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☆ Big Oil's favorite climate solution is 'like trying to push water uphill,' climate chief says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Sam Meredith | Www.Linkedin.Com In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This photograph taken on February 27, 2024, shows the the Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Antoing, during a press visit. The cement plant intends to equip it's kiln with a carbon capture facility, which will enable the Antoing plant to achieve a net-zero carbon balance. Jim Skea, the head of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned on Tuesday that scaling up carbon capture still faces significant challenges. "CCS is much more like trying to push water uphill to get it into technological systems, it is more challenging." Skea's comments came during the first day of International Energy Week, formerly known as International Petroleum Week — a three-day global energy conference in London that convenes senior industry figures.

Persons: Jim Skea, Skea Organizations: International Energy, International Petroleum Locations: Heidelberg, Antoing, London

If China and India were excluded from the count, world carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacturing would have dropped, Friedlingstein said. The world in 2023 increased its annual emissions by 398 million metric tons, but it was in three places: China, India and the skies. China’s fossil fuel emissions went up 458 million metric tons from last year, India’s went up 233 million metric tons and aviation emissions increased 145 million metric tons. Outside of India and China, the rest of the world’s fossil fuel emissions went down by 419 million metric tons, led by Europe’s 205 million metric ton drop and a decrease of 154 million metric tons in the United States. Last year the world's carbon emissions increased but dropped in China, which was still affected by a second wave of pandemic restrictions.

Persons: Pierre Friedlingstein, Jim Skea, ” Friedlingstein, Friedlingstein, India’s, Inger Andersen, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Carbon Project, University of Exeter, United Nations Environment, AP Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, China, India, Paris, COP28, United States, U.S

United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 4, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani Acquire Licensing RightsDUBAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber defended his role in hosting this year's U.N. climate summit on Monday and insisted he understood and respected the science of climate change. "I am quite surprised with the constant and repeated attempts to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency," Al Jaber said on Monday. During Monday's news conference, Al Jaber complained to reporters that "one statement taken out of context with misrepresentation" had received "maximum coverage". IPCC Chair Jim Skea joined Al Jaber at the news conference and said he had held several meetings with the COP28 chief on climate science.

Persons: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Thaier, Sultan Al Jaber, Al Jaber, Jim Skea, Dr, Sultan, Skea, Gloria Dickie, Katy Daigle, Alison Williams Organizations: United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry, Advanced Technology, United Nations, Change, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, Guardian, Thomson Locations: Dubai, United Arab

☆ A multitrillion-dollar carbon bubble? Climate chief warns world leaders over fossil fuel plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The message from the world's leading climate scientists in April last year was that a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use will be necessary to curb global heating. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is the chief driver of the crisis. Indeed, the IPCC said that current fossil fuel use was already more than the planet could handle and additional projects were destined to lock in even greater emissions with devastating consequences. The U.N. climate panel also estimated that fossil fuel investors could be at risk of losing between $1 trillion and $4 trillion if governments act to limit global temperature rise. Despite this, some of the world's richest nations, such as the U.S. and China, have cited energy security as a reason for investing in additional fossil fuel projects.

Persons: Jim Skea, Fabrice Coffrini, Skea, We've, Fethi Belaid, Hoesung Lee, Rishi Sunak's, Danny Lawson, Biden, Mario Tama Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, South, Imperial College London, Greenpeace, United Arab, Social, Trans, Trans Alaska Pipeline System, National Petroleum Reserve Locations: Algeria, Europe, North Africa, East, Asia, staving, China, Ukraine, Paris, Richmond , North Yorkshire, United Arab Emirates, Trans Alaska, Alaska, Delta Junction

☆ Billionaires are fascinated by solar geoengineering — but climate scientists are far from convinced
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

David Gannon | Afp | Getty ImagesWhat is solar geoengineering? Solar geoengineering or SRM refers to a speculative set of technologies designed to cool the Earth. To be sure, researchers calling for the rigorous study of SRM are not endorsing solar geoengineering as a climate solution. watch nowThe paper advocates for an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering, a call that has since received the backing of hundreds of climate scientists. Lili Fuhr, deputy director of the Center for International Environmental Law, described solar radiation management or solar geoengineering as "the ultimate false solution."

Some senior dealmakers at China's third-largest brokerage by market value will see an even steeper cut of two-thirds to their 2022 bonuses, said one of the people. The trend has accelerated as employers cut pay and perks in response to the government's "common prosperity" rhetoric. MILDER CUTSA senior investment banker in China could earn three million to 10 million yuan ($445,000 to $1.48 million) a year in total remuneration, excluding stock incentives, industry sources have said. By way of comparison, Wall Street bonuses fell 26% last year to average $176,700, versus a record 2021, showed a report last month from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Besides remuneration cuts, some investment banks have asked staff to avoid displays of wealth such as by uploading photographs to social media of expensive meals or overseas trips, industry sources said.

Companies Apple Inc FollowApril 5(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Wednesday said that more of its supply chain is committing to use renewable energy in producing the company's iPhones, Macs and other products. Apple said suppliers are supporting 13 gigawatts of active renewable energy projects, up from 10 gigawatts last year. Apple suppliers have made commitments to support an eventual total of 20 gigawatts of projects, up from a total of 16 gigawatts a year before, the company said. Apple on Wednesday said that 250 of its suppliers have pledged to use renewable energy for Apple production, up from 213 suppliers the year before. In China, 70 suppliers have made clean energy pledges for Apple production, up from 55 last year, the company said.

Companies BlackRock Inc FollowBOSTON, April 5 (Reuters) - New York City pension leaders will press external fund managers, including private market fund managers, on Wednesday for details on their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. Public, and private market managers that have faced less pressure on climate issues to date, run most of the roughly $240 billion in New York City pension fund assets. Boards overseeing the majority of that money have approved new expectations for those managers, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said, which will be announced on Wednesday. Lander urged BlackRock Inc last fall to take stronger environmental steps such as phasing-out high emitting assets. Lander said the plans recently approved by New York City pension boards extend similar calls to other external managers, including those that manage the 25% of pension assets held in fixed income and the 25% in private markets.

MONTREAL, April 5 (Reuters) - Honeywell International (HON.O) on Wednesday will announce a first deal for its most powerful generator, which would power a European-Canadian startup's hybrid electric cargo airship. Multiple startups are working on electric or hybrid aircraft to meet aviation's long-term climate goals. Flying Whales would use four generators per airship. The French parent company Flying Whales SAS and its Quebec based subsidiary have raised 162 million euros ($177.57 million) over three financing rounds. The first flight of the LCA60T airship in France is expected in late 2025 with entry into service planned for 2027, Flying Whales said.

The boosted tax credit is central to the administration’s goal of ensuring areas long dependent on fossil fuels benefit from clean energy. "Communities like coal communities have the knowledge, infrastructure, resources and know-how to play a leading role in the move to a clean energy economy," U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. The bonus credit also is available to other "energy communities" - areas that have significant employment or local tax revenues from fossil fuels and higher than average unemployment. The Treasury said it will open project applications for the first round of coal and energy communities tax credits on May 31. Those minerals are crucial to producing clean energy technologies like batteries and solar panels.

Iluka Resources/Handout viaApril 4 (Reuters) - Six projects outside China, which dominates global rare earth production, plan to extract the critical minerals from waste or byproducts. The projects will produce rare earths that are needed to fuel a green revolution of electric cars and wind turbines while trying to avert the shortages expected in coming years. Below are details of the companies and their projects, in order of output of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, the rare earths most in demand. ENERGY FUELS INC (UUUU.A)The main business of U.S. Energy Fuels is producing uranium, but it has moved into rare earths. VHM LTD (VHM.AX)Australia's VHM Ltd is working on the Goschen mineral sands project, which will also produce rare earths.

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it was funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to help coal communities, including $450 million for clean energy projects on current and former mining areas. "This project will help strengthen American supply chains, revitalize energy communities, and reduce reliance on competitors like China," the White House said in a statement. The government action also includes putting 11 federal agencies to work in tandem on getting new resources into energy communities like former coal mining towns, it said. The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service will release guidance on Tuesday that will allow developers of clean energy projects and facilities to tap into billions of dollars in boneses, in addition to existing tax credits, it said. The funding for this initiative comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the White House said.

"From our point of view, Rostock with its overseas port and an existing ammonia terminal can become a hub for international hydrogen imports into eastern Germany," said Hans-Joachim Polk, board member for infrastructure and technology. In another cooperation, VNG is sounding out Algeria's state oil and gas producer Sonatrach with a view to possibly arranging green hydrogen imports into Rostock via Tunisian and Italian natural gas pipelines, Polk told a press briefing. As customers across Europe baulked at sky-high prices, VNG's gas sales fell 23% last year to 588 billion kilowatt hours (kWh). As well as gas sales to local utilities and industry, the group has a wide range of activities in high pressure and distribution gas pipelines, storage facilities and biogas. Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Rachel More, Friederike Heine and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Anglo American PLC FollowApril 4 (Reuters) - Anglo American (AAL.L) said on Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Swedish hydrogen and steel producer H2 Green Steel to work on advancing low-carbon steelmaking processes. The miner said the agreement includes studying and trialling the use of iron ore products from its Kumba mines in South Africa and Minas-Rio mine in Brazil as feedstock for H2's direct reduced iron (DRI) production process at its Boden plant in Sweden. DRI steel production is estimated to be significantly less carbon intensive than traditional blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace integrated processes. Anglo American's shares were up 0.4% by 0715 GMT. Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rio Tinto, the majority shareholder in ERA which owns and operates the Ranger mine site, has been under pressure to fund the cleanup costs. Rehabilitation costs are estimated at A$1.6 billion to A$2.2 billion, ERA said in a statement. ERA shares declined 9.8% to A$0.185, their lowest since June 2022, while the benchmark index (.AXJO) was marginally higher. ERA will also use the proceeds to partly repay a A$100 million loan from Rio Tinto. (This story has been corrected to state that Rio Tinto is majority shareholder of the mine's owner and operator, not the mine's operator, in paragraph 2, and to state that the target of the protests was the mine and the Jabiluka project, not Rio Tinto, in paragraph 7)Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

April 4 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday will release final guidance on how clean energy companies can secure additional tax credits when investing in U.S. communities economically tied to fossil fuels like oil and coal. The boosted tax credit is central to the administration’s goal of ensuring areas long dependent on fossil fuels benefit from clean energy. It also helped secure West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin's essential support for the bill. "Communities like coal communities have the knowledge, infrastructure, resources and know-how to play a leading role in the move to a clean energy economy," U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. Those minerals are crucial to producing clean energy technologies like batteries and solar panels.

Europe and the U.S. are scrambling to wean themselves off rare earths from China, which account for 90% of global refined output. Australia's RMIT University estimates there are 16.2 million tonnes of unexploited rare earths in 325 mineral sands deposits worldwide, while the U.S. Idaho National Laboratory said 100,000 tonnes of rare earths each year end up in waste from producing phosphoric acid alone. That, Adamas says, is equivalent to some 8% of expected demand for the two rare earths, vital for making permanent magnets to power EV and wind turbine motors. Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsQUICKER THAN NEW MINESRecovering rare earths from waste is much quicker than setting up new projects from scratch. The company will extract phosphorus for fertiliser, fluorine and gypsum in addition to rare earths.

Several major finance companies also voluntarily reported ethnicity pay data for the period. The majority of major finance firms nonetheless made progress in narrowly closing their gender pay gaps, according to their disclosures. ETHNICITY PAY GAPSHalf of the 20 finance firms reviewed reported varying detail on ethnicity pay gaps, with some including insurer Phoenix doing so for the first time. Where pay gaps were further broken down by ethnicity, they showed the largest pay disparities were between Black and white employees. All the employers said in their pay gap reports they were taking steps to improve diversity, particularly at senior levels.

April 3 (Reuters) - Membership in the United Auto Workers union rose 3% in 2022 to 383,000 as it works to organize workers in battery plants and other electric vehicle components. Fain said last week the union was ready to go to war against "employers who refuse to give our members their fair share." Membership in the Detroit-based union rose from 372,000 in 2021 but is still down from 397,000 at the end of 2020. North American operations for the Detroit Three automakers are under pressure as they pour billions into electric vehicles and battery production. In 2019, UAW workers at GM went on strike for 40 days before a new contract was ratified, costing the automaker $3 billion.

The United States, the bank's largest shareholder, has been pressing the World Bank for months to take bolder action to increase funding to help developing countries address climate change, future pandemics and other global challenges. The World Bank provided $100 billion from 2020-2022 for global public goods, but estimates that developing countries and the private sector would need to spend far more - $2.4 trillion a year - to address such needs. Karim El Aynaoui, executive president of Moroccan think tank the Policy Center for the New South, said reforms of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks were long overdue and changes were needed to give greater voice to African countries and other developing nations. "The world has changed since the inception of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. U.S. officials are also working closely with other MDBs to advance reforms, including the Inter-American Development Bank, which adopted closely aligned measures at its annual meeting, including a push for more private capital.

Companies Cummins Inc FollowApril 3 (Reuters) - Cummins Inc (CMI.N) said on Monday it would invest more than $1 billion across its U.S. engine manufacturing network to upgrade some facilities to support new clean energy technologies. Cummins said the investment would go towards its facilities in Indiana, North Carolina and New York, to upgrade its clean energy technology including fuel-agnostic engine platforms that would run on low-carbon fuels like natural gas, diesel and eventually hydrogen. The Columbus, Indiana-based company, known for its diesel and natural gas engines, has accelerated its push towards clean energy solutions to sell to its industrial and commercial transportation customers, as the trucking industry is expected to face tougher greenhouse emissions regulations this year. The $1 billion announced is in addition to the investment of $1.5 billion that the engine maker announced last month. Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) shareholders should vote against its annual report and remuneration policy and support the "Follow This" climate activist resolution at BP's shareholders' meeting, Britain's Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has recommended in a report seen by Reuters. In February BP rowed back on plans to slash oil and gas output and emissions and will not offer shareholders a vote on its climate strategy as it did last year when they backed it. LAPFF in a report to its members said it was "disappointed with the slackening of 2030 aims for emissions reduction". "LAPFF is further disappointed that there is not a company resolution on transition planning this year, especially given the material changes since the last one." They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

After missing a target to install 175 GW in renewable energy capacity by 2022, India is now trying to boost non-fossil capacity - solar and wind energy, nuclear and hydro power, and bio-power - to 500 GW by 2030. Its renewable energy capacity, excluding big hydro and nuclear power, exceeds 122 GW, while non-fossil capacity currently stands at more than 175 GW, according to government data as of February 28. Coal currently accounts for over half of India's 412.2 GW power generation capacity. Out of the targeted 50 GW in new green energy tenders every year, 10 GW will be for installation on wind turbines, according to the memo. Solar currently makes up over half of India's renewable energy capacity, while wind energy accounts for nearly a third.

Meanwhile, Republicans, many from energy-producing states, have raised a growing chorus of challenges on ESG. This can be a problem for fund participants who do not share ESG goals, the Republicans wrote. Asset managers have argued that such memberships align with their fiduciary obligations, and some are giving clients more control over proxy votes. "Asset managers voting for the exclusion of one of their competitors has clear antitrust implications," the letter states. The resolutions were filed by activist shareholder group As You Sow, which the Republicans suggested had targeted Vanguard over its withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Republicans, many from energy-producing states, have raised a growing chorus of challenges on ESG. The latest letter built on concerns many of the same attorneys general brought to BlackRock last August. This can be a problem for fund participants who do not share ESG goals, the Republicans wrote. Another section of the Republicans' letter cites several pending shareholder resolutions that ask corporations to dial back the use of Vanguard Group retirement plan funds because of Vanguard's fossil fuel holdings. "Asset managers voting for the exclusion of one of their competitors has clear antitrust implications," the letter states.

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