Japanese airline retires 200k Phase 1 CORSIA credits as aviation offsetting demand picks up

**CORSIA Demand Signal Emerges.** A Japanese airline retired 200,000 credits under Phase 1 of the ICAO CORSIA offsetting scheme, marking a notable uptick in buying activity after months of low liquidity ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566400/)). With CORSIA's pilot phase now transitioning toward broader compliance obligations, this retirement is an early demand-side indicator that airlines are beginning to secure eligible units. Market participants should watch whether this catalyses further retirements and tightens supply of CORSIA-eligible credits — particularly high-integrity avoidance and removal units that meet IC-VCM Core Carbon Principles. **Verra Methodology & ARR Updates.** Verra published an updated coal plant retirement methodology under VCS, refining accounting approaches for early coal phase-out crediting ([Verra](https://verra.org/verra-releases-updated-coal-plant-retirement-methodology/)). Separately, Verra released new resources for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects, aimed at improving project design, monitoring, and credit issuance quality ([Verra](https://verra.org/verra-releases-new-resources-for-arr-projects/)). The ARR guidance is significant for the credit-type spread: nature-based removal credits under ARR have been trading at a premium to avoidance categories, and clearer methodological guidance could expand pipeline supply while reinforcing buyer confidence in these removal-class units. **Biodiversity COP17 & Conservation Integrity Risks.** The UN biodiversity COP17 in Armenia concluded after marathon overnight sessions with renewed political momentum toward 2030 goals, but persistent divisions over finance and the operationalisation of the Cali Fund tempered optimism ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566380/), [Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566437/)). Meanwhile, a report flagged that the DRC's ambitious 54-million-hectare Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor — a potential source of large-scale REDD+ and avoided conversion credits — faces regulatory gaps that could undermine its success ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566406/)). For VCM buyers exposed to Central African jurisdictional REDD+ supply, this is a risk signal worth monitoring. **Compliance Market Cross-Currents.** In North American compliance markets, CFTC positioning data showed emitters building California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net longs in futures, while managed money moved in the opposite direction ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566379/)). Colorado is also drafting a protocol to count underground CO₂ storage toward facility emissions targets and carbon credits ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566443/)), and a US oil major reported approximately 11 MtCO₂/yr of CCS capacity under contract while criticising the EU Methane Regulation's timeline as unachievable ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566466/)). On the trade-policy front, Canada and the EU pledged decarbonisation cooperation but conspicuously avoided clarity on CBAM impacts on Canadian industry ([Carbon Pulse](https://carbon-pulse.com/566388/)). These developments underscore the evolving interplay between compliance instruments, carbon removal technologies, and the voluntary market's pricing benchmarks.