Nature (March 29)
Companies are scrambling to turn” CO2 “into useful products — but will that slow climate change?” On the surface, converting CO2 emissions holds more promise than sequestration, yet there are numerous issues and debate is far from settled. There is, however, “at least one point of broad agreement: that CO2 recycling technologies should eventually draw as much of their feedstock as possible from the atmosphere, rather than from waste industrial gases.”
Tags: Atmosphere, Climate change, CO2, Companies, Converting, Emissions, Feedstock, Promise, Recycling technologies, Scrambling, Sequestration, Useful, Waste industrial gases
Investment Week (March 28)
Global dealmaking has dropped “to its lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic…. Just over $1trn of deals were struck in the first quarter of 2022, nearly a quarter less than the same period last year.” Primary factors behind slowing M&A activity appear to be “tougher regulations on both sides of the Atlantic, soaring inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Tags: 2022, COVID-19, Dealmaking, Global, Inflation, M&A, Outbreak, Pandemic, Q1, Regulation, Russia, Slowing, Soaring, Tougher, Ukraine, War
Bloomberg (March 27)
“Prices for some of the world’s most pivotal products – foods, fuels, plastics, metals – are spiking beyond what many buyers can afford. That’s forcing consumers to cut back and, if the trend grows, may tip economies already buffeted by pandemic and war back into recession.”
Tags: Buffeted, Buyers, Consumers, Economies, Foods, Fuels, Metals, Pandemic, Plastics, Prices, Products, Spiking, Trend, War
Washington Post (March 27)
“North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has a way of reminding the world that he has not gone away.” North Korea’s launch of “its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile ever, in defiance of sanctions and prohibitions” is a reminder of a “foreign-policy headache for the United States and its allies.” The North’s “potential for trouble should not be underestimated.” Kim does not deserve “concessions for his unruly behavior. There is a need for some fresh thinking about how to resolve this long-festering threat.”
Tags: Allies, Ballistic missile, Concessions, Festering, Foreign policy, Fresh thinking, Intercontinental, Kim, Launch, North Korea, Prohibitions, Sanctions, Threat, Trouble, U.S., Unruly
Deutsche Welle (March 25)
Before the war in Ukraine, “Germany received 50% of its coal, 55% of its gas, and 35% of its oil from Moscow.” The country now plans “to almost completely end Russian energy imports by the end of the year.” Achieving the plan means “a considerable amount of progress would be made in a short space of time, as the West is rushing to wean itself off Russian energy amidst the invasion of Ukraine.”
Institutional Investor (March 25)
“Activist approaches may gain ground as investors get pragmatic about fossil fuel companies. Asset managers like Engine No. 1 argue that holding companies accountable for net-zero goals is a better route to change than divesting.” Its new ETF will target companies with “plans and products in place to handle the changing climate and the dwindling supply of natural resources. This also means that the portfolio will end up invested in some of the most polluting companies, including General Motors, Ford, Canadian Pacific Railway, and Deere.”
Tags: Accountable, Activist, Asset managers, Canadian Pacific, Changing climate, Deere, Divesting, Dwindling supply, Engine No 1, Ford, Fossil fuel, GM, Investors, Natural resources, Net zero, Portfolio
Forbes (March 24)
In his latest letter to shareholders, BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink noted that “the war between Russia and Ukraine has heralded the end of globalization, as the conflict has upended the current world order that has been in place since the Cold War and will have lasting global economic consequences.”
Tags: BlackRock, Cold war, Conflict, Fink, Globalization, Russia, Shareholders, Ukraine, Upended, War
FreightWaves (March 24)
After two years of COVID-induced havoc in global freight markets, volatility has started to abate,” but looking ahead, “the picture isn’t pretty. We think another sharp, painful downturn in the U.S. truckload market is imminent, and it could be as bad as 2019.” Rather than the usual March surge, “March volumes are softer than at any point in 2021” and appear linked “to a major consumer slowdown…. Spot rates are falling fast and volumes are dropping.”
Tags: Abate, Consumer slowdown, Covid, Downturn, Freight markets, Global, Havoc, Painful, Sharp, Spot rates, Surge, Truckload, U.S., Volatility, Volumes
USA Today (March 21)
“Groundbreaking federal regulation unveiled Monday could change how Americans – and American companies – think about climate change.” A proposed SEC rule would require listed “companies to disclose the risks they face from global warming. Much as homebuyers are protected by rules requiring a seller to disclose problems, the new SEC rule would allow investors to judge how well or poorly a company is prepared for the future costs of a warming planet.”
Tags: Climate change, Future costs, Global warming, Groundbreaking, Homebuyers, Investors, Judge, Protected, Regulation, Risks, Rule, rule Disclose, SEC, U.S.
American Banker (March 21)
“A new Securities and Exchange Commission proposal would require public companies to report climate-related risks across their value chain. That could be especially difficult if it means banks have to account for their borrowers’ emissions.”
Tags: Banks, Climate-related risks, Difficult, Proposal, Public companies, Report, Require, SEC, Value chain
