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The Vegetation Health Index (VHI), a U.S. government product, suggests vegetation in Mato Grosso may be in the worst state since 2015, which preceded one of the state’s worst growing seasons. The other comparable one was in 2020, though the following soybean crop was normal. Soils in Mato Grosso lack in nutrients and quality as compared with the best U.S. The state is expected to grow 27% and 38% of Brazil’s total 2023-24 soy and corn crops, respectively. Nationally, Brazil’s soybean planting was 68% as of last Thursday, the lowest rate since 2019-20 and behind the year-ago 80%.

Persons: Rio, Mato Grosso, Karen Braun, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Lucas, El Nino, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mato Grosso, Brazil, NAPERVILLE , Illinois, Mato, U.S, Mato Grosso’s

Although China’s interest has declined, other U.S. corn export demand has been better than a year ago. USDA predicts 2023-24 U.S. corn exports to rise 23% on the year to 52.1 million tons (2.05 billion bushels). Total U.S. corn export sales for 2023-24 minus those to China are almost 40% higher than at the same point a year ago. Corn sales were closer to average over that same time frame, but both corn and soy are being limited by Brazil’s rising presence. Brazilian corn and soybean exportsIn the first eight months of 2023, some 18% of Brazil’s corn exports went to China compared with none in the previous years.

Persons: Rio, corn’s, Karen Braun, Rod Nickel Organizations: Lucas, U.S . Department of Agriculture, U.S, USDA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mato Grosso, Brazil, NAPERVILLE , Illinois, China, U.S, Mexico, United States

☆ Fungi-based meat alternative startup Enough, founded by a former Quorn boss, just raised $43.5 million with this 16-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Fungi-based food startup Enough just secured $43.5 million (40 million euros) in growth funding. Glasgow-based Enough, founded in 2015, ferments fungi to create an alternative to animal-based meat known as mycoprotein. Its neutral flavor and meaty texture mean it can be used to create a range of plant-based meat, fish, and dairy products. The plant-based meat industry has stagnated in recent years with the likes of Beyond Meat reporting lower sales and Meatless Farm going into administration. For example, one in five Burger King Whoppers sold in Germany is plant–based while plant-based startup This was recently named the fastest-growing food brand in the UK.

Persons: Jim Laird, he's, Laird, Whoppers, Beef Organizations: World Fund, Burger, Unilever, British, Capital, European, CPT Capital Locations: Scottish, Quorn, Glasgow, Germany, soya, Netherlands

Tokyo CNN —Japan expressed “grave concern” after Chinese and Russian warships sailed close to its southern islands on Thursday, just a day before its leader is expected to discuss rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific at a summit with counterparts from South Korea and the United States. It is the first time Russian and Chinese ships have sailed together through this particular body of water. It said the ships are believed to have taken part in a joint patrol in the Pacific. Chinese and Russian sailors conducted anti-submarine exercises, repelled a simulated enemy air raid, conducted rescue training at sea, and practiced helicopter takeoffs and landings on the decks of warships, the Russian ministry said. There, they are expected to agree to deepen defense, technology and economic cooperation, according to senior Biden administration officials.

Persons: David, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, hasn’t, China’s, ”, Wang Yi Organizations: Tokyo CNN —, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Japan, Western, Biden, South Locations: Tokyo CNN — Japan, Russian, South Korea, United States, Miyako, Japan’s, Okinotori, Soya, Hokkaido, Sakhalin, Okhotsk, Japan, East, China, Russia, Tokyo, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv . China, North Korea, Seoul, Korea, Asia, European, Pyongyang, Korean

☆ Vladimir Putin's latest economic assault on the West is fueling fears of a global food crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On Monday, Russia pulled out of an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain. It then started bombing Ukrainian ports and threatened to attack ships. Putin's latest economic assault on the West has sent wheat prices soaring and sparked fears of a global food crisis. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. When international grain prices rise, it becomes more expensive for poorer countries to import those commodities – so Russia's withdrawal from the UN's initiative has fueled policymakers' fears that there could be a worldwide food crisis.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, António Guterres, Josep Borrell, Hargreaves, Sophie Lund, Yates, Jamie Dimon, Putin Organizations: Service, Initiative, United Nations, UN, JPMorgan, NATO Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Europe, European

☆ From ice cream to cattle feed: Here are the winners and losers as the summer heat bears down
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

With temperatures hitting all-time highs, consumers are turning to ice cream and chilled drinks to beat the heat — and analysts say some sectors could benefit. Several Southeast Asian cities hit record high temperatures in May as global climate change exacerbates heat waves and air pollution in the region. A street vendor selling bottles of chilled water amid high temperatures in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. "Use of air-conditioning will skyrocket, benefiting the HVAC industry but leading to extremely high levels of energy usage," said Allison Malmsten, public research director at Daxue Consulting. Cattle feeding at a cattle farm on December 13, 2020 in Pingliang, Gansu Province of China.

Persons: Bain, Zara Lightowler, Kuo, David Kuo, Allison Malmsten, Daxue, Rice Organizations: Getty, Company's, Vitasoy, Cola, PepsiCo, Bloomberg, Unilever, Smart Investor ., Daxue Consulting, Visual China, Co's, Sustainability Locations: Srinagar, Indian, Kashmir, Asia, El, Southeast Asia, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Pingliang, Gansu Province, China, Laos, Malaysia

☆ Malawians search for relatives buried under the mud as death toll jumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While the storm had dissipated, rain continued to hamper rescue efforts as vehicles struggled on flooded roads. Lieutenant Colonel Dickens Kamisa, who participated in the search, said local authorities identified about eight areas where dead bodies should be buried and were using sniffer dogs to find trapped Malawians. Chifundo Chilimba, a local resident, told Reuters he could not find his family members as the depth of the mud was too deep. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it was providing food assistance by distributing partially pre-cooked food called corn-soya blend to displaced people. The storm had already killed about 27 people in Madagascar and Mozambique before it lashed Mozambique a second time.

☆ Japanese police arrest diners accused of 'sushi terrorism,' after videos of pranksters licking soy sauce bottles and rubbing saliva on conveyor-belt food goes viral
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Japanese police arrested three diners accused of "sushi terrorism." Unhygienic pranks in Japan's conveyor belt sushi restaurants have become a viral sensation. In recent weeks, videos have spread on social media of diners in Japan's famed Kaiten-sushi restaurants performing unhygenic stunts. Japanese Police said they arrested a 21-year-old, a 19-year-old, and a 15-year-old after they allegedly performed "sushi terrorism" stunts at a restaurant in Nagoya, central Japan, on February 3. Kura Sushi is installing AI cameras in its restaurants to monitor for sushi terrorism, while Sushiro, another popular chain, is shuttering its conveyor belts system for unordered food.

☆ I asked ChatGPT to help me plan a vacation. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So the idea that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bing, can research travel destinations and create itineraries is intriguing. I went to the developer's website, clicked on the word "ChatGPT," registered for an account — and started chatting. "All of the places I recommended have great online reviews," ChatGPT replied, providing ratings from Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google for each hotel. But ChatGPT couldn't show photographs of the hotels or help book them — although it did provide ample instructions on how to do both. Every city I asked ChatGPT about resulted in the bot praising the local food scene.

☆ A food fight is raging over what we can and can't call 'meat'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Morten Toft Bech, the founder of a startup that makes plant-based meat alternatives, brought the animals in protest. Meat lobbies argue that plant-based products have stolen the concept of meat without matching its taste and nutrition standards, tarnishing the integrity and cultural importance of meat. It tends to argue that plant-based meat alternatives shouldn't be allowed to use meaty terms at all because, put simply, they aren't meat. Meat bodies want startups to come up with new terms for plant-based food that imitates meat. Both meat organizations and plant-based companies told Insider they encouraged a healthy, balanced diet.

☆ Zelenskyy accuses Russia of creating 'artificial famine' after Moscow suspends crucial grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hyder Abbasi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of creating “conditions of artificial famine” and suggested it should be expelled from the G-20 group of nations on Saturday after Moscow withdrew from a crucial grain export deal. “How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents?” Zelenskyy said during an address on Ukrainian television. President Joe Biden warned that global hunger could increase because of Russia’s decision to suspend the deal. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.”Secretary of State Antony Blinken also accused Russia of weaponizing food. The grain deal had restarted shipments from Ukraine, allowing sales on world markets, targeting the prewar level of 5 million metric tons exported from Ukraine each month.

☆ Russia is ready to supply up to 500,000 tonnes of grain to poorest countries, TASS reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia is ready to supply up to 500,000 tonnes of grain to poor countries in the next four months, with assistance from Turkey, TASS news agency cited Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev as saying on Saturday. Russia said on Friday that only 3% of food exported under a U.N.-brokered deal to release grain from blockaded Ukrainian ports has gone to the poorest countries, with Western countries accounting for half of all shipments. Since Russia and Ukraine signed the U.N.-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative in Turkey on July 22, several million tonnes of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soya have been exported from Ukraine. Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia halts Ukraine Black Sea grain exports, citing attack on Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

in the sea port in Odesa after restarting grain export, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine August 19, 2022. Russia said the step, which will cut Ukrainian grain exports from its crucial Black Sea ports, was taken due to the drone attack and the participation of British specialists. 'HUNGER GAMES'Since Russia and Ukraine signed the U.N.-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative in Turkey on July 22, more than 9 million tonnes of corn, wheat, sunflower products, barley, rapeseed and soya have been exported from Ukraine. But ahead of the Nov. 19 expiry of the grain deal, which allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports, Russia has repeatedly said that there are serious problems with it. Russia will officially notify U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shortly of its suspension of the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, Russia's Deputy U.N.

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Tuesday it would make fresh investments to set up solar and wind projects in Europe and called on its suppliers to decarbonize operations related to the production of iPhones and other products. Apple had previously asked suppliers to commit to 100% renewable energy for Apple's production. Apple has been carbon neutral for its global corporate operations since 2020. Apple said the European investments are part of a strategy to address about 22% of its carbon footprint coming from the electricity customers use to charge their devices. In total, the planned investments will add 3,000 gigawatt hours per year of new renewable energy on the grid, Apple said.

Companies BlackRock Inc FollowOct 25 (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) has raised $4.5 billion out of an overall $7.5 billion-target for a new fund to invest in infrastructure assets aimed at climate-focused projects, the world's largest asset manager said on Tuesday. BlackRock, which manages around $8 trillion in assets, said public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and family offices had invested in the new fund, which will be called Global Infrastructure Fund IV. The asset manager said the new fund will invest in five sectors –– energy, low carbon power, transport and logistics, regulated utilities, and digital infrastructure –– to capitalize on the growing trend towards decarbonization and digitalization. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIts previous infrastructure fund raised $5.1 billion in 2020. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ann Maria shibu and Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Over 100 U.S. environmental groups on Monday urged top U.S. climate diplomat John Kerry to support the creation of a fund that would compensate countries that have experienced economic and physical loss from climate change, a key demand of vulnerable countries at the upcoming COP27 climate summit in Egypt. The United States and European Union, the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, are facing pressure from lower-income nations to soften their long-standing resistance to compensation for the "loss and damage" wrought by floods, rising seas and other climate change-fueled impacts. "We also think you need to examine the existing institutions and see what the what the gaps are." Egypt, host of the United Nations' climate negotiations, has appointed the environment ministers of Chile and Germany to come up with a plan for including the controversial loss and damage topic on the formal summit agenda. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Deutsche Bank AG FollowLONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) said on Friday it aimed to reduce the emissions tied to its upstream corporate oil and gas sector loans by 23% by 2030, as part of a series of targets to help it meet its climate commitments. By 2050, the bank said so-called financed emissions tied to the sector, including Scope 3 emissions from the use of gasoline and other refined products by end-users, would be reduced by 90%. In the power generation sector, it would target a 69% cut in so-called Scope 1 physical emissions intensity - a measure of emissions per unit of output tied to utilities' direct energy usage - by 2030 and 100% by 2050. In the autos sector, and specifically light duty vehicles, the bank said it aimed to reduce tailpipe emissions intensity by 59% by 2030, and 100% by mid-century. In the steel sector, it aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 physical emission intensity by 33% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, it said in a statement.

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Companies worth half of total global market capitalistion are now disclosing environmental data after a 42% year-on-year rise in the number of firms reporting, new data published on Wednesday showed. Non-profit environmental disclosure platform CDP said more than 18,700 companies -- the highest yet since CDP launched in 2000 -- and worth a combined $60.8 trillion disclosed data on climate change, deforestation and water security in 2022. The data is also crucial for climate negotiators, including at next month's United Nations climate summit, COP27, to assess progress and spot laggards. However, despite more companies disclosing environmental data, few are providing sufficient information. The United States, China, Japan, Britain and Brazil topped the list of countries for corporate disclosures in 2022, CDP said on Wednesday.

London-based PRI's network of more than 5,000 signatories including Nuveen agree to take steps like urging portfolio companies to disclose more about carbon emissions or workforce diversity. She noted Princeton University recently moved to dissociate its $38 billion endowment from fossil fuel companies. https://bit.ly/3TwDttEA spokesperson for TIAA of New York said it has taken steps including asking portfolio companies to cut emissions. "Large-scale divestments by simply selling fossil-fuel-generating investments to other companies won’t necessarily reduce carbon output," said the spokesperson. Other PRI signatories have also declined to sell off energy stocks.

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Missouri has pulled $500 million out of pension funds managed by BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick said on Tuesday, over the asset manager's environmental, social and governance (ESG) "priority" over shareholder returns. Several Republican-led states have sought to cut business ties with BlackRock over its ESG push, with Louisiana earlier this month saying it would pull $794 million out of the company's funds. While environmentalists have protested that the world's largest asset manager does too little to press for change at fossil fuel portfolio companies, Republican politicians have accused it of boycotting energy stocks. Missouri State Employees' Retirement System had asked BlackRock to abstain from proxy voting at companies on its behalf, but the asset manager refused its demand, Fitzpatrick said. Proxy voting is done by asset management firms on behalf of shareholders.

☆ Can sustainable soya farming come fast enough to save the Cerrado?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Mark Hillsdon | Mark Hillsdon Is A Manchester-Based Freelance Writer Who Writes On Business | Sustainability For The Ethical Corporation | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

“Crop finance is a key part of soy farmers' business models and there is a huge appetite and market for green finance,” he explains. It’s a message consistent with the UK Soy Manifesto, which now covers 60% of the soy coming into the UK. Unlocking green investment means this can now happen, he adds, by supporting sustainable agriculture and protecting forests in a financially sustainable way that rewards farmers. And ultimately it is the involvement of these traders in screening out “bad soy” on which any sustainable soy scheme succeeds or fails. The Retail Soy Group’s roadmap commits members to deforestation-free soy with a cut-off-date of August 2020, but soy traders aren’t following these guidelines, says Wijeratna.

A smoke billowing from a chimney is pictured, as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) takes place, in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 6, 2021. Just 32 of the 100 biggest private firms have set a target to reach net-zero carbon emissions, compared with 69 of the 100 largest public companies, the study showed. In high-emitting sectors such as energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, only 14% of the private firms' annual combined revenue is covered by such a target compared with 77% of revenues from listed firms in the same sector. “Private firms are falling devastatingly short on net zero compared with their publicly-listed cousins," said John Lang, project lead of the Net Zero Tracker. As listed companies increasingly face mandatory climate-related disclosures, Thomas Hale, professor at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government, said there was a risk private firms escaped scrutiny and gained an unfair advantage.

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