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ATHENS, Nov 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There will be no joy if countries get help for climate damage from a fund promised at COP27, but the planet still fries. Call this a country’s “above average emissions“. When you run the numbers from 1992 to 2019, America is the biggest polluter, responsible for 44% of all the “above average emissions”. DYNAMIC FORMULAIt seems fair to look at above average emissions to date when judging who should pay for a current climate disaster, such as the flooding in Pakistan. If one froze the formula on the basis of above average emissions up to now, countries wouldn’t have an incentive to cut their pollution.

☆ Analysis: COP27 loss and damage fund heralds 'new dawn for climate justice'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Yeb Saño, head of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said the fund's approval "marks a new dawn for climate justice." While the loss and damage fund would not be enough to deal with growing climate losses, "it is a much-needed political signal to rebuild broken trust" between rich and poor nations, he said in a video statement. Their opposition was rooted in fears of being held financially liable for the impacts of their historically high greenhouse gas emissions. FOSSIL FUELS MISSINGPolitical figures had urged countries at COP27 to set aside geopolitical fights in order to keep climate action on track. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, global climate and energy lead for environmental group WWF, who presided over COP20 in Peru, said leaders had missed the chance in Egypt to speed up the rapid and deep emissions cuts essential to limit climate damage.

☆ Key takeaways from the COP27 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Egyptian Foreign Minister and Egypt's COP27 President Sameh Shoukry attends an informal stocktaking session during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanySHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 20 (Reuters) - This year's U.N. climate summit featured visits by world leaders, proposals by business leaders, and negotiations by nearly 200 nations about the future of global action on climate change. Natural gas chiefs were billing themselves as climate champions, despite gas companies having faced lawsuits in the United States over such claims. The leftist leader made the Egypt climate summit his first visit abroad since winning Brazil's presidential election last month against right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who presided over mounting destruction of the rainforest and refused to hold the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. U.S., CHINA RELATIONSHIP REKINDLEDA critical precursor for the climate talks' success happened far away from the Red Sea locale.

Here's what you need to know about the agreement:WHAT IS 'LOSS AND DAMAGE'? In U.N. climate talks, "loss and damage" refers to costs being incurred from climate-fuelled weather extremes or impacts, like rising sea levels. Loss and damage funding is different, specifically covering the cost of damage that countries cannot avoid or adapt to. A few governments have made relatively small but symbolic funding commitments for loss and damage: Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Scotland, plus the EU. Some existing U.N. and development bank funding does help states facing loss and damage, though it is not officially earmarked for that goal.

☆ Germany's LNG terminals to cost more than double earlier estimate
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] General view of the new floating LNG gas terminal, which allows Germany to import LNG via ship from other countries, in the harbour in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, November 15, 2022. Overall, the costs are estimated at about 6.56 billion euros, the ministry said, confirming a report in Der Spiegel. That compares with 2.94 billion euros estimated in the country's 2022 budget. The ministry said the floating terminals were essential for Europe's biggest economy to compensate for a collapse in deliveries of Russian gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Germany this month completed the construction of its first floating terminal for LNG at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven.

☆ Analysis: Climate damage fund trumps 1.5C push as COP27 summit nears end
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The focus on loss and damage certainly reflects that," said David Waskow, director of the international climate initiative at the U.S.-based World Resources Institute. Since COP26, only about 30 countries have strengthened their national plans to cut fossil fuel emissions. FOSSIL FUEL OMISSION? Progress toward reducing fossil fuel use - and the resulting climate-warming emissions - was less clear in the proposed deal. "Unabated" fuels are those whose emissions are not captured in some way to prevent them entering the atmosphere and adding to climate change.

☆ COP27 draft climate deal published but gaps remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The U.N. climate agency on Saturday published an updated draft of a proposed final agreement for the COP27 summit, fleshing out some key parts of the deal countries are struggling to reach. The document, which forms the overall political deal for COP27, would need approval from the nearly 200 countries at the climate summit in Egypt. The draft contained only a partial text on the contentious issue of "loss and damage" payments to countries hit by climate-driven disasters. It left a placeholder in the section for funding arrangements on loss and damage where text could be added later if countries reach agreement. Reporting by William James and Kate Abnett; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Janet LawrenceOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India scraps export tax on low-grade iron ore, some steel intermediates
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Neha Arora | Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 19 (Reuters) - India scrapped export taxes on low-grade iron ore and on some intermediate steel products beginning Saturday, after months of complaints from miners and steel makers about loss of foreign sales opportunities. The government also reversed a May rise in export tax on iron ore concentrates other than roasted iron pyrites. The additional taxation imposed in May was intended to boost domestic supply of iron ore, a raw ingredient for making steel, and thereby hold down inflation. Major steel makers have urged the government to unwind the additional export taxation, saying it added to their problem of weakening international demand. Indian producers of low-grade ore depend largely on foreign markets, because most major domestic steel producers use high-grade iron ore.

☆ U.S. aims for zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles by 2040
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( David Shepardson | Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United States aims to only sell and produce zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicles like school buses and tractor trailers by 2040, the U.S. energy secretary agreed at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt on Thursday. The non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) sets a target for 30% of those new vehicles - which include commercial delivery vehicles, buses and trucks - to be zero-emission by 2030 and 100% by 2040. The $430 billion climate, tax and drug policy bill passed in August includes new commercial electric vehicles tax credits, with up to $7,500 for light- and medium-duty vehicles and up to $40,000 for heavy-duty vehicles. “Decarbonizing commercial transport vehicles is critical to meeting our overall carbon emissions targets," Heinrich said in a statement. The EPA in March had proposed tighter standards for 17 of the 33 sub-categories of vocational and tractor vehicles, including school buses, transit buses, commercial delivery trucks, and short-haul tractors.

☆ High interest rates bring winter gloom to Canada's housing market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Julie Gordon | Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A for sale sign is displayed outside a home in Toronto, Ontario in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File PhotoOTTAWA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Canada's housing market has gone cold, with buyers sidelined by soaring borrowing costs and sellers holding off listing in hopes of a spring rally, while higher interest rates mean prices need to fall more before any rebound materializes, experts say. "We do have quite a bit of fundamental demand still out there ... but the market just can't clear at current prices because of where interest rates have gone," said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets. Variable rate mortgages - home loans in which the interest rate fluctuates based on market conditions - have more than tripled since March, with strict stress tests making qualification even tougher. "If investors aren't interested in buying condos, the whole market starts to slow down," he said.

Their agreement to talk again about climate thawed relations frozen earlier this year after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi angered China by visiting Taiwan. Teresa Ribera, Spain's climate minister, said she was hopeful that the rapprochement would energise negotiations. “This unequivocal signal from the two largest economies to work together to address the climate crisis is more than welcome; it’s essential," Bapna said. Heading into the last week of the two-week conference progress has been slow, frustrating negotiators who are struggling to find consensus on how rich countries should help developing nations meet the cost of climate-fuelled disasters. The outcome on that issue, referred to in climate talks as "loss and damage", could define the perceived success or failure of the COP27 talks.

☆ Most Gulf stocks end higher, Abu Dhabi hits record high
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Brent crude futures recouped most losses after dropping by more than $1/bbl earlier in the session on China lockdowns worries. read moreSaudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) rose 0.7%, extending gains from the previous session, led by a 3% rise in Riyad Bank (1010.SE). Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) gained 0.9%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU) rising 2.3%. In ABu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) advanced 1.2% to hit a record high, buoyed by a 2.1% jump in the country's biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD). Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) advanced 2.4%, as most of the stocks on the index were in positive territory.

☆ Analysis: Brazil's Lula hopes to unite rainforest nations, tap funding at COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Michael Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

read moreIn the run-up to the COP27 U.N. climate summit, taking place in Egypt from Nov. 6-18, green groups urged Brazil and other forest nations to team up to increase their bargaining power during talks with potential donors over rainforest protection. Brazil was the climate-change success story of the early 2000s when its government - led then by Lula - slashed deforestation rates in the Amazon, she said. But enforcing forest protection laws in remote areas is a problem for all three, conservationists said, while Bolsonaro's allies form the largest bloc in Brazil's Congress, which could hinder Lula's policy push. Other forest nations - like Colombia - could also take part in talks and join any new alliance at COP27 to create a "more robust and effective" coalition, he added. "Done right, collaboration and exchange of experience between rainforest countries can help in tackling deforestation," Jaeger said.

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