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Brazil will hold preliminary discussions ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit
Valter Correia Da Silva, Valter's Special Secretary for COP30 in the Brazilian government, said on Wednesday that Brazil had scheduled the first round of negotiations to help countries prepare for COP30 - the global climate summit. The main event will begin at Belem in the Amazonian region of Brazil about a month prior. He said that the Pre-COP will be held in Brasilia on October 14 and 15. The Pre-COP, despite being a smaller event with just the main negotiators present, has become more important this year due to the fact that countries are struggling to meet their new pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming. These pledges, called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, have gained in importance. More than 90% of the countries have not met the February deadline to submit their new NDCs. The world is now focused on wars and disputes over trade, while funding for climate projects has dried out. The United Nations extended the deadline until September. "The pre-COP of this year will determine whether Belem is a success, or not." Brazil wants the talks to result in effective negotiations one month later, according to a source following the issue. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, editing by Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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Study finds that one in ten Brazilian mines could be abandoned
According to a study conducted by the think tank Instituto Escolhas in Brazil, there are 3,943 abandoned mining sites, which represents 11% of all authorized operations. This highlights social and environmental risks posed when miners ignore regulations. The study, based on data provided by the National Mining Agency, points out threats like deforested land that has not been restored, soil and water contamination, and physical instability caused by abandoned mines. The study cites an internal ANM document that acknowledges ANM's lack data and oversight over areas where mine operators should be restoring. The ANM document, dated November 20,24, signed by the leader of the task force for updating regulations, stated that "there is a total lack of control" over the number and size of abandoned mines. The ANM has not responded to a comment request. The Brazilian Mining Association IBRAM declined to comment until it had reviewed the study. Brazil is the world's largest producer of iron ore. It also mines nickel and gold. Instituto Escolhas has noted that Brazilian law holds companies responsible for restoring the areas damaged by mining activities. The study did, however, highlight gaps in enforcement including the lack of ANM Inspectors. Larissa Rodrigues is the director of research at the Institute. She believes that miners must provide guarantees to their financial ability to restore an area before they are granted a permit. The study did not include the names of the companies. Reporting by Ricardo Brito, Brasilia; writing by Marcela Ayres and Rod Nickel; editing by Brad Haynes and Rod Nickel
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Dollar gains and stock prices rise as Trump announces tariff pause for China
The Nasdaq was the last to rise by about 10% on Wednesday after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would be putting a 90-day hold on his 10% and reciprocal tariffs. This would take effect immediately. After Trump's announcement the U.S. Dollar, which was lower earlier in day, strengthened against other currencies and the yen. Treasury yields also pared their gains following a strong auction of 10-year Treasury Notes. Trump announced a 90 day pause in reciprocal tariffs and 10% tariffs he first announced last week. He also increased duties on China. Trump's announcement of tariffs on sweeping products late last week rattled the markets. Stocks fell sharply the following days. Steve Sosnick is the chief market strategist for Interactive Brokers, based in Greenwich Connecticut. He said, "This was a big surprise considering the administration's constant statements that it would not negotiate the tariffs." "This said, it shouldn't surprise you ..." the size of the rally," he said. This is an understandable rally for relief. Investors have expressed concern that Trump's tariffs, which are wide-ranging, could trigger a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 2,541.92 or 6.73% to 40,180.98. The S&P 500 gained 392.26 or 7.87% to 5,375.03, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 1,529.03 or 10.00% to 16,794.65. The U.S. stock indexes were up after the Treasury auction, but the gains continued on Wednesday. The MSCI index of global stocks rose by 33.55 points or 4.52% to 765. The dollar gained 1.25% against the Japanese yen to 148.08. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 17.1 basis points, to 4.431% from 4.26% at late Tuesday.
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S&P 500 gains 6% and dollar gains after Trump announces tariff pause, excluding China
The S&P 500 index rose more than 6% on Wednesday after U.S. president Donald Trump announced he would pause many of his 10% and reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, starting immediately. He also increased the tariffs on China. After Trump's announcement, the U.S. Dollar strengthened against other currencies and the yen. Treasury yields also gained but then lost some of their gains following a strong auction for 10-year Treasury Notes. The stock market also saw gains after the Treasury auction. Investors have expressed concern that Trump's tariffs, which are wide-ranging, could trigger a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew by 2,041.87, or 5.42 %, to 39 687.46. The S&P 500 climbed 319.36, or 6.41 %, to 5,302.13, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1,231.86 or 8.7 %, to 16,519.45. The MSCI index of global stocks rose 33.69 or 4.53% to 776.65. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased by 12.2 basis points, to 4.382% from 4.26% at late Tuesday. The dollar gained 0.64% against the Japanese yen to reach 147.22.
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Women gold miners in Peru's Amazon ditch toxic mercury
Gold price surge helps drive deforestation Mercury from gold mining pollutes rivers Clean tech boosts productivity for women miners By Dan Collyns Illegal mining in Madre de Dios has created a landscape that resembles a desert, with craters, dead animals, and poisoned waterways. "We can't continue to pollute and release more mercury into the atmosphere," said Victoria Condori (65), an artisanal mining concession owner on the Madre de Dios River. She employs 16 workers in an 800-hectare (1,977 acre) area. A dozen miners, using heavy diggers, hoses with high pressure and sluices can turn 20 tons of soil in to 15 kg of black dust that contains anything between 20 g and 60 g gold within 12 hours. Mercury is then added to the mixture by the artisanal miners in order to extract the gold. However, the toxic metal escapes into the environment, poisoning people, animals and rivers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is among the 10 most dangerous chemicals for public health. It is associated with developmental delays, cognitive impairment, kidney, lung and immune system damage, as well as developmental delay in children. A MERCURY ALTERNATIVE A group of female miners is now replacing mercury with gravitymetric tables (or shaking) to filter out the denser particles of gold. This technique could also increase yields, and raise prices for buyers who demand clean gold. The Tauro Fatima Artisanal Miners' Association's (AMATAF) head, Vilma Contreras said at a roadside workshop that the tables were constantly shaking behind her. She explained that many miners choose mercury as it is easily available and because the process takes less time. Due to concerns about a global trade conflict triggered by President Donald Trump's tariffs, gold prices have reached a high of over $3,000 per ounce. In 2024, gold prices increased by nearly 30%. Price spikes have prompted illegal mining in South America, and a rise of violent crime, deforestation and human trafficking. Contreras stated that AMATAF is expanding because more women are looking for a safer environment to raise their children in and they want the possibility of higher profits by selling sustainable gold and jewelry companies like Brilliant Earth or the local Casa Collab. CLEAN GOLD MINERS WOMEN Madre de Dios has the highest percentage of women mining owners in Peru, at 30%. Contreras invested in AMATAF to become a formal mining organization with 11 operations located in Madre de Dios. Four of the concessions are Fairmined certified by the Alliance for Responsible Mining. This certification attests to the group's efforts in mining "in an environmentally responsible manner". Contreras stated that working in the formal sector is expensive because it requires you to hire employees and pay taxes. You must reach this level if you wish to be able to work in peace and without being bothered by anyone. Madre de Dios women miners want to learn from you and how to extract gold with no mercury. Condori was filming everything on her pink phone case when she spotted a gravimetric tablet in the Paolita 2 concession on the Madre de Dios River. She said, "I am always willing to learn new things every day to improve our methods." Isabel Chua (25), a skilled shaker table operator, added black silt, containing gold, as water filtered along the sloped vibrating surfaces separating the heavier particles of gold. Gold dust is heated in a container with mineral salt borax until it melts. A coin-sized nugget then is placed into the bucket of water for cooling. Pedro Ynfantes (67), the owner of a 450-hectare land concession, estimates that he can gain an additional gram of gold per day using the shaking table method as opposed to mercury. Madre de Dios, Peru's most heavily-mined Amazon region. The region is centered on La Pampa between km 98 and 110 along the Inter-Oceanic highway, in the buffer area of the Tambopata National Reserve, which has a huge biodiverse. Tourists flying to the regional capital Puerto Maldonado for jungle ecolodges can see the town and its surrounding wasteland in the lush green rainforest. According to a report from the NGO Conservacion Amazonica, between 2021-2024 there were more than 1,331 mining machines and 10,924 illegal miners. The report found that the area deforested by Madre de Dios increased by 67,000 ha in ten years, which represents 52% of total deforestation over 38 years. France Cabanillas is the local coordinator of U.S. based non-profit Pure Earth. She said that while certain jewelry companies will pay more for gold free of mercury, women don't get anything extra when selling it locally. Cabanillas explained that adapting to new technologies without mercury is like adopting any other relatively new practice or technique. Local gold buyers don't pay more for gold that is free of mercury, and sustainable jewelers have difficulty flying it out the airport because there are restrictions on the transport of precious metal. Cabanillas, however, said that the women had organized themselves and their movement was gaining momentum.
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Official: Petrobras's plans resilient despite plummeting crude prices
A director of Brazil's state-run Petrobras said that the ongoing drop in crude prices was "scary", but the oil projects run by the company are resilient. The comments were made as Brazil's oil industry reacted to U.S. Tariffs imposed on last week. No Petrobras project is going to be paralyzed. These are long-term investments. This is a joke if you compare it to the (market drop in) 2020. Sylvia dos Anjos told journalists in Rio de Janeiro that it was a time of instability. Symone Araujo said that the lower price would not reduce interest in Brazil’s planned June auction of offshore oil block. Araujo said that the break-even price for oil projects in Brazil is lower than crude's current price. On Wednesday, oil prices fell to their lowest level in four years. Brazil's Secretary for Oil, Gas and Biofuels Pietro Mendes said that the global tariffs, imposed last week by U.S. president Donald Trump, were damaging to Brazil's energy sector and energy transition. (Reporting and writing by Fabio Téixeira, Isabel Teles; editing by Brad Haynes & Rod Nickel).
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Musk's xAI has increased Tennessee gas turbines, without permits, say community groups
According to a letter sent by community groups to the county health department, Elon Musk's xAI nearly doubled the number of gas turbines in its Tennessee data center. This is more than the previously known numbers and the number that the company had submitted for permits. Southern Environmental Law Center, along with local groups, has called on the Health Department to stop operating all turbines until the company adheres to the Clean Air Act as well as local protections. The Environmental Protection Agency, Shelby County Health Department, and xAI have not responded to our requests for comment. The Southern Environmental Law Center stated that "the dozens of turbines outside the datacenter are likely to make xAI Memphis' largest industrial source for the smog-forming NOx pollutant." xAI's data center turbine expansion and the resulting emissions are requiring a "major sources permit", but the company is operating the equipment without regulatory authorization. As clean energy deployments struggle to meet the demand, the massive increase in power consumption in AI-supporting US data centers is driving a rise in fossil fuel usage. Last year, Musk, a billionaire, had called the Tennessee datacenter, which powers Grok, the chatbot of his firm, "the world's most powerful AI training cluster". The environmental law firm said xAI’s 35 gas-turbines have a combined capacity of 422, MW. This is comparable to Tennessee Valley Authority’s Brownsville gas-powered power plant with a 425 MW capacity. In August, it was reported that xAI’s Memphis data centre had installed 20 gas turbines. The combined power of these gas turbines is about 100 MW. The Greater Memphis Chamber announced in December that xAI plans to expand its Memphis Supercomputer to accommodate at least 1 million graphics processing units. The AI firm acquired Musk's X at the end of March in a deal valued at $33 billion. (Reporting and editing by Devika Syamanath in Bengaluru)
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Treasuries and dollar fall due to trade war causing recession fears. US stocks rise
On Wednesday, the latest escalation of the trade war between China and the United States rattled the global markets. Treasuries fell and the U.S. Dollar dropped in a saleoff of certain U.S. assets. U.S. shares edged up, but trading was still choppy. Investors weighed if recent sharp selling had been overdone. U.S. President Donald Trump’s 104% tariffs against China went into effect on March 21, prompting Beijing to retaliate with duties of 84%. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes yields rose to a record high of seven weeks on the back of what appeared to large liquidations. Trading volumes overnight were more than four-times the average. Bond yields are opposite of prices. The increase in yields on the Asian trading session increased fears that China was selling a large part of its U.S. Bond holdings. The demand for longer-dated bonds will be tested with the sale of $39 billion of 10-year notes Wednesday afternoon, and a $22 million auction of 30-year bond on Thursday. Investors worry that Trump's tariffs are so severe they will trigger a recession, forcing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. George Saravelos, head of Deutsche Bank's foreign exchange research, said that the push-out of Treasuries could signal a loss of investor interest in U.S. assets and the "end of an era." We are seeing a simultaneous fall in the value of all U.S. assets, including stocks, dollar against alternative reserve FXs and the bond markets. He said that we are entering uncharted terrain in the global financial systems. Investors fled from the dollar, which is often seen as a safe-haven currency in turbulent times, to the Swiss Franc and gold. The ING economists said that "this seemingly'sell America trade' is now dominating the theme of rising recession risks that would normally have pushed yields downward." The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket of currencies, including the yen, the euro and others) fell by 0.39%, while the euro rose by 0.68%, reaching $1.1031. The dollar fell 0.77% against the Japanese yen to 145.15. The dollar fell 0.66% against the Swiss Franc to 0.842. Gold spot rose 3.53%, to $3.088.80 per ounce. Investors compared the violent selling of Treasuries to the panicked rush for cash at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, which began in March 2020. It reignited concerns about the fragility of the world's largest bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 19.2 basis points, to 4.45% from 4.26% at late Tuesday. U.S. STOCKS INCH UP U.S. stock prices were slightly higher at midday New York trading. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge was down. It reached its highest level in August this week. In the upcoming U.S. quarter earnings season, more insight will be gained into the health and performance of corporate America. U.S. Banks, including JPMorgan Chase are due to release their first-quarter results this Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 167.93, or 0.45% to 37,813.52. The S&P 500 rose by 33.11, or 0.67% to 5,015.97. And the Nasdaq Composite jumped 217.21, or 1.43% to 15,486.85. According to LSEG, as of Tuesday's closing, S&P companies had lost $5.8 billion in stock market value following Trump's announcement on tariffs late last Wednesday. This is the largest four-day decline since the benchmark's creation in the 1950s. The MSCI index of global stocks fell by 1.97 points or 0.32% to 740.61. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 3.5%. Analysts at JPMorgan thought that the rapid escalation of U.S. Tariffs against China would be disruptive enough to send the global economy into a recession. In a client note, they stated that "given the import bill from China the China tariff is equivalent to a whopping tax hike of $400 billion on U.S. businesses and households." The currency will likely be used as a release valve by China's policymakers. The oil prices fell as concerns over the future of global energy demand outweighed geopolitical worries. U.S. crude dropped 3.84%, to $57.29 per barrel. Brent was down to $60.50 a barrel. text_section_type="notes">To read Markets and Finance news, click on https://www..com/finance/markets For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on:
Petrobras Completes Veterinary Center Required for Offshore License
Petrobras has completed work on a veterinary center in the Amazon region that is required for it to obtain an environmental permit for an offshore drilling project, the company said on Saturday.
The animal care center in the town of Oiapoque, Amapa state, is designed to assist animals in the event of an oil spill.
It was one of Brazilian environmental agency Ibama's main demands in response to Petrobras' proposal to drill offshore in the environmentally sensitive Foz do Amazonas region.
Amapa has granted the veterinary center an operating license but it still requires Ibama's clearance. Petrobras said in a statement it informed the agency the center will be available for inspection starting Monday.
The center is designed to care for birds, marine mammals, turtles, dolphins and manatees, said Petrobras, which aims to conduct exploratory drilling in a block 540 kilometers (325 miles) off Amapa's coast.
Foz do Amazonas in the so-called Equatorial Margin is Brazil's most promising oil frontier. It shares geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil is developing huge fields.
Ibama blocked Petrobras from drilling there in 2023, but the company filed a new request, which the agency is assessing. There is no deadline for a final answer.
(Reuters - Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)