Carbon markets
Overview
Carbon markets are developing as a crucial economic lever in the challenge of reversing the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, while CO2 remains a key factor in a range of industrial sectors.
National governments are embracing carbon markets, with a proliferation of carbon pricing policies worldwide. The private sector is channelling finance into projects that generate carbon emissions reductions and removals to mitigate their hard-to-abate emissions.
And the United Nations is making progress in building a global marketplace for carbon emissions reductions that will facilitate nations’ attempts to meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement.
Industrial sectors remain a key source of CO2 emissions and consumption, with innovation looking towards sustainable methods of production and utilisation.
Argus is setting the stage for an extended period of growth, evolution and interconnection of carbon market participants and initiatives.
Latest carbon markets news
Browse the latest market moving news on carbon markets.
Indonesia solar groups seek better land, permit rules
Indonesia solar groups seek better land, permit rules
Singapore, 20 August (Argus) — Indonesia's solar power developers are hoping for improved land acquisition and permitting rules to help boost project development as the country seeks to scale up photovoltaic generation in the coming years, delegates heard at the Indonesia Sustainable Energy Week conference on 19 August. Developers currently face different land approval processes across Indonesia, which is a significant issue since solar projects often require large land areas, said Mada Habsari, chairperson of the Indonesian Solar Energy Association (AESI). Land acquisition has been in the spotlight since Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto firmed up a 100GW national solar target last year, up from under 2GW currently. Vacant mining land in regions such as East Kalimantan and South Sumatra, could be used for solar facilities — on top of the more frequently discussed ground-mounted or reservoir floating models, said vice-president at state utility PLN, Ricky Faizal. The government has identified about 9,000 hectares of land to help advance an initial 30GW tranche of the national 100GW solar target, said deputy minister for energy and mineral resources Yuliot Tanjung on the sidelines of the conference. AESI believes PLN's process for selecting private developers for new solar projects could be further improved. There have been projects that have been awarded for construction based on lowest tariff bid, but subsequently fell through because land could not be acquired, said Refi Kunaefi, AESI's lead for the independent power producers taskforce. An alternative approach where PLN requests initial plans from developers first, and then provides up to a year to secure land tenure before negotiating the final tariff rates, could be more feasible, Refi said. Any changes to how state agencies engage private developers for renewable energy could be significant — the country's 10-year power development plan envisions the private sector to undertake over 70pc of new clean energy buildouts up to 2034. Rooftop backlog Demand for industrial and rooftop solar systems has grown quickly in the past two years, because of sustainability requirements multinational companies operating in Indonesia abide by, and more recently as a response to diesel shortages, said Emmanuel Jefferson Kuesar, chief executive of developer Sun Energy. But the company has had to delay clients because Indonesia's rooftop solar quarter has been fully subscribed, he said. Indonesia allocated about 485MW for grid-connected rooftop installations at the start of the year — 304MW of which were for projects already previously on waitlist. More broadly the latest 10-year power development plan envisions over 3GW of rooftop solar additions between 2025-2034, split into yearly quotas. Rooftop solar development for now will be guided by quotas, which are updated every six months to a year, said Ricky. The utility is seeking to improve power system flexibility, and modernise distribution networks, to support a greater input of renewable power, he said. Indonesia currently has over 120 solar facilities of under 1MW — the typical size of commercial rooftop installations — registered to issue I-RECs. Current-year Indonesian solar I-RECs were recently offered at under $3/MWh. Financing headwinds Project financing remains yet another roadblock, developers said, citing both institutional rules and recent headwinds. Indonesian officials have often discussed the 100GW solar goal as spurring rural electrification and reducing dependency on diesel generators. But distributed rural projects are harder to finance because of their smaller scale, Mada said. The AESI is working on aggregating rural projects to improve their financing prospects, and seeking blended financing opportunities, she said. Some renewables projects that were previously bankable have been negatively affected by Indonesia's weakening currency and rising lending rates in the past months. Some institutional investors also have blanket bans on sectors such as mining, which becomes a roadblock to building solar projects for mining firms, Kuesar said. But there are still opportunities with investors such as pension funds seeking long-term stable returns, since solar projects can sign power supply agreements of 20-25 years, he said. By Liang Lei Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Malaysia's FatHopes expands biofuel feedstock trucking
Malaysia's FatHopes expands biofuel feedstock trucking
Singapore, 20 August (Argus) — Malaysian waste oil aggregator FatHopes Energy has acquired additional prime movers from domestic logistics firm Hap Seng Truck to transport biofuel feedstocks, it said today. The investment will support higher feedstock volumes and continued expansion of the firm, FatHopes said. The firm's growing logistics capabilities will support its feedstock partnerships and planned 300,000 t/yr sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrotreated vegetable oil plant in Port Klang, Malaysia, said FatHopes Energy chief executive Vinesh Sinha. FatHopes this year partnered with Chinese renewable fuel consultancy and feedstock brokerage MotionEco to source 200,000 t/yr of used cooking oil (UCO) and other sustainable feedstocks from China, as well as Spanish UCO Trading for over 200,000 t/yr of feedstock globally , and with Vietnamese PetroVietnam Oil Corporation to collect over 200,000 t/yr of Vietnamese feedstocks . Argus assessed RED-certified SAF fob Strait of Malacca at $2,520/t on 19 August. By Malcolm Goh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Renewable shifts in 4 nations near 1.5°C target: Report
Renewable shifts in 4 nations near 1.5°C target: Report
Edinburgh, 19 August (Argus) — Uruguay, Namibia, the Netherlands and Denmark are the only countries coming closer to achieving the annual global growth rates for renewable power capacity to 2030 needed to stay on track with limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, as major emitters lag behind, according to Systems Change Lab — an initiative led by climate think-tank the World Resources Institute (WRI). No country has increased solar and wind over a five-year period at the rate needed to hit targets compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, Systems Change Lab said. The Paris agreement seeks to curb the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C limit. Its signatories recognised in 2023 "the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5°C". Solar and wind need to account for 57-78pc of the global electricity mix by 2030, but only made up 17.4pc of global electricity generation, according to the group's State of Climate Action 2025 report. But Uruguay, Namibia, the Netherlands and Denmark achieved around three-quarters of the annual global growth rate required from 2025 to 2030. In Uruguay, wind power generation rose to 32pc of the country's mix in 2018 from 1pc in 2013 — the fastest five-year renewable energy increase globally. In Namibia, solar grew to 39pc of electricity from 6pc in 2017-22, while solar and wind power rose to 45pc of electricity generation from 14pc between 2019 and 2024 in the Netherlands, according to Systems Change Lab. In Denmark, around 60pc of the country's electricity comes from wind, the highest share globally, it said. Uruguay, Namibia, the Netherlands and Denmark accounted for 0.08pc, 0.03pc, 0.27pc and 0.07pc, respectively, of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, according to the EU's Edgar data. In comparison, China accounted for 29pc of global emissions and the US for 11pc, according to Edgar data. Even though China and the US — the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters — build the most renewable energy capacity each year, solar and wind account for less than one-quarter of electricity generation in both countries, it said. "Other countries have both a large population and have achieved a high share of solar and wind in their national electricity mix, like Spain 42pc, Germany 45pc and the UK 36pc, but for those three countries, the growth took place over a longer period at slower rates," the group said. Although the four countries' economies and geographies are vastly different, Systems Change Lab found that for all of them, energy security concerns — reliance on fossil fuel and power imports — helped the initial shift, while progress depended largely on long-term policies and stable investment conditions. Political support meant that the policies were maintained over a long enough period to build up a critical speed, it said. Unlike Denmark, which started earlier than the other three countries, Uruguay and Namibia did not need to rely on subsidies because renewable costs have fallen and other options were expensive, but "they still needed to implement policy reforms to ensure the private sector could supply energy at competitive prices". "Achieving real systems change will require rapid rates of growth in solar and wind to be achieved and sustained in all countries," it said. "Developed countries that have greater historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and greater capability to act should aim to grow renewables more quickly than the global average to accommodate other countries where a rapid shift is less feasible". By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
CMA CGM bunkers record biomethanol volumes in China
CMA CGM bunkers record biomethanol volumes in China
Shanghai, 17 August (Argus) — French shipowner CMA CGM completed an 8,000t biomethanol bunkering at an anchorage at Shanghai port on 15-16 August, marking the world's largest single biomethanol bunkering operation to date. Shanghai International Port's (SIPG) 12,800 dwt methanol barge Haigang Zhiyuan refuelled the CMA CGM Osmium , a 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containership. The operation took around 15 hours, SIPG said. CMA CGM Osmium previously received 3,640t of biomethanol in Shanghai in March. SIPG has delivered a total of 25,967t of biomethanol at Shanghai port so far in 2026, following its latest bunkering operations over 15-16 August, data compiled by Argus show. Shanghai Electric supplied 6,300t from its 50,000 t/yr hybrid (bio- and e-methanol) plant at Taonan in Baicheng, Jilin province, and CIMC Enric supplied the balance of 1,700t from its 50,000 t/yr biomethanol plant in Zhanjiang, Guangzhou province. The supplies were under a long-term agreement that CMA CGM signed with Shanghai Electric and SIPG in March 2025. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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