The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group
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Happy Friday!
Hello Dear Readers,
With MLK Day on Monday, we will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King and encourage all to volunteer to improve their communities. TBG will be participating in preparing meals for the hungry from 9 am too 10:30 am at the OC Convention Center. This event is being led by US Hunger and the Mayor's Dr. MLK Commission. Other events in Orlando include a parade in downtown Orlando, a Gospel concert at the Philips Center, and a parade in Apopka. If you wish to volunteer to help pack meals, signups can be found here. Any other Central Florida area events can be found here. In Seattle there is an MLK welcome walk, a youth-led march, and events at Imagine Children’s Museum. Events in the Seattle area can be found here
Recently, the Joint Economic Committee has put out information on climate risks on US insurance and housing markets. As climate change increases the risk of hurricanes in the southeast, wildfires in California, twisters in Iowa, and other natural disasters insurance companies are claiming higher rates of uninsurability and increasing costs for homeowners for insurance. As homes become uninsurable homeowners could lose up to 61% of their home equity depending on insurance re-pricing. Read more from the Joint Economic Committee and from the National Mortgage Professional.
In this edition, we bring you articles on the recent LA fires, Climate Change lawsuits in Hawaii, Chinese exports, and more. Our data visualization this week covers the changes to environmental commitments from major companies.
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Have a great weekend!
LA Fires Shed Light on Seattle
The Eaton and Palisades fires have yet to reach full containment but are already considered to be one of the most devastating fires in the country and estimated to be one of the costliest natural disasters in American history. To date over 37,830 acres have been burned, destroying thousands of residential homes. To put this into perspective for Seattleites, this area is 315 times larger than the 120 acres burned during the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which burned down the entire central business district, spawning the remaking of Pioneer Square. The current situation in LA highlights the risks faced by the western US, which has increasingly become susceptible to wildfires as the atmosphere warms. Firefighters from the nation, including hundreds from Washington State are on-site helping.
PBS; NPR; KUOW - NPR
BP to Cut Over 5% of Workforce
In a recent announcement, energy giant BP is set to cut over 4,700 staff from its workforce of 90,000 as well as 3,000 contractor positions. This includes anticipated shifting of work from U.S. and UK offices to Hungary, India, and Malaysia in order to eliminate redundancies. This wave of cuts comes as BP aims to reduce costs by at least $2 billion by the end of next year. Other major industry members are similarly scrambling to reduce costs, with rival company Shell having also recently made reductions in the workforces of several divisions. Read more here.
Supreme Court Allows Hawaii Climate Change Lawsuit to Move Forward
On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down appeals from oil companies that were trying to stop Honolulu from suing them for responsibility in climate change. The lawsuit targets companies like Sunoco, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP. Oil companies argue that climate change is inherently an issue of federal law that should not be addressed by state courts as they try and shut down climate change related lawsuits. Previous cases have been turned away by federal courts, which are generally considered more business friendly. A 2011 ruling by the Supreme Court rejected an attempt to sue companies under federal common law. Read More.
China's Exports up 10.7% in December
In December, China's exports surged by 10.7% year-over-year, surpassing economists' forecasts of 7%. This is due to manufacturers expediting shipments ahead of anticipated tariff increases from the U.S. This approach led to a record trade surplus of about $105 billion for the year by exports outpacing imports into the country. Notably, electric vehicle exports rose by 13%, and shipments of industrial robots increased by 45%. The recent export boom underscores China's economic vulnerability, as the nation remains heavily reliant on exports, making it susceptible to impacts from the proposed future U.S. tariffs. Read story here.
Washington State Adopts Commercial Net Pen Ban
Last week, Washington State adopted a ban on commercial net pens, in what many – including some Tribal entities – are calling an environmental victory. The ban entails the outlawing of net pens, which are open-water containers used to raise finfish like salmon for commercial sale. The ban is anticipated to support wild salmon populations, in turn supporting resident Orca whales across the coast of Washington. While many have been outspoken in their support of the ban, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe have criticized the decision, claiming that the Tribe’s treaty rights to harvest fish on ancestral lands have been violated. Critics of the ban claim that Tribal treaty rights to harvest fish on ancestral lands have been violated. Read more here and here.
Sustainable Finance Trends to be Driven by Analysis Politics, Not Climate in 2025
As we have seen record breaking temperatures and the most extreme weather events last year, governments continue to be slow in implementing policies that will meet 10-year goals of global warming mitigation. Though there has been notable success by regulators around the world to cut down climate damaging carbon emissions, the pace of change is unbalanced with the U.S. lagging Europe. According to Tom Willman, a Regulatory Lead at sustainability tech firm Clarity AI, resilience for sustainable investment globally is widely expected in 2025. However, it remains likely there will be fundamental differences between the U.S. and Europe’s approach. Read more here.
Data Visualization of the Week
More Companies Commit to Nature
Fortune Global 500 companies continue to set quantifiable targets related to nature. Pledges related to water, chemicals and plastics, biodiversity, forests, and nutrients have been common among these companies. While carbon commitments remain the highest, despite small declines, other commitments continue to rise as various companies expand their focus since 2022. Companies that have made such pledges include Starbucks, Mitsubishi, and others. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation has made progress on plastic pollution as well. This legislation was passed in Europe in the early 1990s and has gained traction in the United States. Read more here and here.
Click the visual below for more information.
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