2026 Global Carbon Neutrality Report examines the drivers and constraints shaping global carbon neutrality at Tsinghua University forum

BEIJING, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Global experts and policymakers gathered at Tsinghua University on September 22 for a high-level seminar on global carbon neutrality to launch the 2026 Global Carbon Neutrality Annual Progress Report, which examines the factors accelerating or constraining the transition across 198 countries and regions.

The event was part of a series marking the fifth anniversary of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality (ICON) at Tsinghua University and the sixth anniversary of China’s “dual carbon” goals. It also coincided with the beginning of China’s 15^th Five-Year Plan period.

The seminar brought together perspectives from government, academia and international organizations on the global transition. Speakers included Li Gao, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Zhang Laibin, Chair of the Academic Committee of China University of Petroleum (Beijing); Zeng Rong, Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University; and Erik Solheim, former UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP, who delivered remarks via video. The seminar was chaired by He Kebin, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Dean of the Tsinghua University Institute for Carbon Neutrality.

Wang Can, professor at Tsinghua University presented the 2026 report, which draws on more than 200 indicators to assess progress toward carbon neutrality across 198 countries and regions, tracking progress and identifying the underlying drivers and constraints of the global transition.

The report identifies several trends:

• A new phase of the low-carbon transition is emerging, increasingly driven by technological progress but shaped by broader system conditions.
• Mature technologies are accelerating, with wind and solar power, energy storage, and electric vehicles continuing to expand rapidly.
• System-level bottlenecks remain significant, including limited grid integration capacity, high financing costs, gaps in market mechanisms, and barriers to international technology diffusion.
• Emerging technologies face additional commercialization challenges. Clean hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) continue to encounter constraints related to demand, infrastructure, and viable business models.
• Developing economies face particularly strong barriers, including high financing costs, trade barriers, and insufficient system capacity to absorb and deploy green technologies.

The findings suggest that while technological costs are declining and deployment is accelerating, the pace and scale of the global transition increasingly depend on whether financing, infrastructure, markets, and international cooperation can develop alongside technological progress.

The full report is available through Tsinghua University’s Global Carbon Neutrality Progress Tracker at www.cntracker.tsinghua.edu.cn.

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IBM Expands Its Digital Banking Infrastructure with Swift Integration and Digital Asset Haven On-Premises

• IBM enables financial institutions to connect to Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger for tokenized deposit transactions with beta
• IBM Digital Asset Haven extends to on-premises beta deployment, giving institutions greater deployment control of their digital asset technology stack

ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced two key capabilities designed to help financial institutions, governments, and other regulated organizations provide digital asset services while prioritizing enterprise-grade security and control. In a beta offering, IBM Digital Asset Haven clients can now connect to permissioned blockchain networks, including Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger. IBM is also extending IBM Digital Asset Haven to an on-premises beta deployment option, enabling clients to manage digital asset operations entirely within their own data centers.

According to J.P. Morgan Payments, 93% of financial institutions are modernizing their payments infrastructure¹ as banks look to move money more efficiently across borders and manage a growing range of digital assets. This shift is increasing demand for infrastructure that can support new forms of digital transactions while meeting banks’ security, compliance, and operational requirements.

IBM advances cross-border payments with Swift’s ledger

IBM Digital Asset Haven now enables clients to connect to Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger. Swift is the globally inclusive cooperative that connects 12,500 financial institutions across 200+ markets. With the beta release of the IBM Digital Asset Haven ISO 20022 Messaging Adapter feature, institutions can instruct tokenized deposit transactions using standard ISO 20022 messages through the shared ledger infrastructure, allowing them to build on existing payment message formats and operational processes instead of blockchain-specific workflows. Swift’s ledger supports bank-issued tokenized deposits and participating IBM clients can move digital assets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ahead of final settlement through existing systems, while continuing to use established Swift standards and banks’ own compliance processes.

Announced at Sibos 2025 and designed in collaboration with more than 40 financial institutions worldwide, Swift’s ledger moved from concept to activation within nine months and is being put to first use by 17 first-mover institutions piloting tokenized deposit transactions. Financial institutions already participating in the program have successfully tested tokenized deposits on the Swift shared ledger with IBM Digital Asset Haven, demonstrating how banks can use existing standards and compliance processes to explore new models for moving money digitally.

IBM Digital Asset Haven extends to on-premises beta deployment

IBM is also extending Digital Asset Haven, a platform built to help banks, governments, and other regulated organizations manage and secure digital assets, to an on-premises beta deployment for clients. This deployment allows organizations to manage digital assets such as stablecoins and tokenized deposits entirely within their own environments.

Since launching IBM Digital Asset Haven SaaS and hybrid deployment options in October 2025, banking and payment institutions across multiple continents have begun implementing digital asset use cases with IBM Digital Asset Haven.

The new on-premises deployment option is designed to run entirely inside a client’s own data center on IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE with no dependency on public cloud infrastructure. Clients can deploy it on compatible IBM infrastructure already in their environment or add new capacity based on their requirements.

IBM Digital Asset Haven on-premises differentiates from existing deployment options by being built to combine client control with increased performance, speed, and scale for digital asset operations, while prioritizing enterprise-grade security. IBM Digital Asset Haven’s on-premises key features include:

• Client-Controlled Deployment keeps both the solution layer and the key management layer entirely inside the client’s own IBM LinuxONE or IBM Z environment, with configurations achieving industry-leading 99.999999% availability².
• Hardware-Backed Security protects keys using IBM Crypto Express HSMs embedded in LinuxONE, with confidential computing and secured environment partitioning isolating production, test, and development environments.
• Structured Key Ceremonies and Cold Storage follow formal, auditable processes used to generate root certificate authority keys, producing documentation clients can present to regulators, with support for IBM Offline Signing Orchestrator cold storage operations.
• Consistent Experience Across Deployments carries the same architecture, APIs, and workflows as Haven’s SaaS and Hybrid SaaS options, so clients can move between deployment models without rewriting applications.

“The financial services industry is entering a new era where tokenized and traditional assets will need to move side by side,” said Tom McPherson, General Manager, IBM Z and LinuxONE. “As institutions modernize payments and prepare for a future of always-on transactions, they need infrastructure that combines innovation with the security, resiliency, and regulatory compliance requirements of regulated banking. By connecting to Swift’s shared ledger and extending IBM Digital Asset Haven to on-premises environments, IBM is helping clients participate in emerging digital asset networks while prioritizing control of their most critical financial operations.”

For more information about IBM’s integration with Swift’s shared ledger, visit here. Institutions interested in IBM Digital Asset Haven’s on-premises beta can join the waitlist at here.

Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

Additional Sources

What’s New IBM Digital Asset Haven On-Prem and Swift Blog 

Disclaimers:

1. https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/payments/fx-cross-border/2026-trends-for-financial-institutions 

2. IBM internal data based on measurements and projections was used in calculating the expected value. Necessary components include IBM LinuxONE Rockhopper 5; IBM z/VM V7.3 systems or above collected in a Single System Image, each running RHOCP 4.14 or above; IBM Operations Manager; GDPS 4.6 or above for management of data recovery and virtual machine recovery across metro distance systems and storage, including Metro Multi-site workload and GDPS Global; and IBM DS8000 series storage with IBM HyperSwap. A MongoDB v4.4 workload was used. Necessary resiliency technology must be enabled, including z/VM Single System Image clustering, GDPS xDR Proxy for z/VM, and Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF) 4.14 or above for management of local storage devices. Application-induced outages are not included in the above measurements. Other configurations (hardware or software) may provide different availability characteristics.

Media Contact:

Aishwerya Paul

IBM Infrastructure Communications

Aish.Paul@ibm.com 

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KuCoin Adds CCSS Level 3 Certification to Its Multi-Layered Security Framework, Strengthening Trust Infrastructure for Digital Assets

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, today announced that its Wallet Management Services have upgraded from CCSS v8.1 Level 2 to CCSS v8.1 Level 3 – Full System Certification. Assessed under the same v8.1 framework as its previous certification, the upgrade demonstrates greater control maturity across key management, organizational safeguards, incident readiness and auditability.

Level 3 strengthens controls throughout the cryptographic key lifecycle, from generation and storage to access, backup and recovery. Compared with Level 2, it introduces greater separation of responsibilities, more rigorous access and personnel controls, regular testing of key-compromise response procedures, broader independent assurance and continual backup of operational logs. Together, these measures further reduce single points of failure and strengthen traceability and resilience.

Designed specifically for cryptocurrency systems, CCSS complements broader information security standards by adding specialized requirements for the management and protection of cryptographic keys and wallets. It adds a crypto-native layer to KuCoin’s multi-layered assurance framework, which includes SOC 2 Type II, providing independent assurance over the operating effectiveness of relevant controls; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 for information security management; ISO/IEC 27701:2019 for privacy information management; ISO 22301:2019 for business continuity; and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 for responsible AI management and governance. Together, these certifications establish an integrated framework spanning information security, privacy, operational resilience, AI governance and crypto-native asset protection, reinforcing oversight and accountability across KuCoin’s operations.

“Trust is not established through a single certification; it is a system that must be continually tested, validated and improved,” said BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin. “Advancing from Level 2 to Level 3 applies more rigorous controls to the people, processes and technologies that safeguard digital assets—from how key-compromise response procedures are tested and critical actions are recorded and made traceable. This is how we put trust into practice for users and institutions that rely on KuCoin.”

For retail users, the enhanced controls provide stronger protection against unauthorized access, key exposure and operational failures. For institutional clients, the certification provides independent evidence that can support security due diligence, counterparty assessment and internal governance requirements.

The achievement reinforces KuCoin’s investment in security, transparency and operational resilience. By combining crypto-specific controls with internationally recognized standards, KuCoin continues to strengthen the trust infrastructure required for responsible digital asset adoption and put trust into practice.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 45 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform combines advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,500+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building transparent, compliant, and user-centric digital asset infrastructure for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27701:2019, ISO 22301:2019 and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certifications. In recent years, we have built a strong global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets.

Learn more at www.kucoin.com.

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Xinhua Silk Road: Scholarship for MAZU meteorological early-warning solutions receives donations from BOC, Putian merchants

BEIJING, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The MAZU Scholarship, an award named after the traditional Chinese sea goddess Mazu to aid global meteorological disaster prevention, recently received donations from the Bank of China (BOC) and Putian merchants at home and abroad.

BOC and merchants from Putian City in southeast China, the homeland of Mazu, as well as their overseas fellows, offered respectively one million yuan and two million yuan to fund the scholarship and a customized “MAZU” cloud platform in Nepal.

“MAZU”, China’s homegrown AI-enabled meteorological solution suite released by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) in 2025, is the first set of solutions to echo the UN Early Warnings for All initiative.

Supporting cloud trials in more than 40 countries, “MAZU” has been applied in countries including Pakistan, Ethiopia, the Solomon Islands, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Djibouti.

To promote cross-border meteorological technology exchanges and improve global early-warning capacity, the CMA announced the establishment of the MAZU Scholarship during the 80th session of the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization this June.

Aiming to honor outstanding personnel in meteorology and related fields, the MAZU Scholarship is primarily open to meteorological visiting scholars from Belt and Road partner countries and meteorological frontline workers from developing nations.

Currently, “MAZU”-related technological training has benefited over 1,000 meteorological frontline workers in nearly 100 developing countries, and has gained recognition in global meteorological early-warning applications.

In the future, a global promotion practice base for “MAZU” will be jointly built by the CMA and Putian City in Fujian Province to share with the world vivid examples and replicable practices in meteorological early warning.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/352353.html

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Protean launches Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at Global Fintech Fest

MUMBAI, India, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Protean eGov Technologies today launched its Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai. The platform was launched at the Protean pavilion by Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, who spoke at the event on consent as a design principle for India’s digital financial ecosystem.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 has moved decisively from statute to operation. With the DPDP Rules notified in November 2025 and substantive obligations enforceable from May 2027, organisations are required to demonstrate privacy governance that is continuous, auditable and evidenced.

At the centre of the platform is the consent stack. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are embedded directly within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile and assisted channels, so a customer never leaves the journey they are in. When consent is granted, updated or withdrawn, the policy engine validates the request, propagates it automatically to every mapped enterprise application and third-party processor, tracks acknowledgement, and writes an immutable artefact to the consent vault – producing regulator-ready evidence from the customer’s action itself rather than from a subsequent reconciliation exercise.

The platform brings the eight statutory obligations of a Data Fiduciary into a single operating system for privacy, organised across four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance covers data discovery, the Record of Processing Activities, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance covers Data Protection Impact Assessments, a central processor registry, third-party risk assessment and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance covers consent management, a rights management portal, grievance redress and dedicated workflows for minors and nominees. Regulatory Operations covers retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Speaking at the launch, Shri Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India, said: “The Digital Personal Data Protection Act moves consent from a matter of paperwork to a matter of design. For the financial sector, the task ahead is to make consent verifiable, revocable and auditable at scale – so that every individual knows what data is being used, for what purpose, and retains the ability to withdraw that permission at any time.”

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Ajay Rajan, MD & CEO, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Consent is becoming the connective tissue of India’s digital economy. Our conviction is that privacy and growth are not opposing forces – an enterprise that can show an individual exactly what was permitted, when, and for how long, earns the trust that lets it do more, not less. That is the shift we are enabling: from privacy as a legal obligation to privacy as an enterprise capability.”

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Rakesh Dosi, Chief Business & Product Officer, Protean eGov Technologies, said: “Most enterprises today can tell you their privacy policy. Very few can tell you, for a single customer, what was consented to and which downstream system acted on it. One customer action should update every mapped system and leave behind evidence – that is what we have built.”

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades. As an Account Aggregator licence holder, the company brings direct operating experience of the consent artefact lifecycle – issuance, revocation and secure data sharing – at national scale. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

To know more – https://www.proteantech.in/services/consent-stack 

Product note

Protean Enterprise DPDP Governance & Consent Platform

Launched at the Global Fintech Fest, 11ᵗʰ September 2026, Mumbai

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is no longer a policy exercise. The Rules were notified in November 2025, the Consent Manager registration framework comes into force in November 2026, and substantive obligations become enforceable from May 2027 with penalties of up to ₹250 crore. Multiple stakeholders – the Data Principal, the Consent Manager, processors, third-party vendors, internal business functions and the Data Protection Board – converge on a single accountable owner: the Data Fiduciary. Every one of those connections is an obligation to design, run and evidence.

Embedded consent experience. DPDP-compliant consent journeys are deployed within an enterprise’s existing web, mobile, branch, contact centre and partner channels. Consent is captured against the five principles of validity – freely given, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous – with itemised notice and unbundled purposes. Customers never leave the journey they are in.

Intelligent consent orchestration. A single customer action – consent granted, updated or withdrawn – is validated by the policy engine, propagated automatically to every mapped enterprise application and processor with acknowledgement tracked, and recorded instantly as an immutable artefact in the consent vault. Compliance evidence is a by-product of the transaction, not a separate exercise.

Four governance pillars. Internal Privacy Governance – data discovery, ROPA, data flow mapping, gap assessment and governance dashboards. Processor Risk Governance – DPIA, third-party risk management, processor registry and remediation tracking. Data Principal Governance – consent management, rights management portal, grievance management, minor and nominee workflows. Regulatory Operations – retention and deletion, breach management, audit monitoring and compliance reporting.

Regulatory automation. Retention runs on configurable, purpose-based timelines with automated deletion triggers, propagation to processors and retained deletion evidence. Breach management runs from incident intake and severity classification through a 72-hour notification workflow and regulator communication to root cause analysis and closure.

Relationship-based workflows. Verifiable guardian consent before any processing of a minor’s personal data, with age validation and transition on attaining majority. Nominee registration with identity validation and controlled, auditable rights access upon a defined invocation event.

One source of truth. Discover, map, design, orchestrate, evidence – every downstream privacy activity is derived from verified enterprise metadata rather than manual configuration, on a governance foundation of a policy engine, workflow orchestration, an API gateway, the consent vault and an immutable audit trail.

A six-stage path to compliance maturity runs from data discovery and ROPA through data flow mapping, DPIA and processor assessment, and gap remediation, to continuous privacy operations – combining advisory, governance, process design and technology enablement in a single engagement.

Protean eGov Technologies has built and operated national digital public infrastructure for over two decades, is an Account Aggregator licence holder with proven experience of the consent artefact lifecycle, and has implemented consent management capabilities for initiatives including Bima Sugam and CERSAI. This is that same conviction applied to Privacy.

About Protean:

Incorporated in December 1995, Protean eGov Technologies Limited is engaged in the business of developing citizen-centric and population-scale e-governance solutions. Protean is an information technology-enabled solutions company conceptualizing, developing, and executing critical and population-scale greenfield technology solutions. The company collaborates with the Indian government and has extensive experience in creating digital public infrastructure and developing innovative citizen-centric e-governance solutions.

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Fishermen Advised Against Venturing Into Sea as Rough Conditions Persist Off Odisha Coast

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24 (UDN): Fishermen have been advised to stay away from the sea along and off the Odisha coast for two days as rough to very rough conditions are forecast amid the prevailing weather system over the region.

Representational Image 

The Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar has issued a fishermen warning for September 24 and 25, cautioning against venturing into the sea during the period.

Winds Up To 70 Kmph Expected

According to the weather warning, squally conditions are likely along and off the Odisha coast on Thursday, with wind speeds reaching 50–60 kmph and gusting up to 70 kmph.

Conditions are expected to remain unsettled on Friday, September 25, with winds likely to reach 45–55 kmph and gust up to 65 kmph.

Sea To Remain Rough To Very Rough

The Meteorological Centre has forecast rough to very rough sea conditions along and off the Odisha coast during both days.

In view of the strong winds and deteriorating sea conditions, fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea on September 24 and 25.

The warning comes as Odisha continues to experience the impact of a deep depression over the region, which has triggered heavy rainfall and strong winds across several parts of the state.

Authorities and coastal communities have been advised to remain alert and follow weather-related advisories during the period.

Over 37.43 Lakh People Affected by Floods, Heavy Rain in Odisha This Year: Minister

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24 (UDN): More than 37.43 lakh people across 26 districts of Odisha have been affected by floods and heavy rainfall this year, while seven people have lost their lives, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari informed the State Assembly on Thursday.

Responding to a question raised by MLA Tankadhar Tripathy on relief measures for flood-affected people, Pujari said the state has also reported damage to crops spread over 2,12,533 hectares and 18,067 houses.

The minister said 93 livestock deaths have also been reported in incidents linked to floods and excessive rainfall.

Over Rs 234 Crore Released for Compensation

According to the minister, the state government has released Rs 234 crore 84 lakh 86 thousand to districts under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms towards compensation for losses to personal property and other damages.

Of the amount released, Rs 33.63 crore has been earmarked for house-building assistance, while Rs 151.96 crore has been provided towards crop-loss assistance.

The figures come as Odisha continues to deal with episodes of heavy rainfall and flooding during the 2026 monsoon season. The state administration has maintained disaster preparedness measures amid the latest spell of heavy rain triggered by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal.

Relief Measures Under Review

The government has been monitoring the situation in affected districts and coordinating relief and disaster-response measures through district administrations and the State Emergency Operations Centre.

The Odisha government has also kept disaster-response teams on standby in vulnerable areas amid the latest weather system. The Chief Minister’s Office said 33 ODRAF teams, along with NDRF and Fire Services personnel, had been kept prepared ahead of the current spell of heavy rainfall.

With rainfall continuing in several parts of the state, authorities are keeping a watch on vulnerable areas, water levels and possible damage to infrastructure and property.