With the April 1, 2026, deadline for the Alberta-Ottawa memorandum of understanding fast approaching, leading climate policy experts are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to restore the strength and integrity of Canada’s industrial carbon pricing system to increase competitiveness and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The joint letter warns that recent changes to Canada’s climate policy framework undermine the country’s ability to tackle pollution, protect people from climate change and continue progress on legislated climate targets. As other measures have been weakened, paused or outright scrapped, strong, credible industrial carbon pricing systems play an even more decisive role in determining whether Canada can meaningfully reduce industrial emissions and remain competitive in a low-carbon global economy. Industrial carbon pricing… is widely agreed to be the most efficient road to industrial decarbonization and for that reason it is key to Canadian industry competitiveness.
A key plank of Canadian Prime Minister Carney’s climate plan will likely miss its target implementation date, industry sources said, raising new doubts about Canada meeting its environmental goals in the face of higher oil prices and uncertain US trade policy. Carney, a former UN climate envoy, committed last fall to negotiating a stronger industrial carbon pricing policy with Alberta by April 1. He is counting on a strengthened pollution pricing scheme to keep Canada’s emission reduction targets on track after rolling back many of his predecessor Trudeau’s climate policies to restore friendlier relations with the oil-and-gas producing province and prioritize economic growth. Two industry sources say these negotiations have been challenging, and that no deal will be struck by the April 1 deadline because large oil sands companies are pushing back on parts of the federal proposal. …Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson has acknowledged there may be a slight delay.
OLMYPIA, Washington – Washington state is poised to significantly expand its efforts to combat climate change with a proposed agreement to link its carbon market with those of California and Quebec. The move, announced Tuesday by the Washington Department of Ecology, aims to stabilize and reduce the costs associated with decarbonizing the state’s economy. The draft linkage agreement is now open for public comment until May 1, 2026, with the shared market potentially launching as early as 2027. This collaboration represents a major step forward in regional climate action, building upon Washington’s 2021 Climate Commitment Act. …The linkage would allow businesses in all three jurisdictions to participate in joint auctions and trade carbon allowances freely. This expanded market is expected to stabilize Washington’s relatively new and more expensive carbon market, as California and Quebec have been operating linked markets since 2014. While aligning with California and Quebec, Washington maintains distinct climate goals. 
Welcome to the Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s Spring 2026 newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it, and we welcome your feedback.
Drax Group is launching a strategic review of its Canadian pellet operations due to a constrained fiber market and low margins. …CEO Will Gardiner discussed the company’s changing pellet production strategy. …“Our US business is fundamentally part of our UK supply chain. That business is doing very well As you will have seen, our Canadian business is more challenged, and we’ve been talking about this for some time as margins have come down due to fiber costs rising in Canada more rapidly than indexed power prices in Asia. As we noted last year, this dynamic contributed to the decision we’ve made to close one of our pellet plants in Williams Lake towards the end of last year.” As a result, Drax is not currently expecting to commit any additional capital to the pellet production segment, including the paused pellet plant planned for development in Longview, Washington.
Canada should ensure its ‘project of national interest’ designation is helping build competitive clean industries, starting with four key focus areas, according to a new report from the 
With global temperature rising and extreme weather becoming the new normal, ballooning insurance premiums and shrinking coverage are hitting Canadians hard. Basement floods and severe winter storms have brought the financial fallout of climate change home—it is no longer a hypothetical. …“The fact that every insurance company has climate scientists on staff and insurance companies are all pricing in climate risk; there is no financial incentive for them to do that if it wasn’t real,” said Dr. Kate Marvel, a NASA climate scientist. If climate change were a hoax, insurers would simply undercut one another, offering cheaper coverage and dismissing long-term risk, Marvel explained. Instead, they are doing the opposite; quietly rewriting the rules of risk as extreme weather becomes more frequent, more destructive and more expensive. …The question is whether governments will act quickly enough to adapt to a warming climate and confront who pays for the damage when they don’t.
The 2026 Arctic Bioenergy Summit and Tour brought together over 125 northern energy leaders, policymakers, and bioenergy experts in Yellowknife from January 26–28 to explore sustainable heating solutions for remote and Arctic communities. The event, hosted by the Arctic Energy Alliance and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, showcased the theme Sustainable Bioenergy for Northern Communities: Reliable. Affordable. Local. Sessions emphasized that bioenergy continues to offer meaningful economic, environmental, and energy‑security benefits for northern and remote communities—especially when paired with strong local leadership and practical, scalable project design. The event also provided valuable networking opportunities, connecting community representatives, government officials, and industry innovators.
A new study finds that Canada could remove at least five times its annual carbon emissions with strategic planting of more than six million trees along the northern edge of the boreal forest. The 
Strategically planting trees along the northern edge of Canada’s boreal forest could remove multiple gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the end of the century, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Waterloo. The research, published in 
WASHINGTON — The Carbon Business Council announced the launch of the Direct Storage of Biomass (DSB) Coalition, a new industry working group bringing together leading companies to advance understanding, credibility, and responsible deployment of direct biomass storage as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway. Direct storage of biomass, also referred to as terrestrial storage of biomass, involves durably storing organic material such as waste wood from forests, agricultural residues like corn stover, biochar, or other plant and biological matter. Storing these organic residues allow the carbon previously absorbed by the biomass to be durably locked out of the active carbon cycle. The biomass can be safely buried, stored deep underground in sealed reservoirs, wells or other containers. DSB can deliver durable atmospheric carbon removal while leveraging existing forestry, agricultural, and biomass-handling infrastructure. …The DSB Coalition is part of the Carbon Business Council’s broader initiative to scale carbon removal across air, land, rock, and water. 
President Trump has invited farmers and biofuels producers to the White House for a big event next week as the industry awaits the government’s announcement on mandates for the fuel additives. The “celebration of agriculture” event is scheduled for March 27. The invitation said: “Later this month, following National Agriculture Week, President Trump plans to host hundreds of farmers and ranchers from around the country on the South Lawn to shine a spotlight on the men and women growing our food, fiber, and fuel.” The US Environmental Protection Agency’s decision on biofuels is expected around the end of March. The renewable volume obligations, or RVOs, mandate how much biofuel, such as corn-based ethanol and biodiesel, must be blended into the nation’s fuel supply. Next week’s meeting could have an impact on the markets amid speculation on the RVO decision coming later this month.
A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. A rule finalized by the EPA last week revoked 
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for US action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the president to roll back climate regulations. The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The endangerment finding by the Obama administration is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. …Legal challenges are certain for an action that repeals all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, experts say.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday will revoke a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for US action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the White House announced. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule rescinding a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. That Obama-era policy determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. …White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said… the action “will save $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations,” she said. …The endangerment finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. It is used to justify regulations, such as auto emissions standards, intended to protect against threats made increasingly severe by climate change — deadly floods, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters.
Misleading. Unjustified. Hypocritical. Those are just some of the words that Department of Energy scientists used to describe a 141-page report on climate change that was commissioned by DOE Secretary Chris Wright. The feedback appears in newly revealed emails that were made public as part of a court fight between DOE and public interest groups. And they show that criticism of the report isn’t limited to scientists outside the Trump administration. The department’s own internal reviewers took issue with the document, which was written by five climate contrarians from outside DOE who were handpicked by Wright. …One DOE reviewer echoed that opinion and said it was “misleading” for the report to talk about how climate change could boost plant growth without mentioning its other drawbacks. Another comment described the report’s criticism of climate modeling as an “unjustified (and at worst a biased) judgement.” 
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists say multiple Earth system components appear closer to destabilization than previously believed, putting the planet at increased risk of a “hothouse” trajectory driven by feedback loops that can amplify the consequences of global warming. “The risk of a hothouse Earth 
…Timber prices have been low for a long time; they never really recovered from the 2008 housing crash. Nearly a dozen paper mills closed across the South in recent years, and Hurricane Helene tore down trees in much of Georgia and the Carolinas. It’s left many in Georgia, one of the leading states for forestry, with a dilemma: what do you do when your income relies on a forest but nobody wants to buy your trees? A group of researchers and industry leaders thinks paying landowners for carbon storage could help. “We may see a decline in the number of acres that are kept in forests and the quality of the land that is forested,” said David Eady with Georgia Tech’s business school. Losing those trees would shrink the industry and be devastating for the environment. …So Eady and others asked: why not use that carbon storage to keep foresters in business?
In the fight against the climate crisis, countries are pinning great hope in reforestation projects. In a new study, ETH Zurich researchers show that the location in which reforestation is taking place is usually more important than the number of trees planted. If forests are strategically positioned, the same cooling effect could be achieved using half the area of land. Climate researchers at ETH Zurich show where planting trees makes the most sense with a view to achieving the greatest possible cooling effect on the climate. Reforestation in tropical regions has the greatest cooling effect. Tree planting in the northern hemisphere, on the other hand, reduces the reflection of sunlight and has no effect or even contributes to global warming. The cooling effect on the climate will be a maximum of 0.25°C by 2100. This contribution is important, but it cannot replace the urgently required reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. 
A new study with EFI contribution, 
With European manufacturing output down by up to 40% since 2018, and 200,000 industrial jobs lost last year, the European Confederation of the Paper Industry (Cepi) wants to put biomass, circularity and decarbonization financing back at the heart of the industrial debate. The trade organization relies on a report commissioned from Deloitte. According to this analysis… the use of biomass and efficiency in the circularity of materials are structural advantages for European industry in the face of imported fossil products. The report highlights the fact that the forestry and timber industry, which is already governed by national legislation, has to contend with over a hundred additional European regulations. In Cepi’s view, this overlap is holding back biomass-related industrial development. Moreover, paper collection and recycling remains fragmented across the member states. This heterogeneity complicates the optimization of secondary material flows, despite the fact that paper is one of the most recycled materials in Europe.
When the time is right, a good love song can make all the difference. A study from the University of California, Davis, found that temperature affects the sound and quality of male frogs’ mating calls. In the colder, early weeks of spring, their songs start off sluggishly. In warmer weather, their songs pick up the pace, and female frogs take note. Better songs make the males more attractive mates and suggest to females that conditions are suitable for reproduction. …The results carry implications for conservation amid climate change. …Understanding when frogs breed, how that may shift as the climate warms, and what is driving those shifts is critical to their conservation. …females do not necessarily come to the pond just because the males are calling. The time has to be right for her eggs to survive. That clue lies in the quality of the male’s song, which is more attractive once it’s warmer. 
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Human-caused climate change had an important impact on the recent ferocious wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina’s Patagonia region, making the extremely high-risk conditions that led to widespread burning up to three times more likely than in a world without global warming, a team of researchers warned on Wednesday. The hot, dry and gusty weather that fed last month’s deadly wildfires in central and southern Chile was made around 200% more likely by human-made greenhouse gas emissions while the high-fire-risk conditions that fueled the blazes still racing through southern Argentina were made 150% more likely, according to World Weather Attribution, a scientific initiative that investigates extreme weather events soon after they happen. That probability will only increase, the experts added, as humans continue to blanket the planet with heat-trapping gases.
Scotland would have to plant several hundred thousand hectares of new woodland to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the livestock sector by 2050 through afforestation alone, a new study has shown. The study by The James Hutton Institute, which was recently published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, investigated how multi-functional afforestation and livestock reduction could contribute to helping Scotland achieve net-zero emissions in the livestock sector by 2050. This goal aligns with the Paris Agreement on climate change. Researchers have simulated a scenario in which approximately 30,000ha per year of new woodland and agroforestry were planted in Scotland between 2020 and 2025. …It is often assumed such planting can only occur at the expense of grazing area, so the researchers coupled this planting effort with a linear decrease in livestock, with an estimated total reduction of approximately 50% of the present herd numbers.
Boreal ecosystems store twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and warm faster than the global average. The current paradigm based on boreal forests and tundra considers that warming will accelerate boreal carbon loss. However, the warming response of Sphagnum peatlands, storing ~40% of boreal carbon stocks, remains under-investigated. …investigations into two long-term warming experiments in Finnish peatlands, we demonstrate that warming enhances soil carbon accumulation in boreal Sphagnum peatlands. This result sharply contrasts with warming-induced carbon loss from boreal forests and tundra, owing to the unique metabolic response of Sphagnum… Our estimates suggest that warming-induced increase of soil carbon in boreal Sphagnum peatlands (assuming no hydrological changes or plant species shifts) may offset nearly half the boreal forest carbon-sink decline or heterotrophic respiration increases in Arctic tundra under warming. These findings highlight the vital but overlooked role of Sphagnum peatlands in counteracting boreal carbon loss under future warming.
A door company in Ireland says it holds the key to turning wood dust into electricity to help power its factory. It’s part of a new multimillion-pound investment by O&S Doors. The company says the onsite renewable heat and energy technology is “a first on the island of Ireland”. Currently the company takes wood dust left over from the manufacturing process and ships it to England where it is used as animal bedding or sent to landfill. But the company – located just outside Benburb in County Tyrone – has revealed new details of its plans to install a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power system. It will turn the dust into millions of units of electricity that can reused to power parts of the factory. …O&S Doors says its biomass-fuelled combined heat and power system will harness MDF dust.