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41st week CCM 2026. Food and consumption. Clean cooking can now generate carbon credits; EU and carbon farming; agrivoltaics opportunities; CBAM at €82.32/t
Monday, 12 October 2026.
41st Week Carbon Credit Markets in 2026.
🎸 On the soundtrack of carbon markets.
Carbon credits are gaining new momentum with the expansion of mechanisms aimed at emission reductions and carbon removal. The UN has begun allowing clean cooking projects to generate credits within the Paris Agreement market, benefiting billions of people who still rely on polluting cooking methods, while the European Commission has formalized rules to certify credits linked to carbon farming, including practices such as soil carbon sequestration, the restoration of organic soils, and reforestation.
Other highlights include the advancement of agrivoltaics, a model combining agriculture and solar energy on the same land, enabling the simultaneous production of food and electricity. This practice is gaining ground in Europe, Asia, and the United States, driven by benefits such as income diversification for farmers, a reduced carbon footprint, greater energy resilience, and efficiency gains for both certain crops and solar panels. At the same time, tools like the Co-benefits Calculator, developed in Japan, are helping to foster the adoption of this type of solution.
Briefs and opportunities include the European CBAM, with certificate prices reaching €82.32/tCO₂e in the third quarter of 2026, thereby intensifying its impact on export supply chains. Meanwhile, the GRI reports progress in sustainability disclosure, highlighting growth in the Global South and the adoption of multiple reporting standards. Finally, a prompt from the Norwegian Consumer Council invites reflection on consumption and the impact of our choices on the planet.
In addition to a list of relevant events.
Carbon Credits
Clean Cooking Projects Begin Generating Carbon Credits in the UN Market
Published on October 9, 2026, an article by the UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - reports that clean cooking projects are now generating carbon credits within the Paris Agreement market, following the approval of two new methodologies by the Article 6.4 supervisory body. This measure benefits initiatives that promote more efficient cookstoves or the replacement of polluting fuels—a matter of significance for the approximately 2.1 billion people who still cook under precarious conditions. The methodologies establish criteria for eligibility, monitoring, and verification to ensure that carbon credits correspond to real, additional, and measurable emission reductions. The text also highlights the creation of a tool to assess the risk of reversal regarding these reductions, thereby reinforcing the system's environmental integrity and expanding the reach of the UN carbon market.
European Commission Formalizes Technical Rules for Carbon Farming Certification
The European Commission - through its Directorate-General for Climate Action, responsible for implementing climate policies in the European Union (EU) - announced three certification methodologies for carbon credits under the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation. The official text highlights that these methodologies establish clear, consistent, and transparent rules for validating carbon farming activities across the EU. The three approaches cover agricultural practices on mineral soils, the restoration of organic soils such as peatlands (including water management to rehabilitate drained areas), and new afforestation projects, establishing common criteria for monitoring and reporting carbon removals. According to the Commission, in addition to enabling the reliable generation of credits, these practices boost biodiversity, climate resilience, and food and biomass security, allowing farmers and forest managers to be remunerated for certified climate services.
Others Highlights
Agrivoltaics and calculators gain ground, promoting food and energy production on the same land
The term "agrivoltaics" was coined in 2011 by Dupraz and colleagues to describe dual-use land systems that combine agriculture with solar photovoltaics. It has gained increasing attention in Europe and Asia, known as "agrophotovoltaics" in Germany and "solar sharing" in Japan.
The article "Agrivoltaics: Coming Soon to a Farm Near You?" by the USDA Climate Hubs, a U.S. Department of Agriculture network dedicated to supporting climate adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector, highlights several benefits. These include income diversification for farmers, a reduced carbon footprint, greater energy resilience, improved conditions for certain crops under partial shade, and potentially increased solar panel efficiency due to the cooling effect provided by vegetation. The publication also discusses ongoing experiments and research in the northeastern United States, including projects involving solar grazing (livestock grazing among solar panels), pollinator-friendly plantings, and initiatives by universities and research labs seeking to understand the economic, environmental, and productivity impacts of integrating agriculture and clean energy.
Recently, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), a Japanese research organization focused on sustainable development and environmental policy, introduced its "Co-benefits Calculator." This tool was developed to support the assessment of co-benefits associated with specific actions and projects. Specifically, the calculator allows users to explore what agrivoltaics could mean for their region and better understand its potential benefits. It features pre-set configurations tailored to Japan, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, as well as customization options for other locations.
Briefs & Opportunities
The price of European Union CBAM certificates continues to rise: after recording €75.36/tCO₂e in the first quarter of 2026 and €75.28/tCO₂e in the second quarter, the most recent figure reached €82.32/tCO₂e for the third quarter of 2026, announced on October 5, 2026, reflecting the evolution of carbon costs in the European market and their impact on importers in emissions-intensive sectors. Read the full update from the European Commission (DG TAXUD), the body responsible for the European Union's tax and customs policy.
Sustainability reporting continues to advance. This is according to the State of Sustainability Reporting report published by the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), an international organization that sets the benchmark for sustainability reporting standards. The report indicates that most companies use multiple reporting standards and frameworks, while the Global South is making faster progress than mature markets in Europe and North America. This analysis offers valuable insight into the direction of corporate transparency, accountability, and global sustainability trends.
Forbrukarrådet, the Norwegian Consumer Council. Ah, those 0.07% of Norwegians in our world today... “It's really important that the products can't be fixed. It breaks, then it dies. So you have to buy another one... and another... and another one, and another one... and another one. This way we're actually slowly killing the planet as well." Watch the video and reflect on how you feel as a consumer (and citizen).
Events
October
🇦🇺 20 - 21, Australasian Emission Reduction Summit, Adelaide, Australia
November
🇹🇷 9 - 20, COP31. Antalya, Türkiye.
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