Happy Tuesday. Hot, dry weather brews trouble for global coffee industry: Prices surge amid supply shortages and climate concerns.

In today’s edition:
⚡️Supreme Court says shareholders can’t sue companies for not disclosing climate-related risks

🚜 Coffee prices soar to record $3,948 per tonne

🌳 54% of world’s coral area experiences bleaching-level heat stress

🔋 Energy (1-Min Read)

Corporate silence on Impactful trends not securities fraud, US Supreme Court rules

What happened: The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled that shareholders can’t sue companies under federal fraud law for not disclosing information about future climate-related risks — unless the omission makes another statement misleading.

Deep dive: U.S. publicly traded companies must make various disclosures under federal rules enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moab sued Macquarie in 2018, accusing it of not completing these disclosures. Specifically, hiding that revenues relied on demand for storage of a freighter fuel that international regulators sought to eliminate by 2020.

Two sides: Macquarie and its allies argued that a ruling against them would lead companies to overdisclose and that it would create even more confusion for investors.  Moab argued that such a ruling would give companies immunity for violating climate-disclosure laws.

The ruling: The Supreme Court decided that violating the SEC rules does not by itself amount to a misleading omission under anti-fraud law, which bars companies from omitting facts to be misleading.

Why it matters: SCOTUS threw companies a bone in an age of increasing discourse over what they should disclose beyond traditional financials. A ruling the other way could have amped up the concerns of company execs about the SEC’s climate disclosure rules — currently on pause. (Full story here)

 🚜 AgriTech (1-Min Read)
Coffee prices surge amid climate chaos

What happened: Global coffee prices are soaring as hot, dry weather in major producing countries in Southeast Asia raises fears of shortages. 

Details: Prices of cheaper robusta and higher-end arabica beans have rallied since the start of the year. London robusta futures, the global benchmark, hit $3,948 per tonne—a record since trading began over 16 years ago. 

Growing pains: Most of the world’s robusta beans, used in instant coffee and espresso, are grown in Vietnam, where the rainy season should be well underway. But this year, a prolonged heatwave is damaging crops. 

Bigger picture: Rising coffee prices come as other soft commodities surge, with cocoa futures surpassing a record of $10,000 per ton at the end of last month. These soaring prices reflect a broader trend of volatility and supply chain disruptions in soft commodities driven by climate change impacts. 

🐘 Nature (1-Min Read)
Coral bleaching: Fourth global mass stress episode

What happened: Coral reefs worldwide are experiencing a “significant” bleaching event driven by record-breaking ocean heat from human-caused climate change, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned this week.

Frequency: It’s the fourth global bleaching event on record and the second in the last decade. Bleaching threatens the reefs, which are vital spots for marine biodiversity and major drivers of fishing and tourism revenue for countries across the globe.

The numbers: NOAA and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) said 54% of the world’s coral area has experienced bleaching-level heat stress over the last year. That figure is growing by roughly 1% every week, and the current bleaching event could become the largest on record if it surpasses the previous peak of 56.1%.

Why it matters:  When these events are sufficiently severe or prolonged, they can cause coral mortality, which hurts the people who depend on the coral reefs and the fish that inhabit them for their livelihoods. (Full story here).

💭 Little Bytes (1-Min Read)

💬 Quote: “Every voice matters. Yours have never been more important. If you want bolder climate action, now is the time to make yours count.” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change

📊 Stat: Coal capacity outside of China increased for the first time since 2019, as less coal power was retired than in any single year of the past decade – Global Energy Monitor

📺️ Watch:  2,000 Swiss women sued their government over Climate change and won

🛗 Snippets for your lift conversations (1-Min Read)

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a verification body backed by a coalition of non-profit groups, has faced a revolt since its board pronounced that the companies it assesses would be allowed to use carbon offsets at scale to meet their climate pledges.

Emerging countries will pay a record $400 billion to service external debt this year, and nearly four dozen cannot spend the money they need for climate adaptation and sustainable development without risking default in the next five years.

South East Asia is “woefully off track” on green investments to reduce emissions and needs new policies and financial mechanisms to help bridge the gap.

A top arbiter of corporate climate plans faces an internal revolt over its leadership’s decision to endorse tapping the carbon markets and using carbon offsets as an emissions-cutting tool.

Apple will soon update its repair practices to enable customers and independent repair providers to re-use pre-owned Apple parts, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of the repair process.

 🎣 Gone Phishing (1-Minute Read)

Three of these stories are true, one we’ve made up. Guess which:

Reported armed man at Scottish train station was ‘Star Wars’ Stormtrooper

Japan warns of hungry bears in spring that may attack people

Residents startled in Italian town as lama mistaken for escaped circus animal 

Costco now sells up to $200 million a month in gold and silver