Today: REDD+ initiative looks to correct issues that have affected an area of the voluntary carbon market that has previously come in for criticism; call for new oversight for mining indsutry; connecting green power to the grid.

Welcome back: Climate delegates from the world over will start this week to descend on the Brazilian city of Belem, considered the gateway of the Amazon, for the annual COP conference.

Kicking off our coverage from Brazil is a report by Henry Kronk for WSJ Pro Sustainable Business on how a U.S. carbon-credit marketing company, a French bank and corporate buyers are looking to invest more than $200 million to support forest-conservation projects throughout the Amazon led by indigenous communities.

New York-based marketer Everland has attracted letters of intent worth $160 million to support the forestry projects, it announced on Saturday. The offers are backed by a $50 million outcome bond from BNP Paribas that will provide upfront funding to up to 20 projects looking to get under way.

A community in Brazil’s Baú Indigenous Territory partnered with developer Biohma Ecoservices to launch a REDD+ project that will fund forest conservation through the sale of carbon credits. The primary project activities will include regular monitoring of their region’s borders to ensure that illegal deforestation doesn’t occur. It will also generate funding for community initiatives to promote traditional art and improve local education and healthcare.

REDD+, which stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, has been criticized in recent years for over-issuing credits and promoting improper relationships with the local community partners.

• Developing countries receive less than one-tenth of the finance they will need to adapt to cope with climate change, the UN has said. (FT)
• High-level U.S. representatives are staying away from the U.N. climate negotiations in Brazil, according to a White House official. (Bloomberg)

Investors that see opportunity in the mining industry’s growth amid mounting demand for rare earths say the sector has to make some changes.

The Global Investor Commission on Mining 2030—a coalition of investors holding $18 trillion in assets under management and including the Church of England’s pension fund, ING Group, Royal London Asset Management and Pimco—released a report Monday detailing a 10-year-plan to clean up the sector, Clara Hudson reports for Dow Jones Risk Journal.

The report is intended to boost the fortunes of the industry as it adapts to its increasingly crucial role in global markets. Metals such as copper and cobalt are needed for electric equipment to power data centers that fuel artificial intelligence, as well for electric vehicles and batteries.

The commission lists specific goals, including setting up a mining performance framework for responsible human rights and sustainability practices. The investors also call for creating an international minerals agency to monitor global mineral supplies, oversee sustainability performance and more.

• Glencore is planning to close its Horne smelter, Canada's largest copper metal-producing operation, due to environmental issues. (Reuters)

Partners Group is looking to old natural gas-fired power plants to overcome one of the biggest hurdles facing renewable-energy developers today—how to connect new projects to the grid, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia reports.

The European private markets firm and some other private-equity firms back businesses that buy old natural gas power plants with the aim of building renewable-energy assets next to them. The new projects benefit from the legacy assets’ grid connections, because it is typically easier for grid operators to analyze additional power sources from existing locations than new ones, the firm said.

In June, the firm acquired 11 natural gas-fired power plants in California in a $2.2 billion deal that also included the acquisition of the plants’ operator, Middle River Power. The power company is installing battery systems next to those plants.

Partners Group this month agreed to acquire Life Cycle Power, a Houston-based provider of trailer-mounted electric power generators. Such units can supply electricity to data centers until they gain access to the grid.

• Credit investor Breakwall Capital has raised $125 million so far for an energy infrastructure-focused fund. (WSJ)

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• OPEC+ will boost oil production by 137,000 barrels a day in December, matching increases from October and November. (WSJ)
   
• ExxonMobil CEO warns EU law that demands climate plan aligned with Paris Agreement could force exit from Europe. (Reuters)
   
• Apple announced a series of clean energy agreements in Europe, adding 650 MW of solar and wind capacity to electric grids. (ESG Today)
   
• Microsoft signs 10-year offtake with Arca for nearly 300,000 metric tons of durable carbon removal. (ESG News)
   
• First Solar appears to have found a way to persevere despite the Trump administration’s cuts to renewable energy support. (Barron's)
   
• Walmart uses around 2,000 electric vehicles from Ford and GM for last-mile deliveries from stores. (Trellis)
   
• Despite scepticism about renewables in the U.S., falling prices for solar panels are making a compelling business case around the world. (FT)
   
• The production and transportation of industrial gases is an energy-intensive process that consumes a lot of power. (Bloomberg)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.