Colombian top court rules REDD+ project violated Indigenous rights for second time

**REDD+ Safeguards & Indigenous Rights Under the Spotlight.** Colombia's Constitutional Court has issued its second ruling against a REDD+ project developer for violating the fundamental rights of an Indigenous community in the Amazon, finding that the developer failed to ensure effective participation and ignored the community's withdrawal of consent ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563219/)). The decision amplifies scrutiny on REDD+ safeguards at a time when buyers are already cautious about nature-based avoidance credits. Projects that cannot demonstrate robust free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) face growing legal, reputational, and registry risk—potentially widening the price spread between high-integrity and legacy REDD+ credits. **Policy Tailwinds for Voluntary Demand.** Singapore's tax authority now allows businesses a 100% tax deduction for spending on carbon credits and renewable energy certificates used toward voluntary commitments, removing a material friction for corporate buyers in one of the region's most active compliance-voluntary hybrid markets ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563313/)). Separately, IETA called on governments to legislate 'safe harbour' protections for companies that use high-quality credits, arguing that the threat of greenwashing litigation is chilling corporate demand ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/562609/)). Together, these developments signal that policymakers are beginning to respond to buyer hesitation—though the effectiveness of safe-harbour provisions will hinge on alignment with IC-VCM's Core Carbon Principles and crediting-program-level assessments. **Article 6 & Standards Alignment.** A treaty-based intergovernmental organisation has published new guidance on designing national Article 6 strategies, aiming to help governments link climate commitments to international carbon-market participation ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563308/)). Meanwhile, Australia's decision to wind down its Climate Active voluntary scheme is being framed domestically as an opportunity to align the next iteration with IC-VCM and ICROA benchmarks ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563318/)). On the registry side, Verra released an updated grievance redress process and held its Fall 2026 stakeholder webinar covering program and process changes ([Verra](https://verra.org/verra-releases-updated-grievance-redress-process/), [Verra](https://verra.org/fall-2026-program-and-process-updates-october-2026-stakeholder-update-webinar/)). These moves collectively point toward a maturing governance architecture, but also highlight the gap: only 33% of corporates report whether they are on track to meet their own sustainability targets ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/562366/)), underscoring the disconnect between target-setting and credible delivery. **Compliance-Market Cross-Currents.** In the EU ETS, hedge funds have pulled back exposure as EUA futures encounter stiff resistance near €90, with traders citing uncertainty around pending ETS reforms as a de facto price cap ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/562902/)). California's ARB proposed a new buffer-account mechanism for allowances and offsets linked to captured CO₂ storage, adding an insurance layer against leakage risk ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563270/)). While compliance markets operate in a different lane, pricing dynamics and regulatory innovation in the EU and California continue to shape expectations for removal-credit pricing in the voluntary space—particularly for engineered removals and BECCS pathways that Canada is now being urged to develop ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/563237/)).