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☆ Red carpet style at the Tony Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Around 170 countries agreed to develop a first draft of what could become the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution by the end of next year, the most significant green deal since the Paris climate accord.

Locations: Paris

☆ Stunning images from the eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Locations: Paris

☆ BofA names 4 stocks to tap the world's largest EV market — and says one has 71% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

China's electric vehicles are "much more competitive than before" — and it's likely to remain the world's largest EV market in 2025, according to BofA. BofA shares some tips on how investors can position themselves in the country's EV market. For Li Auto, it gave the U.S.-listed shares a price target of $37, or 27% possible upside. As for the EV market, BofA is bullish on its battery supply chain in particular. BofA's top pick in copper is Chinese miner Zijin Mining , which it gave a price target of 18 Hong Kong dollars, or 71% upside.

Persons: BofA, Li, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S, Green, Stock, Buffett, Li Auto, Li, EV, China EV, China's, Hong Locations: China, Hong Kong

☆ A top DeSantis aide battled with Trump's team over his 'Soviet' plan for new 'dystopian' American cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis accused Trump of proposing "Soviet dystopian nonsense." Christina Pushaw attacked Trump's plan for new federally-chartered US cities on federal land. Ron DeSantis publicly battled with former President Donald Trump's defenders on Twitter over what she called the ex-president's "Soviet dystopian" plan for American cities. This is Soviet dystopian nonsense," she tweeted. A Republican consultant close to Trump's campaign told Insider in March that Trump came up with the idea for Freedom Cities himself and was likely inspired by Saudi Arabia's futuristic desert cities.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Trump, Christina Pushaw, Pushaw, —, Donald Trump's, DeSantis, Obama, Biden, Hillary, Paul Ryan, Ron, didn't, I've, Pushaw didn't, Sonnie Johnson, That's Organizations: Gov, World Economic, Service, Florida Gov, Twitter, World, Trump, Freedom Cities, Pacific Partnership, — Trump, Tea Party, Fox News Locations: Soviet, Freedom, globalism, Pres, It's, Saudi

☆ How Biden's $369 billion sell to the climate tech industry is luring Europe's hottest startups to the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

President Biden's $369 billion climate sell is attracting some of Europe's biggest startups. Battery maker Northvolt and carbon removal firm Climeworks are both lining up US expansions. President Biden's $369 billion play to make the US the new hub for climate-friendly companies caused consternation among international allies. Europe's EV battery darling Northvolt is set to announce its highly anticipated US expansion in the coming weeks while carbon removal company Climeworks has already revealed plans to scale up Stateside. The company is also watching Europe's efforts to create a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

☆ Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Is a Huge, Expensive, Controversial Success - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration’s signature policy achievement, at least so far, has been the Inflation Reduction Act, enacted last August. In other words, early indications are that the Inflation Reduction Act will be an enormous success story. Readers of a certain age — well, a fairly advanced age — may recall that there was a big U.S. debate about industrial policy in the 1980s and early 1990s. There was a widespread perception, fed by books like Lester Thurow’s 1992 best seller “Head to Head,” that America was falling behind Japan and possibly Europe. Many analysts attributed Japan’s economic growth to its industrial policy — that is, government efforts to promote the industries of the future.

☆ EU agrees to decarbonize air travel with the 'world's largest green fuels mandate for aviation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

EU officials described the agreement as a "turning point" and "another important step" for European aviation, saying the measures were designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports and improve energy security. European Union negotiators secured a deal to decarbonize the air travel sector, seeking to slash heat-trapping emissions by stimulating the region's green aviation fuel market. The new rules are set to require aviation fuel suppliers to supply a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuels — or SAF — at EU airports, starting at 2% of overall fuel supplied by 2025. "Fuel suppliers at EU airports must provide an increasing share of sustainable aviation fuels and aircraft operators increase their use," Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal, said in a statement. If aviation is to align itself with the Paris climate accord and curb global heating, the industry will need to move away from fossil fuels completely in the long term.

☆ EU urges firm results, green alliance from US trade talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union need to produce clear results next month from their forum on trade and technology and forge closer ties on green products and technology, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday. "We should also be aiming to move forward on digital and sustainable trade," Dombrovskis said. The transatlantic partners should, he said, help set common standards for green goods and technologies, ensure fair competition and build resilient supply chains. Dombrovskis said the two should work to align the domestic supports of the IRA and the EU Green Deal, so "turbo-charging" the green transition. In my view, we should be aiming for nothing less than a green transatlantic marketplace," Dombrovskis said.

☆ Factbox: Economic reliance on China that EU wants to 'rebalance'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen leaves after an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium March 24, 2023. Von der Leyen said the bloc could not decouple from China, but needed to reduce risk and "rebalance" economic ties. China is the EU's third largest outside market for its cars, and some 15% of EU car exports head there. Chinese EV exports to the bloc shot up to 6.9 billion euros in 2022 from less than 800 million euros in 2020. CLEAN TECHThe EU imports 80% of its solar panels from China, importing 21 billion euros worth in 2022.

☆ A 'greenwashing' crackdown in Europe hasn't gone down well. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published its so-called "Green Claims Directive" on Wednesday. The highly anticipated proposal seeks to establish an EU-wide methodology that will help to clean up the environmental claims marketplace. Today, most green claims are too good to be true and the proposal is… far from the real (green) deal. The EU's "Green Claims Directive" seeks to tackle this trend. "Green claims are everywhere: ocean-friendly t-shirts, carbon-neutral bananas, bee-friendly juices, 100% CO2-compensated deliveries and so on," said Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal.

☆ Conservatives scoff at Trump's 'leftist plan' to build 10 new American cities featuring flying cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Trump recently announced a plan to build up to 10 new American cities on federal land. But some right-wing critics have attacked it as a "leftist plan" to create walkable "15-minute cities." Fox News left its in-house comedian, Greg Gutfeld, to handle the coverage of Freedom Cities. A conservative member of the UK parliament recently called 15-minute cities an "international socialist concept" that "would take away your personal freedoms." But Freedom Cities don't sound like 15-minute cities at all.

☆ Exclusive: Hydrogen firm Thyssenkrupp Nucera says IRA spurring U.S. interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Christoph Steitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Thyssenkrupp Nucera held talks about several potential green hydrogen projects "with very concrete timelines" during a trip to the United States last week, Chief Executive Werner Ponikwar said in an interview. Green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy, is seen as key to decarbonising industry and so meeting climate targets. "We are gaining a new growth market," Ponikwar said. Ponikwar expects the U.S. hydrogen market to grow to a mid double-digit gigawatt (GW) amount by the end of the decade, from just a few hundred megawatts currently. While the IRA supports hydrogen production, it does not require makers of hydrogen equipment to produce locally, unlike other renewable technologies where that's a condition to qualify for credits.

☆ Volkswagen pauses on Europe battery plants, awaits EU response to IRA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"De facto it is the case that we are getting ahead far faster in North America," a person close to the matter said to Reuters, declining to be named. Asked about the report, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the carmaker was "still evaluating suitable locations for our next cell factories in Eastern Europe and North America. The company said in October last year it planned to firmly settle on a location for a plant in eastern Europe in the first six months of 2023. Schmall said he participated in a discussion with EU officials via the European Battery Alliance last week on what conditions were needed in Europe for battery production. These included state aid in line with China and North America, a raw materials strategy and affordable renewable energy, he said.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive body is set to provide permits, regulatory support and easier access to public and private funding for certain strategic green technologies, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. Certain technologies, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), were not included in the draft as potential candidates for the support scheme. The rules would also support auctions to deploy renewable energy sources, adapt innovation funds and provide easier access to public-private procurement. If the goals aren't achieved by 2030, the European Commission will propose "additional measures aimed at covering the identified gaps," the draft says. The European Commission declined to comment on the draft document, which an industry source said was expected to be released in the coming weeks.

☆ Biden and EU's von der Leyen to meet amid subsidies dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will discuss clean energy and supply chains with President Joe Biden in Washington on March 10, the White House said, as European nations worry that new U.S. subsidies will hurt their economies. "They will ... discuss U.S.-EU coordination to combat the climate crisis through investing in clean technology based on secure supply chains," the statement said. During a December visit by France's President Emmanuel Macron to the White House, Biden said that bills aimed at boosting U.S. renewable energy and the semiconductor industry have "glitches" that can be addressed. Washington and its allies have said in recent weeks that China was considering providing weapons to Russia, which Beijing denies. Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Tim AhmannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ World to face wars over food and water without climate action, EU green deal chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The European Commission's climate chief warned Friday that society will be "fighting wars" over food and water in the future, if serious action is not taken on climate change. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Frans Timmermans said global warming posed one of the greatest risks to security worldwide and urged that efforts to limit its impact should not be derailed by other geopolitical crises, such as the war in Ukraine. "Climate is security, it's the same thing," said Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and commissioner for climate action at the European Commission. "The climate crisis is not going to be halted because there's another priority," Timmermans told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during a panel session entitled "Geopolitics of Green Transition."

☆ Need for fossil fuels in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly, Frans Timmermans says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNeed for fossil fuels in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly, Frans Timmermans saysFrans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and commissioner for climate action of the European Commission, says the need for fossil fuel in Europe is going to be reduced very quickly.

☆ A subsidy arms race is kicking off between Europe and America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This premium is expected to shrink as clean energy technologies become more advanced and infrastructure to produce them is scaled up. Most of the money the IRA has earmarked for clean energy initiatives comes in the form of tax credits. In the meantime, government officials are lobbying the United States to rethink parts of the IRA. “Europe and other allied countries have nothing to fear from the Inflation Reduction Act and quite a bit to gain,” said Brian Deese, Biden’s top economic adviser. The fight over green subsidies also comes as geopolitical tensions are pushing countries to focus on greater localization of production — not just for green energy, but also for sensitive technologies like computer chips.

☆ Morgan Stanley says Biden-backed green subsidies will boost this little-known hydrogen stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Norway's Nel Hydrogen are expected to rise by more than 20% thanks to the latest set of green subsidies in both the U.S. and Europe, according to Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley says Nel shares, which trade in the U.S. and Europe , will rise to 22 Norwegian Kroner ($2.15) over the next 12 months. Apart from the sectoral tailwinds, Nel shares also benefit from being one of the few listed green hydrogen companies, said the analysts. Morgan Stanley is also bearish on ITM Power's stock, which is one of the few viable alternatives, according to the bank. However, Morgan Stanley believes sentiment has hit rock bottom, and shares of the company are likely to rise from the current level.

☆ How to meet evolving regulations around climate change and water conservation without sacrificing profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Ecolab | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Governments are creating incentives to help businesses reduce carbon emissions. Minimizing water use can help organizations comply with government regulations without sacrificing profit. Understanding the ties between water use and climate change is an important step for businesses as they look to meet evolving government regulations. "This is a great example of how Ecolab Water for Climate is helping organizations meet evolving regulations." These tactics help businesses achieve profitable outcomes, leverage incentives, and meet regulatory requirements.

FRANKFURT, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Plans by the European Union to loosen state aid rules in order to boost local industry and compete with U.S. support schemes tackle the right issues but lack clarity over implementation and, more importantly, speed, Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) said. "The most important issue is not how big the programme is and how many billions are behind it, but how to implement it faster," Siemens Energy Chief Executive Christian Bruch told journalists after presenting first-quarter results. Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Green Subsidy War Accelerates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The global green trade and subsidy war is accelerating, and last week the European Union fired a return salvo at the U.S. The Green Deal Industrial Plan—that’s really the name—is a direct answer to last year’s U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and as with all trade wars both sides will lose. Europeans are understandably upset at the IRA’s raw protectionism. The biggest flash point is the consumer tax credit of up to $7,500 that is available only for electric vehicles assembled in North America. Eligibility for half of the credit is tied to buying a car with battery components made in North America and the other half depends on having a battery with minerals extracted in the U.S. or a country with a free-trade agreement with America.

☆ Explainer: Why the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has rattled Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The European Commission presented its Green Deal Industrial Plan on Wednesday in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with increased levels of state aid to help Europe compete as a manufacturing hub for clean tech products. The Treasury is set to provide guidelines in March for electric vehicles bought by consumers, but there appears less room for manoeuvre. The European Commission and the White House have set up a high-level task force to discuss the issue. France has led calls for Europe to respond with state support of its own for European companies, including through a "buy European act" and large-scale subsidies. Longer term, the European Commission says it will propose a European Sovereignty Fund, but it is unclear how it will operate and how it will be funded.

☆ Europe’s Answer to Biden’s Climate Bill Is Still Murky Green
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Carol Ryan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The European Union says the era of cheap fossil fuels is over and that a subsidy race has begun in green energy. But its plan to join the fray isn’t as decisive as Washington’s. On Wednesday, the European Commission launched its Green Deal Industrial Plan, a hotly anticipated response to the $369 billion of clean-energy funding in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The law, itself a response to Chinese industrial policy, provides generous tax breaks that should stimulate local manufacturing of green-energy technology and build out domestic infrastructure for renewables.

FASTER PERMITSClean tech firms could be in line for simpler rules and fast-tracked permits to build production facilities in Europe. The EU executive said it would produce a "Net-Zero Industry Act" offering faster permits to manufacturers of technologies key to its climate goals. That could include carbon capture and storage, renewable energy, renewable hydrogen production facilities and batteries. Brussels had already slashed the time lines and simplified the rules for renewable energy projects last year. The Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, wants to increase the EU's network of trade agreements, such as those concluded with Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Mercosur and one it aims to agree with Australia.

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