Happy Tuesday. A surge in investments fuels a startup boom aimed at regenerative agriculture as technology and soil experience a billion-dollar synergy.
In today’s edition:
⚡️ Potential risks to nearly $350bn in global offshore wind projects
🚜 Investment in start-ups aimed at regen ag increase by 46% from 2021-23
🌳 A 5-step guide to addressing subsidies that harm the environment
🔋 Energy (1-Min Read)
Nearly $350bn of offshore wind projects at risk
What happened: New research has highlighted potential risks to nearly $350bn in global offshore wind projects in the pre-final investment decision (FID) phase. The whitepaper estimates only 9% of capacity is deemed ‘Probable’ with the remaining 51% ‘Possible’ and 40% ‘Risked’ of cancellation or delay. Two key challenges highlighted are…
Soaring Supply Chain Costs: Some projects are facing a 40% cost hike for materials, parts and services, leading some firms to pause or axe projects – or to sell them on (E.g. Norfolk offshore Wind). Developers have urged policymakers to intervene, accounting for these challenges in their subsidy provisions and broader industry support packages.
Inexperienced developers: The growing diversity of developers in the marketplace, combined with evolving development and commercialisation approaches, has created a complex landscape. Many new developers have substantial pipelines but limited operational experience in offshore project development.
So what: The financial health of offshore wing value chains is critical for sustainable growth. Coordinated actions by governments across nations, project developers, and supply chain actors will be required to de-risk the pre-FID pipeline. (Full story here).
🚜 AgriTech (1-Min Read)
The Billion-dollar Dance of Regenerative Agriculture
What happened: $1.4bn was invested in tech start-ups helping farmers take advantage of regenerative agriculture between 2021-2023 — a 46% increase over three years. This increase comes after rising interest in regenerative agriculture from major food companies like Nestlé, Unilever, and Danone, who are incorporating “regen ag” into their sustainability plans.
What is it? Regenerative agriculture is based on the idea that as well as producing food, farming should also benefit biodiversity, water and soil quality. Regen ag can increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil, enabling farmers to earn carbon credits. Startups are working on tools to monitor the amount of carbon sequestered and issue carbon credits, which farmers can use to create an additional income stream.
Positive Outlook: Investors in regen ag start-ups are bullish due to the belief that incoming regulation and sustainability targets, such as the EU’s Green Deal, which targets better biodiversity and healthier soils, will make the sector even more appealing. (Full story here).
🐘 Nature (1-Min Read)
A guide to transforming harmful subsidies and saving biodiversity
What happened: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) released a set of guidelines enabling governments to re-design subsidies harmful to biodiversity. Subsidies can negatively impact the environment by underpricing natural resources or incentivising increased production. So, the guidelines offer a blueprint for governments to navigate a more sustainable future.
Details: Energy and agriculture are identified as the sectors accounting for the largest shares of harmful subsidies. The OECD estimates that $500 billion is currently spent supporting agricultural production across 54 countries that could harm the environment.
The bigger picture: Changing subsidies that harm biodiversity is a crucial step towards the goals of the 2022 COP15 biodiversity summit. However, these changes must be balanced with support for food production, especially as farmers face rising input costs, and demand for food is expected to rise by 50% by 2050. (Full story here).
💭 Little Bytes (1-Min Read)
💬 Quote: “During this period, we will take a hard look at the effects of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment.” President Joe Biden, as the U.S. indefinitely paused approvals for new liquefied natural gas export terminals.
📊 Stat: The EU must invest about €1.5tn a year between 2031 and 2050 to meet its mid-century target of bringing greenhouse gas emissions down to zero — European Commission
📺️ Watch: The world’s tallest wooden wind turbine starts turning
🛗 Snippets for your lift conversations (1-Min Read)
Pandora, the world’s largest jeweller by the amount of products sold, has stopped using mined silver and gold and now only manufactures with recycled precious metals, which require less energy. (Full story here).
An incentive program for coffee farmers in Panama who have planted scores of trees near the country’s namesake canal also seeks to benefit the critical global waterway, which has recently suffered from a major drought that has crimped trade flow. (Full story here).
Fruits and vegetables grown in urban gardens in Europe and the US have a carbon footprint 6x larger on average than the same produce grown on conventional farms, according to researchers. (Full story here).
More than three billion people stand to benefit from a historic climate loss-and-damage fund. But spending it involves agonising choices about who has suffered most. (Full Story here).
H2 Green Steel raised nearly $5.2bn for its plant under construction in Boden, Sweden, which plans to crank out 5m tons of green steel annually by 2030. (Full story here).
Miners slash costs and scale back plans to increase production after Lithium prices plummeted more than 80% in 12 months. (Full story here).
🎣 Gone Phishing (1-Minute Read)
Three of these stories are true, one we’ve made up. Guess which:
English Breakfast Society recommends swapping tomatoes for pineapple
College student discovers new dinosaur species
London restaurant introduces Chocolate-Covered Pickles as a new delicacy
Twins sold at birth reunited by TikTok video
