Catch up on previous editions of Carbon Outlook by Adrian Wons. Revisit the policy updates, pricing shifts, market signals, and procurement insights that matter for corporate climate teams.
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Welcome back from the summer break. If you are working out your carbon procurement budget right now, you are in good company. Late August is when the two questions land on every sustainability manager’s desk: what…
The question I get more than any other is some version of this: what will carbon credits actually cost us in five years?
For years, the loudest voice warning companies about carbon credits was Brussels. Now Brussels wants to buy up to €50 billion of them.
I have watched dozens of large European companies get carbon credits wrong. I have seen seven-figure purchases become unusable for an SBTi submission because nobody checked the methodology against the rules. I have also…
For years, a corporate net zero target has often been a press release with a date attached.
Last week, SBTi published the final Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0. After two consultation drafts and a year of debate, the rules are now fixed. This is the first time SBTi has given carbon credits a defined role…
Here’s what changed. For years, buying carbon credits was a year-end chore. Total the footprint, go to market in Q4, buy spot, retire, repeat.
This week I went live with Episode 1 of CWN: Carbon Weekly News, my new live show on the carbon market.
This issue is going out a week early because we are publishing something today with Sylvera that I think matters.
This one is a bit different from our usual newsletters, because it goes a little deeper into the financial business planning behind carbon credits.
A sustainability lead at a DAX company said this to me last week: "Adrian, with all the scandals, the press coverage, the rating agencies tearing projects apart, the smart move is just to stop. We will reduce internally…
The EU ETS is in the middle of its most consequential rewrite since Phase 3. And with the Commission’s Article 30 deadline locked for July 2026, the question is no longer whether CDR will be included — but how and when.
Carbon credit rating agencies are becoming a bigger part of the market. From July 2026, ESMA’s EU ESG Ratings Regulation will bring regulatory oversight to the space for the first time. But even before that kicks in,…
The ICVCM’s CCP label is becoming the closest thing the voluntary carbon market has to a quality seal. But it is also one of the most misunderstood. Most buyers know it exists. Few know how it actually works, which of…
Greenwashing risk in Europe is rising fast. Not because companies are suddenly worse, but because the rules are about to get stricter.
Here is a quick, easy-to-digest update on the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF):
You’ve probably heard of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). What most people haven’t heard: CBAM could become one of the strongest forces behind carbon credit growth over the next decade.
Happy New Year! I hope 2026 is off to a great start for you. I wanted to kickstart the year by sharing a number that made me stop scrolling this week:
SBTi has released its updated draft for the Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2. The most significant change being the introduction of Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) — a framework to account for the emissions you…
It is COP season again. Which means I get the same question from sustainability managers every year:
The EU just agreed to a 2040 target of a 90% reduction in emissions vs. 1990 levels. It also said that up to 5% of the target can be met with international carbon credits. This sounds small. It is not. It changes the…
