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Finance Ministers in Brazil offer plan to finance $1.3 trillion annually as Brazil prepares for COP30 climate negotiations
A group of 35 Finance Ministers presented suggestions on Wednesday to increase climate finance from $1.3 trillion a yearly to $1.3 trillion a yearly. This is a major demand of developing nations in advance of the COP30 talks this year in Brazil. The first report of its kind, led by Brazil, proposes financial changes in areas like credit ratings, insurance premiums, and lending priorities of the development banks. The 111-page guide is intended to help governments and financial institutions increase the amount of money available to combat climate change. In a joint statement, the ministers stated that "every year we delay climate action increases both the risk and investment required." It's up each country to decide if - and how to - use it. Tatiana Rosito said that the report, which was presented on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, highlighted the importance of the finance ministers' role in the discussion. Rosito said that he wanted to integrate climate and macroeconomic policy into the development bank and international fund boards. "Finances are usually seen as a hindrance." Rosito said that finance is the major bottleneck. "I believe we can provide solutions." The report was released after the COP29 agreement last year in Baku. There are currently no plans to include it on the COP30 Agenda. The agreement, which committed wealthy nations to provide $300 billion annually in climate finance from 2035 onwards, was criticised by developing countries for being too low, given that U.N. studies suggest that they will require at least four-times that amount. The report is part of a roadmap from Baku to Belem, which includes chapters on indigenous rights, the environment and efforts to reduce climate-warming carbon emission. The document from the finance ministers was eagerly anticipated as nations struggled to assess the ambition of wealthy countries amid the U.S. retreat, and the EU's juggling concerns over energy security and Russian aggression. The ministers suggested that countries improve their regulations to manage risk, and banks should set lending policies according to the risk profile of a project rather than a nation's. The report proposes also that carbon markets should work together to synchronize their standards in order to achieve a global price for carbon. The final report has weakened some of the recommendations made in an earlier draft, which was seen by us back in August. The final report dropped the earlier draft's requirement that "we must see external concessional Climate Finance flows grow significantly and reach $250 billion annually by 2020". Rosito said that the ministers had spent months consulting governments and adapting the advice so it was relevant and practical for all. There is still much more to be done The release of the report in Washington, D.C., was timed to coincide with the pre-COP30 talks in Brasilia, where over 70 countries met to refine the agenda for November's summit. The delegates decided to establish rules for evaluating progress towards past goals. This includes setting targets for "adaptation projects" aimed at preparing against weather extremes or other climate-related dangers. They did not, however, agree that this year's COP30 would produce a final accord by all countries. They could instead focus on smaller agreements that don't require consensus. Andre Correa do Lago, COP30 president, told reporters on Tuesday evening that "we have made progress toward consensus." There is much more work to be done. Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister of the Environment, reminded countries about their commitment to move away from fossil-fuels. This sparked protests from regimes that rely on fossil fuels. Silva rejected the objections, saying that the effort to reduce fossil fuel usage and emissions "cannot [be] selective." It is a series of decisions that must be treated equally. (Reporting from Washington, D.C., Lisandra paraguassu, Brasilia, Simon Jessop, London, and Patricia Reaney, editing)
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Meta invests $1.5 Billion for AI Data Center in Texas
Meta Platforms announced on Wednesday that it will invest $1.5 billion into a data centre in Texas. This is the 29th facility of its kind in the world, as Meta Platforms expands infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads. Meta Platforms' third data center in Texas is set to open in El Paso in 2028. It can scale up to 1 gigawatt, enough to power San Francisco for an entire day. This makes it one of the biggest planned data center campus in the U.S. According to filings by the companies, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft are expected to spend more than $360 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025. The majority of the investment will be used to power data centers. Meta stated that the new facility will create approximately 100 jobs when it is operational. At peak construction, Meta expects to have over 1,800 workers onsite. El Paso’s strong electrical grid and its skilled workforce were cited by the company as reasons for choosing this site. Meta said it has invested more than $10 billion in Texas, and that the company employs over 2,500 people throughout the state. The figures above include the most recent investment. The company will invest $1.5 billion in its own funds to finance the current phase at the El Paso facility. Meta announced its latest $29 billion deal off-balance sheet with Pimco, Blue Owl and other investors to fund a Louisiana data center campus on Wednesday. Jon Barela is CEO of Borderplex Alliance - a local economic and policy advocacy group that was involved in facilitating this project. He said: "The fastest gazelle will find their place and others will follow. Meta, to my mind, is the fastest in the industry." "We have had other groups look at the area, other data centres, and we anticipate that others will follow," said Jon Barela, CEO of Borderplex Alliance, a local economic development and policy advocacy group involved in facilitating the project. Barela explained that the Meta project was first referred by the Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office four years ago. El Paso then offered a package tax incentives and other measures in order to attract the company. Meta stated that the data center would be powered by 100% renewable energy. The facility will utilize a closed-loop liquid-cooled system which continuously recycles the water. Meta has pledged to return twice as much water to the local watersheds that it uses to cool the data center. This will help Meta achieve its 2030 goal of being "water positive" by restoring water more than they consume. (Reporting from Echo Wang in New York, Editing by Matthew Lewis.)
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Rio Tinto Mongolia mine settlement to be approved by US Judge
The U.S. Judge said on Wednesday that he is ready to approve Rio Tinto’s agreement to pay an amount of $138.75 millions to settle a lawsuit in which investors accused the Anglo Australian mining giant of fraud by hiding problems with the $7 billion underground extension of the Oyu Tolgoi Copper and Gold Mine in Mongolia. Rio Tinto reached a preliminary agreement with the shareholders of Turquoise Hill Resources, which was formerly based in Montreal. The settlement is pending the approval by Manhattan-based U.S. district judge Lewis Liman. Liman said at an hearing on Wednesday that he is ready to approve the settlement but has not signed off yet. He was waiting to hear from the lawyers of the shareholders what they plan to do with the funds remaining after the initial distributions. Rio Tinto's settlement agreement did not include any admission of wrongdoing. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Turquoise Hill's shareholders, between July 2018 and the end of July 2019. At that time, Turquoise Hill, which then traded in Toronto, had been majority owned by Rio Tinto. The majority of shareholders were advised by Chicago's Pentwater Capital Management. Pentwater stated in a court filing on September 10, that the settlement represented between 34% to 43% of damages they believed it would be able to prove at trial. They described it as reasonable, given the risk of continuing litigation. Turquoise Hill was a single asset company that owned 66% of Oyu Tolgoi, while Mongolian government held 34%. Pentwater claimed that Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill and others had fraudulently assured them that the Oyu Tolgoi Mine was "on schedule" and "on-budget", despite it being up to two and a half years behind schedule. It was also running $1.9 billion above budget. Rio Tinto announced that it could be over budget by $1.9 billion in 2019 and estimated total capital expenditures between $6.5 billion and $7.2 billion. Rio Tinto purchased the remaining 49% of Turquoise Hills for $3.3 billion in 2022. This fully integrated the mine into the company's copper portfolio. (Reporting by Luc Cohen, Clara Denina, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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Ukraine cuts power in all regions following recent Russian attacks
Officials said that Ukraine has introduced emergency power cuts to all regions except two following a series of Russian strikes which have crippled the country's electricity system. As winter approaches, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructures. This has caused serious damage to gas production in Ukraine and plunged major cities like the capital Kyiv deep into darkness. Ukraine's Energy Ministry said in a statement that the impact of recent strikes forced them to make the cuts. In the Donetsk region and in northern Chernihiv, planned power cuts had already taken place. On Wednesday, the leading private energy company DTEK announced that it had restored power to nearly 1.9 million people in the last week. This was mainly in Kyiv, the southern Odesa region and the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are pressuring Kyiv's partners to increase supplies of vital air-defence gear and boost energy assistance. Denys Schmyhal, the Minister of Defence, spoke in Brussels, on Wednesday. He said that Ukraine is preparing for "a very tough, very hard winter". We understand that Putin's terror will continue.
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Namibia Central Bank Chief calls for Diamond Royalty Relief Extension
Namibia's central banking governor Johannes!Gawaxab asked on Wednesday to extend a royalty reduction granted to Namdeb in order to help the miner survive a prolonged global downturn marked by falling market demand and an oversupply. Rough diamond prices are also affected by the rising popularity of lab grown diamonds, as well as a move away from precious stones among younger consumers. Namibia will cut its royalty rates from 10% to just 5% in 2021 to allow Namdeb to extend its land operations until 2042. Namdeb is a joint venture of De Beers with the Namibian Government. "It's important to support Namdeb in these difficult times," said!Gawaxab at a press briefing after the central banks cut its main rate of interest by 25 basis points. This was done to help Namibia's weakened economy. He added, "As a nation, it's important that we support both the employees and the companies." He said that Namdeb would have the space needed to weather the current economic storm sweeping the diamond industry. De Beers claimed that the age of its mines made it difficult to maintain profitable and viable operations. Domestic diamond mining companies are still cash-strapped because of debt service obligations, declining revenue and investments that will improve efficiency. The industry faces headwinds on the medium term," said!Gawaxab. Reporting by Nelson Banya, Editing by Alexander Smith
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Brazil's Eletrobras sold stake in Eletronuclear for $98 Million to J&F
The Brazilian energy company owned by JBS, which is the largest meatpacker in the world, announced on Wednesday that it had signed a contract to purchase the stake of Eletrobras, the state-owned electric utility, in Eletronuclear. This deal was worth 535 million Reis ($98m). Ambar Energia, the energy subsidiary of J&F, secured the transaction, allowing the group to enter the nuclear energy market. This also positions the Batistas as a strategic partner for the Brazilian government which controls Eletronuclear. In the agreement, Eletrobras will be responsible for the tasks that were previously performed by Eletronuclear. These include guarantees for the state-owned firm, as well as the future payment of debentures worth 2.4 billion reais. After regulatory approvals Ambar will own 68% of Eletronuclear’s total capital as well as 35.3% its voting capital. Eletronuclear, on the other hand, will remain in government control via ENBPar. J&F's energy division is one of the biggest private companies in Brazil. It owns several power plants. According to sources familiar with the situation, J&F is also in discussions to purchase EDF's Rio de Janeiro Thermal Plant. J&F is a company controlled by the Batista Brothers. It has rapidly expanded into other sectors, including mining, pulp and paper, finance and banking. JBS, the meat giant of Brazil, has recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange after several unsuccessful attempts. These were partly hampered by investigations into an important corruption scandal in Brazil.
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Botswana’s ODC announces first contract diamond sales in November
Mmetla Msire, the managing director of Botswana’s Okavango Diamond Company, said that it will begin selling diamonds next month to contract buyers, diversifying its sales channels as part of the new government deal with De Beers. ODC's share in Debswana, the 50/50 joint venture between the government and De Beers, was increased from 25% to 30% in the new 10-year agreement signed in February. Its share will reach 40% by the end of the deal. The clause that prevented ODC from competing directly with De Beers in contract sales has been removed. Masire said at a mining conference that "we are targeting our initial sales through this channel by November. Our first two sales will be pilot sales, before we move to full-scale on our third", STRUGGLING DIAMOND MARKET A PROBLEM FOR BOTSWANA Masire said in May that ODC planned to sell around 40% of its supplies through contract sales. The balance would be sold via auctions, strategic partnerships and Botswana based companies. The global diamond industry is experiencing a prolonged downturn. Demand is declining due to a glut of supply, and the popularity of lab-grown stones has weighed on rough diamond prices. ODC temporarily stopped its rough stone sales in 2023 as part of a industry-wide effort to reduce the glut. The company held a gem auction on 25 September but decided to keep its gems citing "conditions which could have had a significant impact on the marketplace". According to Masire's estimates, ODC's revenue in 2024 will be about 60% less than the previous year because of the recession, but it is seeing some stabilization in the market. The company's last three auctions have seen small margins that are up from double-digit losses last year. Diamonds account for 30% of Botswana's revenues, and 75% of the country's foreign exchange earnings. The current market slump has seen the economy contract by 3 % in 2024. IMF predicts a further 1 % contraction this year. (Reporting by Brian Benza. (Editing by Nelson Banya, Mark Potter and Mark Potter).
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Anglo American offers remedies to EU for MMG deal approval, source claims
Anglo American offered to purchase ferronickel for resale to Europe from MMG, for a period of up to 10 year to alleviate EU antitrust concerns over the sale of their nickel business to an unit of Hong Kong listed company. This was revealed by a source with direct knowledge on Wednesday. Anglo American, a London-listed company, announced in February the $500 million sale of its nickel business to a unit of MMG. The European Commission has now begun to examine the sale. Source: The remedy offered would alleviate any regulatory concerns about the deal cutting off some metal supply to customers in Europe while still allowing the Hong Kong firm to sell their products in Europe. Person said that the deal was for an agreed amount ferronickel, which would be equivalent to the current sales of the mines in Europe. The deal would last for five years, with an option to extend it for another five. The Commission, acting as the EU's competition enforcer, has confirmed that Anglo American has received its remedies and extended their deadline decision until November 4. The company is expected to solicit feedback from customers and rivals before deciding whether or not to accept concessions. Anglo American has a broader restructuring plan that includes a refocussing on iron ore and copper mining. Around two thirds of the refined nickel produced goes to the stainless steel industry. (Reporting and editing by Kirsty Donovan, Tomaszjanowski and Foo Yunchee)
Trump's team considers attending the COP, but there is influence in either direction
Trump Administration weighs COP30 Participation
Energy Secretary indicates he's open to going
Conservative groups oppose U.S. attending global climate meeting
By David Sherfinski
The global COP30 Summit, which will take place in Brazil's Amazonian City of Belem next month, is expected to bring together representatives of almost every country in the world to discuss their efforts to combat climate change.
There are many countries that must make major decisions about how to keep greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, which Trump has said the U.S. will abandon.
The White House is yet to publicly disclose whether or not the U.S. has an official role in the annual United Nations Climate Conference.
Experts say that whatever the U.S. decides, it will have an impact on the world.
Jean Su, a member of a group that advocates for biological diversity, told the Center for Biological Diversity that even if it was a small presence, it could be enough to thwart efforts by other countries.
Su said, "It is not productive for Trump to be there when we are serious about the fight against fossil fuels."
They have the power to stop any single decision made by COP.
'GREAT PLATFORM'
The COP29, which was held in Baku (Azerbaijan) last year, produced only limited results.
The developing countries criticized the agreed-upon goal of $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance commitments, and in particular a $300 billion pledge from developed countries.
COP29 was held immediately following the U.S. Presidential election of 2024. At the time, attendees and dignitaries remarked that Trump's looming influence could be felt.
Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Trump did the same thing during his first term as president.
The administration has room to participate as the newer version of the U.S. withdrawl does not come into effect until next.
The global meeting will be impacted by the Trump administration's outreach to the fossil-fuel industry.
The U.S. declined to sign a World Bank declaration reaffirming its efforts to fight climate change. This could be a preview of the U.S.'s approach at COP30.
The Trump administration is aggressively promoting the use of fossil energy by increasing oil and gas leasing sales, reopening coal mines that have been closed and opposing tax breaks for renewable sources of energy.
Last month, U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright said he was not opposed to attending COP30.
Wright told Bloomberg, "I wouldn't be against going at all if I could engage the world with an audience." Climate change is real. We think there are ways to make progress. Here are the trade-offs involved.
If I could do it on a platform that was great, I would go.
'GLOBAL CLIMAT SCAM'
After Wright's remarks, a group of conservatives wrote to him and to the administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, urging them to not send a delegation to Brazil.
The letter, signed by the Heartland Institute as well as the American Lands Council, stated that "the message sent by not bringing a delegaiton to COP30 is that the U.S. won't be a victim anymore of the global climate fraud."
The message that it sends is that Trump's administration puts America first.
Steve Milloy, of the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (one of the groups who organized the letter), said that attending COP30 would "just send the wrong message".
He said, "There is no point in attending." "Even though the U.S. was playing, there wasn't much of a difference."
The Energy Department, Interior Department or EPA did not respond to questions regarding the letter and COP30.
Automated response to a request for comment sent by the White House said that government shutdown may result in delays and blamed Democrats.
Lack of a significant U.S. participation at COP30 may encourage other major emitters, such as China and India, to take a more cautious approach in implementing meaningful climate action.
Milloy pointed out that the U.S. can ignore any final agreements.
He said that the UN could not come up with a binding agreement for the U.S.
Su said that the Trump administration might be a "lethal player" in the proceedings.
She said, "They are arguably even more fatalistic in their role during negotiations when they are present than if not."
(source: Reuters)