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Eco/Invest/Demography

Biden’s $3.5 trillion climate change plan to eliminate fossil fuel emissions from U.S

Included in the massive legislation is a nationwide clean-electricity program that is intended to eliminate climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035 catching up to requirements already set in some states.

The proposal would spend billions to install 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations and upgrade the power grid to make it more resilient during hurricanes and other extreme weather events that are increasing and intensifying as a result of climate change.

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Investors with $4 trln assets aim to tackle Asian firms on climate change goals

The six investors include BMO Global Asset Management EMEA, Fidelity International, Dutch pension fund PGGM, Britain-based Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, Aviva Investors and Legal & General Investment Management.

Initial engagement will focus on carbon risk and coal at banks and coal-exposed power companies, the group of investors, facilitated by Singapore-based advisor Asia Research & Engagement (ARE), said in a statement.

The move comes as investors become more active in the field of environmental, social and corporate (ESG) governance, helping to shape firms’ climate commitments to better manage that risk for their clients. ESG-related steps they have taken include backing activist shareholder resolutions and voting on board members and remuneration.

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Researchers find double benefit of climate protection through both limiting, delaying global warming

In the study, the scientists analysed the joint impacts of demographic development and climate change on people exposed to tropical cyclones — and found that timing of when certain warming levels are reached becomes crucial. The results are even more obvious on the country level, explained Johannes Gutschow.

“Our model shows, with unprecedented detail, that in 2050 all countries at high risk of tropical cyclones are projected to see a rise in exposure. Due to the projected population growth, we found exposure changes of nearly 300 per cent in some East African countries, up to 100 per cent in the US and also a strong increase for the Arabian Peninsula.”

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Pandemic pushes Chinese tech giants to roll out more courier robots

Researchers at the University of Michigan said fully and partially automated vehicles could cut delivery costs by 10−40% in cities. Alibaba’s last-mile logistics vehicle has delivered over a million orders as of September to more than 200,000 consumers, the company said. It operates over 200 robots and plans to have 1,000 by March and 10,000 over the next three years.

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World Bank says Delta variant slowing economic growth in East Asia and Pacific

Economic activity began to slow in the second quarter of 2021, and growth forecasts have been downgraded for most countries in the region, according to the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic Update.

While China’s economy is projected to expand by 8.5%, the rest of the region is forecast to grow at 2.5%, nearly 2 percentage points less than forecast in April 2021, the World Bank said.

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