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Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Sustainability solution or climate calamity? The dangers and promise of cryptocurrency technology

Bitcoins don’t exist as physical objects, but new coins are “mined”, or brought into circulation, through a process that involves using powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems. This process requires so much energy, that the Bitcoin network is estimated to consume more energy than several countries, including Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.

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Major corporate polluters lag on setting climate goals

And while many of the 250 companies have set targets for 2050, only 27 – or 11% – have laid out shorter-term plans to make major cuts by 2030, according to the data, compiled from corporate reports and other public disclosures.

This refers to reductions to their biggest source of emissions, often from the use of their products, or so-called Scope 3 emissions.

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UN office says Sri Lanka ship fire causes significant damage

“An environmental emergency of this nature causes significant damage to the planet by the release of hazardous substances into the ecosystem,” U.N. Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said in a statement late Saturday. “This in turn threatens lives and livelihoods of the population in the coastal areas.”

Sri Lanka has already submitted an interim claim of $40 million to X-Press Feeders to cover part of the cost of fighting the fire, which broke out on May 20 when the vessel was anchored about 9.5 nautical miles (18 kilometers) northwest of Colombo and waiting to enter the port.

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Committee on energy efficiency, low carbon technologies to be set up: Power Minister

“A Committee/Group to be set up having members from all relevant Ministries for implementation of the Roadmap on Energy Efficiency and low carbon technologies,” he said.

The minister said a concerted push for renewables is already underway and a detailed action plan will be developed to identify potential areas. Singh directed to keep the focus on sectors with the highest emissions intensity such as Transport, MSMEs and Power plants.

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Reinsurers look at dumping coal from bulk-buy policies in green gambit

Five of the world’s six largest reinsurers – Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re, SCOR and Lloyd’s of London – have already scaled back bespoke coverage for coal projects. But only Swiss Re, in a statement in March, has said it will go further and tighten its treaty reinsurance stance.

A rail contractor to Adani Enterprises’ giant Australian coal project last month, for example, asked the Australian government for help to obtain insurance that it was not able to secure from the market.
“The first consequence is insurance is harder to get, the second consequence is it’s expensive, the third consequence is there are all sorts of caveats on it and at the extreme you might not be offered it”, said Paul Merrey, insurance partner at KPMG.

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