Carbon credit capital

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Panama Canal is a conduit for 6% of the global maritime traffic. But climate change is disrupting that trade. While high temperatures and little rain are the primary causes, four hurricanes over seven years have been equally devastating. The Panama Canal is in the midst of Panama’s rainforests, which cover 68% of its land or nearly 12.7 million acres. Both depend on precipitation for survival. If the rainforests do not get ample rainfall, it trickles down to the canal. The bad news is that the canal’s authorities say that 2019 was the fifth most arid in 70 years, with rainfall 20% less than the average, all compounded by depleted reservoirs. Indeed, water levels fell in 2015 and 2016 , and shippers had to reduce the amount of cargo on their vessels — money down the drain. “The Panama Canal is the only interoceanic commerce route whose operation depends on the availability of freshwater, making it the most … [Read more...] about Climate Change Threatens Panama Canal And Global Maritime Trade

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin El Segundo Energy Center, a 560-MW combined cycle power plant in southern California. Source: ... [+] Combined Cycle Journal For electricity, the lifeblood of our modern world , efficiency has been installed as the 1st choice to reduce energy usage and related GHG emissions. Although renewables are ranked 2nd in this critical "loading order," 3rd ranked natural gas often gets deployed 1st because of greater availability and reliability. This demonstrates why since California first installed its Renewable Portfolio Standard in 2003, natural gas' share in the power generation mix has actually risen from 47% then to 61% today. Thanks to its clean burning, predictable, and flexible nature, natural gas has become an increasingly attractive fuel, boosted by a production boom and lower prices. Evolving technologies will continue to allow gas to play an expanding role in the clean generation of electricity. … [Read more...] about U.S. Natural Gas Electricity Efficiency is Always Improving

U.S. stocks continued to claw their way back last week, especially growth stocks . For the week, the Nasdaq posted a gain of 2.2% and the S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Dow? Not so much, sliding just 0.1%. A blowout jobs report for July offered up another dose of good news for the economy and not-so-good news for the stock market, but equity investors hung in there. U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs to their payrolls last month , which was more than twice what was expected, and that added credence to the Federal Reserve 's stance that the U.S. economy is not in a recession given the continued strength of the labor market. So, the thinking goes, the Fed will continue to be aggressive in raising interest rates to cool down inflation, because it's not impacting companies' willingness to hire. That led to a steep selloff in U.S. Treasurys, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ending the week at 2.83%. Oil prices continue to tumble, hitting their lowest level since early … [Read more...] about Live from InvestFest with Downtown Josh Brown, BitBoy Crypto, and Lamar Wilson

Some climate researchers and economists are suggesting Americans should work less in order to protect the environment, according to The Washington Post. Academics and economists say working only four days a week benefits the climate because people will consume 20% less energy and produce a 12.1% lower ecological footprint by reducing their day-to-day activities, according to The Washington Post. They use European work standards as an example for Americans to follow, and cite COVID-19 lockdowns as an example of people benefiting the environment by not working. A University of Massachusetts Amherst study predicts that if work hours were reduced by 10%, ecological footprint, carbon footprint and carbon dioxide emissions could drop by 12.1%, 14.6% and 4.2% respectively. This is because an extra day off work will give people more free time to adopt “environmentally friendly” habits and “get used” to a lower consumption lifestyle, suggested Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center … [Read more...] about Researchers Suggest Americans Should Work Less To Help The Climate

A crowd at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. (Image Source: AP/File photo) The prime minister has set the cat among the pigeons, with his fusillade against election freebies while inaugurating the Bundelkhand expressway. He said the culture of garnering votes by promising freebies harms the country’s economic development and warned the youth, ‘Your present will be lost and your future pushed into darkness.’ Those who believe in distributing freebies, he said, would never build infrastructure, sorely needed for securing the country’s future. That little speech succinctly lays out the rationale against populism---it promises instant gratification, at the cost of future penury. Predictably, the speech drew the ire of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who defended his trademark policy of giving away free power. His promise of giving 300 units of free power to each household if his party wins the Gujarat elections is estimated to cost the state Rs 8700 crore a year. It is policies such as … [Read more...] about The hidden cost of free lunches

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Covid-19 pandemic and the related fundamental shift in how people live and work have led many individuals to seek purposeful careers . According to a 2021 Gartner study , the Great Resignation saw 56% of American employees want to contribute more to society as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. LinkedIn's LNKD 2022 Global Green Skills Report has found that as climate change begins to have adverse effects around the world and countries look to mitigate its impacts, more people are starting to acquire new skills and pursue ventures that equip them for careers in tomorrow's green economy . A recent McKinsey report mentioned that businesses are also actively looking to position themselves and advance their long-term commercial interests in the green economy, with increasing venture capital investments flowing into cleantech and zero-emissions technologies. Despite the growing interest in … [Read more...] about This New Talent Marketplace Aims To Better Connect Workers With Climate Careers

Quek's Hong Leong Bank stake seen as attractive despite premium valuation - A + A Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (Photo by Bloomberg) KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10): Hong Leong Bank Bhd chairman Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan's reported attempt to pare down his controlling stake in the bank may not be an easy task, given the size of his shareholding and the premium valuation, whose share price is hovering near the historic high of RM21.20 it reached in May. Hong Leong Bank, with a market capitalisation of RM45.26 billion, is a screaming buy among analysts tracking the banking stock because of its attractive return-on-equity (ROE) and asset quality. There is not a single sell call on Hong Leong Bank. Nonetheless, this raises the question whether its rivals will pay a premium for it? Quek controls 62% of Hong Leong Bank via Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG), which is way above the 10% limit that any individual is allowed to hold in a financial institution, according to the … [Read more...] about Hong Leong Bank seen as attractive but are there any buyers?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Latin America is going bad – very bad. Many of the region's large economies have lurched toward leftist populism in recent years. With the election of former guerrilla leader Gustavo Petro to the presidency, Colombia seems to be another victim of the trend. But for such leftists, the big prize is still to be captured: Brazil. With almost half of South America's economy and population and bordering ten countries, what happens in Brazil is always relevant for the Americas and the world. The country's upcoming presidential election is a case in point. The two leading candidates, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro, both have plenty of detractors. Local and foreign media cover their campaigns and road to the election. There is seldom coverage of those who work outside the political party system to try to influence Brazil's future. I want to highlight some of them here. I will only focus on non-religious organizations … [Read more...] about Promoting The Free Economy In Brazil