - 9, Climate Week 2, Baku, Azerbaijan
🇧🇷 August 27th and 28th, Brazilian Climate and Carbon Conference, Brazil NBS Alliance
Carbon Credit Markets is an educational channel and leading media outlet in the carbon markets, member of the coalition COP Experience, with a strong digital presence and a global audience in over 100 countries.
