California and Washington carbon markets to merge

One of the most significant carbon market announcements at Climate Week NYC 2026 came from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced that California will proceed with linking its Cap and Invest emissions trading system to Washington’s in 2027. The move is expected to result in greater efficiencies and steadier prices in the California-Québec and Washington schemes. Both markets allow regulated entities to use approved carbon credits against a proportion of obligations and, importantly for carbon project developers, the linkage agreement allows companies to use offset credits from the other markets. Meanwhile in New York, California Air Resources Board chair Lauren Sanchez backed bringing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) into California’s scheme, which would provide a welcome boost to the US CDR market.

Host countries line up Article 6 supply

Increasing Article 6 credit supply was also in discussion in New York. A Chile government representative said the country expects to issue 17 or 18 authorisation letters to allow carbon projects to sell credits internationally by the end of 2026. It was also reported that Colombia's new government is expected to reissue its Article 6 agreement with Singapore, and, earlier in the month, in a major milestone Ecuador legalised voluntary and Article 6 carbon markets after decades of ambiguity. Meanwhile, further north, the Canadian government has announced it is exploring a policy framework for trading internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6.

GHG Protocol AMI receives support, while ISO stalls

The GHP Protocol has received broad support for its Actions and Market Instruments proposals for a multi-statement GHG reporting structure, including market-based instruments, real-world emissions impacts and other transition-related metrics, alongside a physical emissions inventory. The summary of stakeholder feedback indicates that 84% of respondents supported the proposal, particularly regarding the reporting of market-based instruments. The final corporate standard is due to be published in 2028. Meanwhile, it was reported that the International Organization for Standardization has failed to get enough votes to approve its ISO 14060 corporate net-zero standard. ISO’s response to the feedback could push the publication of the standard back – it was expected in 2027 – meaning SBTI’s Corporate Net Zero Standard Version 2.0 remains the de facto leading net-zero standard in the market.