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Companies The World Bank Group FollowWASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - World Bank President David Malpass defended the institution's commitment to tackling climate change on Tuesday, telling civil society groups that have criticized his leadership on the issue that the bank is focused on global warming. "We are clearly prioritizing climate," Malpass told a town hall held during the World Bank Group's annual meetings, responding to several questions about the World Bank's climate change work. The World Bank spent a record $31.7 billion on climate-related investments, exceeding its goal of dedicating 35% of its investments to climate co-benefits, he added. And we are working very hard at the World Bank to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout all of our tools and programs." "We have not lent a single dollar in the World Bank and IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) directly to fossil fuels last year," Juergen Voegele, vice president of sustainable development at the World Bank, said in addressing that report's findings.

Companies The World Bank Group FollowWASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Monday it is launching a trust fund aimed at pooling public funds to provide grants for projects to reduce carbon emissions, including decommissioning coal-fired power plants. The Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) fund will provide grants to developing countries as they deliver pre-agreed results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, World Bank President David Malpass said in a LinkedIn post. SCALE will be the new umbrella trust fund for the bank's results-based climate finance activities. Malpass said the World Bank was in the process of capitalizing the new fund, with the aim of launching it at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt in November. The World Bank did not identify a projected size for the new fund.

☆ P&G faces challenge to CEO Moeller as chairman from environmentalists, investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jessica Dinapoli | Thomson Reuters | New York-Based Reporter Covering U.S. Consumer Products Spanning Paper Towels To Packaged Food | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Boxes of Tide detergent, a Procter & Gamble product, sit on a shelf at a store in Alexandria, May 28, 2009. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe groups request replacing Moeller with an independent chair. Norway's sovereign wealth fund also plans to vote against Moeller, according to a voting notice on its website. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc and Glass Lewis, firms that make widely-followed recommendations on voting for investors, said shareholders should support Moeller and the two directors. ISS said investors should take caution when supporting Moeller and the directors because of "ongoing concerns" regarding deforestation.

An EU official said Austria was undertaking "diplomatic outreach" to potentially interested countries. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Denmark jointly called for nuclear to be excluded from the rules last November when the EU was still drafting them. Ireland and Spain had also warned Brussels against labelling investments in gas as "green". Gewessler said labelling gas, a fossil fuel, as a green energy investment had damaged the credibility of the EU rules. Environmental campaigners including Greenpeace launched separate legal challenges last month against the rules, which they said violated the EU's own climate laws.

Companies Holding Company ADMIE IPTO SA FollowATHENS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Power generation from renewables fully covered Greece's electricity demand over a few hours last week, for the first time in the history of the country's electricity system, its independent power transmission operator IPTO said. IPTO said on Monday that renewables accounted for 100% of the power generation for at least five hours last Friday, reaching a record high of 3,106 megawatt hours at 0800 GMT. "Record of optimism for the country's transition to clean energy, weaning off fossil fuels & ensuring our energy sufficiency," Green Tank tweeted. It plans to have 25 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity from about 10 gigawatt now but analysts say Athens might reach that target sooner. IPTO has been investing in expanding the country's power grid to boost power capacity and facilitate the penetration of solar, wind and hydroelectric energy.

The logo of Ferrari is seen in the headquarters as CEO Benedetto Vigna unveils the company's new long term strategy, in Maranello, Italy, June 15, 2022. They cover almost 70,000 workers in Italy, two thirds of them at the former Fiat-Chrysler, which last year merged with France's PSA to create Stellantis, whose brands also include Peugeot and Jeep. Spokespeople for Stellantis and Iveco said they would not make any comment until unions have filed a formal request, in coming days or weeks. The Agnelli family's holding company Exor (EXOR.AS) is a major shareholder in carmakers Stellantis and Ferrari, truckmaker Iveco and agricultural and construction machine maker CNH Industrial. This is separate from a national contract for workers in other parts of the metal and mechanical sector.

☆ This startup wants to decarbonize the construction industry using biochar. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck EcoLocked use to raise $1.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A climate tech startup developing building materials with sequestered carbon just raised $1.8 million. A climate tech startup developing building materials with biochar, a charcoal-like form of sequestered carbon dioxide, just raised 1.8 million euros (around $1.8 million) in its first funding round. Manufacturing building materials such as steel, cement, and glass accounted for 11%. Changing building materials is a "major pathway" to decarbonization, he added, thanks to increased energy efficiency. Long-term, EcoLocked sees itself developing recipes for other building materials as well as concrete.

☆ How an Xprize-winning group developed an AI assistant to help African farmers increase their crops and adapt to the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-10 | by ( Sarah Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Penn State's PlantVillage uses technology solutions and field teams to increase farmers' crop yield. As warming temperatures spawn more crop pests, groups, including PlantVillage, are increasingly using artificial intelligence to protect agriculture. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy more than $220 billion, while invasive insects cost at least $70 billion. The climate crisis increases crop diseases and pests — like the desert locust, which could spread because of warming temperatures. Farmers are encouraged to plant trees with biochar, a soil additive that can store carbon dioxide for centuries.

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