ESG Watch: How the ‘global stocktake’ will force investors to pull up their socks on climate

By Mike Scott 

REUTERS

With few companies having credible plans for the low-carbon transition, the UNFCCC's review of progress since the Paris Agreement will be a wake-up call, reports Mike Scott

The drivers for companies to decarbonise are intensifying all the time and 2023 will see the emergence of yet another one.

Just before the COP28 climate conference starts in Dubai, the United Nations will publish its first “global stocktake”, the result of a two-year assessment of how nations are doing in their efforts to tackle climate change, which began at COP26 in Glasgow.

The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting COP28, has indicated that the stocktake, which was set up as a five-yearly review of progress under the Paris Agreement, will be a key priority of its presidency. According to the World Resources Institute, the review aims to answer three vital questions: where are we, where do we want to go and, most critically important, how do we get there?

We already know broadly where we are. In March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is due to publish its latest Synthesis Report, which summarises all the scientific reports it has published over the last six years. This will highlight just how far off-track we are, reinforcing last year’s U.N. Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report, which stated that the policies that are currently in place put us on track for 2.8C of warming.

Nothing indicates that countries are prepared to do what we need to do to meet the 1.5C target

As COP28 president, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber told last month’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week conference: “We don’t need to wait for the stocktake to know what it will say. We are way off track.”

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry was similarly downbeat. “We need to be blunt. Nothing indicates that countries are prepared to do what we need to do to meet the 1.5C target.”

It may seem like an arcane piece of the climate policy machinery, but experts say the global stocktake could be the catalyst for a significant acceleration in the race to decarbonise the global economy.


UNEP’s Emissions Gap report warns current policies put us on track for 2.8C of warming. 

(Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters)


To have a chance of meeting that target, emissions must fall by 45% by 2030, and the stocktake will be a crucial tool in persuading countries to ratchet up their climate ambitions. “It serves as an opportunity to provide guidance as well as to demand greater action, accountability and collaboration to address the challenge,” says Adam Savitz, sustainability director at Johnson Controls.

The exercise will highlight what measures are working and what are not, says Kiryssa Kasprzyk, senior manager for climate policy at Conservation International, “and there will be specific, actionable recommendations for no-regrets options” such as a greater focus on nature-based solutions.

The voice of the business community for stronger action will be important because it will help build support for greater ambition from governments.
Just as the stocktake increases the pressure on governments to raise their ambitions, it will add to investors’ calls for companies to act, says Steven Clarke, senior director for climate and energy at sustainable investment advocacy group Ceres.

We have seen initiatives, pledges and missions. That’s great, but the stocktake is about implementation

“It will reinforce the fact that while more companies than ever have net-zero commitments, we need to pivot very quickly to implementation. It will expedite a growth in investors demanding not just commitments but concrete plans.”

One of the contentious issues is around the use of carbon credits to help meet net-zero commitments. A recent report from Conservation International and We Mean Business shows that the vast majority of business leaders say the responsible use of carbon credits is important to reducing emissions (89%).

Yet, the $11 trillion investor group the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance recently banned its members from counting carbon removal schemes towards their emissions reduction targets before 2030. The alliance wants asset owners to encourage the companies they invest in to cut their own emissions rather than rely on offset schemes.


A reforestation project. Newspaper reports questioned the worth of forest carbon offsets. 

(Credit: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

This stance by investors was supported by an investigation published in the UK’s Guardian newspaper and Germany’s Die Zeit, which concluded that “the forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading certifier, Verra, and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci and other big corporations are largely worthless and could make global heating worse”, a claim that Verra has vigorously denied.

The use of offsets may not be so problematic for investors were it not for the fact that few companies have produced Climate Transition Action Plans (CTAPs), setting out in detail what they will do to decarbonise and meet their net-zero targets.

A report this month from CDP finds that only 81 of the of the 18,600 plus organisations that answered its climate change questionnaire last year have climate transition plans it considers credible. Clarke, from Ceres, says “fewer than a dozen companies in the U.S. have CTAPs, and none of them are major emitters”.

Thomas Hale, professor of public policy at Oxford University, says: “People want to see actual results. We have seen initiatives, pledges and missions. That’s great, but the stocktake is about implementation.”

There will be a pre-stocktake world and the post-stocktake one

He says he expects to see more “companies being called out for not doing what they said they would” as they come under greater scrutiny by investors.

The stocktake will also shine a light on which companies are leading within different industries, Hale adds. “If you are the most forward-leaning oil and gas, or automotive, company, you are in a much better position to meet the coming requirements than your competitors.”

Knut Haanaes, professor of strategy and Lundin chair professor of sustainability at business school IMD, believes the publication of the stocktake will herald a paradigm shift, though the situation will not change overnight. “We will have facts that we did not have before. There will be a pre-stocktake world and the post-stocktake one. It will become the benchmark and the baseline for future action.”

on Feb 7, 2023

Carbon offsets don't work. It's time for the EU to change its approach 

By Souparna Lahiri, Senior policy advisor, and Ismail Wolff, Environmental consultant

An aircraft as it takes off at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris, 

August 2018 - Copyright AFP/Euronews

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.


The European Union’s strategy to turn Europe into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is doomed to failure.

Yet, that can be prevented if it rejects the greenwashing of carbon offsetting programmes and shifts policy and finance flows towards genuine climate solutions focused on reducing emissions in line with the science.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), charged with advancing scientific knowledge about anthropogenic climate change, is due to release its sixth synthesis report on 20 March, which is expected to indicate there is no further room for offsets.

It shows that by continuing to channel policy focus and financial flows towards mitigation efforts such as carbon offsets and other false solutions — and away from adaptation and the real solutions — we are delaying the immediate emission reduction target by 2030, and we will offshoot 1.5.

Brussels' directive is poised to do more harm than good

The EU is due to publish its Green Claims Directive Proposal next week before it goes to the European Parliament and the European Council as part of the standard legislative process, with it expected to be passed into law before the end of 2024.

The directive is part of the broader 2020 Circular Economy action plan under the EU Green Deal aimed at bringing in EU-wide standards to prevent companies from making false and misleading environmental claims about their products and services.
Euronews Debates: Can the EU Green Deal empower business and consumer change?
European Green Deal: Brussels unveils €1 trillion plan to make EU carbon neutral by 2050

It's also meant to help consumers make informed choices and ensure a level playing field for businesses when marketing their greenness.

The proposed directive includes independent oversight mechanisms to ensure all “green claims” are substantiated and requires member states to ensure enforcement of the new guidelines through new powers for the competent authorities and to establish complaint procedures.

Hundreds of organisations have spoken out against this initiative, arguing that over-reliance on removals to offset ongoing emissions risks no net reductions in emissions.

Simultaneously and as part of the broader Green Deal, the European Commission is also considering a Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) proposal to regulate offset schemes, which would form part of the assessment of any green claims.

Hundreds of organisations have spoken out against this initiative, arguing that over-reliance on removals to offset ongoing emissions risks no net reductions in emissions.

In fact, it increases the chances of overshooting temperature goals and chances of crossing tipping points and irreversible environmental impacts.
Damage is not undone by doing what is right somewhere else

Simply put, carbon offsets won’t save us. They have been proven a failure and are a barrier to real climate solutions.

It is difficult to see how they would pass a genuine assessment of any claims to the contrary.

Carbon certification companies such as Plan Vivo and Verra cannot be considered independent authorities of the validity of these schemes.

Carbon offsetting is founded on misplaced assumptions of equivalence — that it is possible to trade off destructive practices in one place with positive actions in another.

Multiple investigations and research projects have shown that the vast majority of carbon offset schemes, most of which focus on the planting or conserving of trees to balance out environmentally destructive business practices, simply do not work.

But the voluntary offsets market is a multi-billion euro industry that Verra, Plan Vivo and others will do anything to protect, and they’re now looking into monetising biodiversity.

View: Carbon offsets may ease your flight guilt, but they aren’t saving the planet

Carbon offsetting: What is it and how do you do it?

Carbon offsetting is founded on misplaced assumptions of equivalence — that it is possible to trade off destructive practices in one place with positive actions in another.

But that doesn’t equate to the natural world, where all ecosystems and habitats are unique and are not interchangeable.
Carbon offsetting entrenches inequalities

Carbon trading and offsets have also proven to be ineffective ways of reducing emissions and halting the production of fossil fuels.

It means emissions are still being generated — often by companies in the Global North — not reduced, and offset somewhere else — often in the Global South — allowing companies to continue their unsustainable practices.

These projects are also often responsible for human rights abuses, environmental harms and land conflicts and have gender-differentiated impacts.

A member of Mikoko Pamoja, Swahili for 'mangroves together', plants a mangrove tree at Gazi Bay, in Kwale county, Kenya, June 2022Brian Inganga/www.photoshots.co.ke

Denmark, the first country to import CO2 and bury it undersea

Behind the scenes with the environmental lawyers who are taking Shell’s Board of Directors to court

These projects are also often responsible for human rights abuses, environmental harms and land conflicts and have gender-differentiated impacts.

They inherently favour those with economic power and tend to further entrench inequalities faced by marginalised groups, including women in all their diversity and Indigenous Peoples.

Research shows that whenever forests become more commercially attractive, for example, through forest carbon offsets markets and plantations, there has been a tendency for forest tenure and access rights — in the rare cases where tenure rights are present — to shift from women to men.
Brussels should listen to reason backed by evidence

Beyond the fact that carbon offsetting is not the answer to climate change, these other important questions on human rights, justice, equity, and local economic, health, and social impacts of these projects require scrutiny.

Locals furious as carbon offset firm sparks two wildfires in two months

What in the world is carbon insetting - and is it any better for the planet than carbon offsetting?

As such, they should be incorporated into the EU Green Claims Directive and other EU policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Europe has a historical responsibility to support a just transition for the Global South and to rapidly bring emissions down to Real Zero.

It’s time the EU listens to the science, feminist, and climate justice movements along with frontline communities.

Europe must turn its back on false solutions and focus on the real work of halting emissions and conserving and restoring forests and other essential ecosystems.

Souparna Lahiri is Senior Climate and Biodiversity Policy Advisor for the Global Forest Coalition. Ismail Wolff is an independent human rights and environmental consultant.

Updated: 20/03/2023

Major registries in the carbon offset market are allowing dubious credits, report says

Emma Newburger@EMMA_NEWBURGER
CNBC Climate:

KEY POINTS

Major registries in the carbon offset market are systematically over-crediting projects and delivering dubious carbon offsets, allowing some companies to claim more climate benefits than deserved, according to a new report.

A group of researchers led by Barbara Haya, director of the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, studied nearly 300 carbon offset projects across the world that comprise 11% of all carbon offset credits to date.

Carbon offset projects allow businesses and governments to balance out their own carbon emissions by supporting green initiatives that reduce or sequester an equal amount of carbon pollution.


Paula Swedeen, a forest policy specialist for the Washington Environmental Council, poses for a photo next to a forest land boundary marker adjacent to Mount Rainier National Park on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, near Ashford, Wash. The land is part of a new project of 520 acres on private timberland that allows the private nonprofit Nisqually Land Trust to sell so-called “carbon credits” to individuals and companies - including Microsoft Corp. - who are hoping to offset their carbon footprints.
Ted S. Warren | AP


Major registries in the carbon offset market are systematically over-crediting projects and delivering dubious carbon offsets, a practice that allows some companies to make unjustified claims of climate progress, according to a new report published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.

A group of researchers led by Barbara Haya, director of the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, studied nearly 300 carbon offset projects across the world that comprise 11% of all carbon offset credits to date.


Carbon offset projects allow businesses and governments to balance out their carbon emissions by supporting green initiatives that reduce or sequester an equal amount of carbon pollution. Standards are upheld by groups that have their own registries and are largely unregulated.

The report comes amid repeated concerns over whether carbon offsets are an accurate and effective way to mitigate climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

Voluntary carbon offset programs have been widely criticized as insufficiently regulated schemes that allow governments and corporations to undermine net-zero emission targets. For instance, some reports suggest that land managers are not changing their logging practices in some forests where offsets were purchased. Officials, researchers and environmental groups have called for stricter standards.

The researchers assessed carbon offset credits from forest management programs, which typically fall into three broad categories: conserving existing forests, boosting forests through processes like reforestation, and changing the management of existing forests to increase carbon sinks in forests.

They found that in the current unregulated market, flexible rules have resulted in a major portion of credits being generated from claims that projects prevent forest carbon loss with large reductions in timber harvesting. Such projects look more similar to conservation or avoided degradation projects than to improved forest management, the report said.

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“While these baselines might be accurate for some projects with potential for real climate benefit, the flexibility all protocols give can lead to significant over-crediting,” the researchers wrote. They suggested that more conservative baselines can substantially reduce — but not resolve — over-crediting risk.

Three voluntary offset market registries have generated the vast majority of offset credits globally to date: American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve and Verified Carbon Standard, the report said. Each has offset protocols generating credits for voluntary use.

All three are also registries for the California Air Resources Board offset program, and manage the monitoring, reporting and verification processes for offset credits that can be used by the state’s emitters to meet California’s cap-and-trade emissions targets.

Researchers found that the registries did not follow standards to make sure projects have a real and tangible impact on carbon levels or confirm that credits were funding programs that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.

PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 21 20235:

Banks in Canada push for deposit insurance boost to cut risk

Derek Decloet, Bloomberg News

A coalition of Canadian lenders is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to increase the limits on deposit insurance, arguing that it would send “a strong signal” about financial stability and reduce the risk of bank failures.

Canada’s insurance program protects depositors up to C$100,000 (US$73,200) per account, far less than the US$250,000 cap on most accounts covered by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Executives of smaller financial institutions asked Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to announce a review of the limit in her March 28 budget. 

“Increased protection limits would send Canadians a strong signal about the stability of the financial system while greatly reducing any concern about the damage a ‘run on the bank’ could have on an institution and its depositors,” says a letter to Freeland signed by five executives, including Equitable Bank Chief Executive Officer Andrew Moor and Home Capital Group Inc. CEO Yousry Bissada. It was sent under the letterhead of the Banks & Trust Companies Association, which represents small and medium-sized financial institutions in Canada. 

The group has been lobbying for deposit insurance reform since before the March 10 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which has put US regional banks under extreme pressure. Asked to comment on the letter, Freeland’s office stressed safeguards are already in place to protect deposits.

In Washington, officials are now looking at ways to temporarily expand FDIC coverage to all deposits — a measure that a group of mid-sized US banks argues is needed to shore up confidence. Treasury Department staff are reviewing whether federal regulators have enough emergency authority to lift the current limit, even if they don’t consider such a move necessary right now, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

SVB’s failure, followed by the closing of Signature Bank just two days later, led regulators to take extraordinary measures to reassure depositors of both banks. But it hasn’t stopped fear from spreading to other regional banks such as San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, which tumbled 47 per cent on Monday as S&P Global cut its rating for the second time in a week. 

Canada’s banking system, which is dominated by six domestic institutions with a large and diverse base of depositors, operates under a different regulatory structure than the U.S., and has proved to be relatively stable. The last financial institution failure handled by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. was in 1996 — though Home Capital suffered a run on deposits in 2017 that nearly took it down before it received a lifeline from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Among other benefits, a higher deposit insurance limit would be useful to business owners who need a cash float of more than C$100,000 and help create more choice in the market, the Canadian financial executives said in their letter to the finance minister. “Competition in financial services is an important issue and increasing CDIC deposit protection limits would help achieve that,” they said.   

In an interview, Moor said the Canadian financial system “looks really solid in this environment” and hasn’t seen the same problem of deposit flight that’s afflicting some U.S. regional banks. But adjusting the deposit limit to a level more comparable to the U.S. — such as C$200,000 to C$300,000 — would improve it, he said. CDIC insurance is funded by premiums paid by financial institutions. 

The Trudeau government is “committed to a strong deposit insurance framework,” Freeland’s press secretary, Adrienne Vaupshas, said by email Tuesday. “There are stringent safeguards in place” through both CDIC and the main national financial regulator “to ensure the deposit insurance framework continues to meet the key objectives of protecting Canadians’ savings, securing the trust and confidence of depositors, and supporting the stability of Canada’s financial system.”

The Canadian Bankers Association, a trade group that includes the biggest banks, doesn’t currently have a position on the deposit insurance limit, according to a spokesperson.

Canada’s bank deposit insurance limits

being reviewed after SVB collapse, trade

group says

 
Canada’s bank deposit insurer is reviewing deposit insurance limits to safeguard the country’s financial system, the head of the Bank and Trust Companies Association said on Tuesday, after the trade group called for better coverage.

The group, representing the country’s medium and small banks, wrote to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland last month urging the Canada Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (CDIC) to double its coverage to $200,000 per depositor.

Canada has the lowest level of deposit insurance among G7 countries, the letter dated Feb. 7 said.

“The CDIC is reviewing their depositor insurance regime to make sure that it is effective,” said Andrew Moor, chair of the group, in an interview. “They are always trying to make sure that things are relevant.”

READ MORE: Banking turmoil is adding to sense of looming economic ‘precipice.’ What’s next?

CDIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an email, a spokesperson for Freeland said the government was committed to a “strong deposit insurance framework.”

About 65% of deposits at Canada’s top six banks — Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotiabank and National Bank of Canada — are uninsured, according to DBRS Morningstar.

In addition, the U.S. subsidiaries of the top six have uninsured deposits ranging between 30% and 70%, DBRS estimates.

9:55Canadian banks are stable, but ‘something is going to break’ in economy: experts

Around 25% of deposits are uninsured with the mid and small banks, DBRS said in a report released on Monday.

The recent collapse of regional U.S. lenders such as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has raised questions about the stability of financial institutions across the world.

Calls have grown for the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to offer temporary guarantees for all uninsured U.S. bank deposits in the wake of collapse of several U.S. regional lenders.

READ MORE: U.S. banking system stabilizing, situation ‘very different’ from 2008 crisis: Yellen

Despite Canada’s lower deposit insurance cap, analysts have said the U.S. banking crisis is unlikely to spread to the northern neighbor where banks are better regulated and have ample liquidity. CDIC has some 85 members, while FDIC has more than 4,700 institutions.

“Increased protection limits would send Canadians a strong signal about the stability of the financial system while greatly reducing any concern about the damage a ‘run on the bank’ could have on an institution and its depositors,” the Bank and Trust Companies Association said in the letter.

(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Richard Chang and Josie Kao)

By Divya Rajagopal  Reuters

Posted March 21, 2023

Warren Seeks to Tie Higher FDIC Insurance to Tighter Regulation

Steven T. Dennis, Bloomberg News

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The Federal Reserve chair is expected to echo fellow central bankers in suggesting interest rates will go higher than policymakers anticipated just weeks ago if economic data continue to come in hot. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday she doesn’t think multibillion-dollar banks should get an increase in federal insurance without tighter regulation.

“You bet I’d tie them together,” the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters at the Capitol.

“The big banks cannot have it both ways. They can’t say they want the government to backstop them and they don’t want any additional regulation,” she said. “That’s not the way the world works or at least not the way it should.”

Warren said she’s not as concerned about smaller banks she said are “financially sound and frankly, fairly stiffly regulated.”

“It’s these multibillion-dollar banks that both pose the threat and got away with regulation that was far too weak,” she said.

She warned against simply giving bankers two years of unlimited Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protection without tougher restrictions in the wake of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York.

“That just puts the taxpayer on the hook and puts even more distortions in the incentives and we can’t do that,” she said.

Warren will have work to do to get others to back her proposals as Republicans and many Democrats who voted for a 2018 law that loosened regulations on smaller and midsized banks say the law itself isn’t to blame.

Conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia separately told reporters that he’s open to considering a higher FDIC insurance limit than the current $250,000 cap for people willing to pay for that insurance.

“It makes sense to ask the question, can’t there be some type of mechanism that allows people that are using the banks for greater deposits and want that protection to pay a different fee?” he said.

Manchin likened it to people having the option of buying more life insurance if they wish.

Yet Manchin, who added that he had spoken to bankers in his state, said he doesn’t think the 2018 law affected the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Manchin was one of several Democrats who voted for the rollback. 

“They went eight months as I’m understanding without having a risk officer,” Manchin said. “It’s hard to legislate against incompetency.”

“Somebody should be held tremendously responsible for this and the people of that bank and basically the San Francisco Fed, all of them should be held very accountable for dereliction of duty, really,” Manchin said.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal on millions of dollars Alberta law firm charged to First Nation

The Supreme Court of Canada will not be hearing an appeal from Rath & Company and Jeffrey R. W. Rath that the law firm is owed more than $3 million as a contingency fee from work it undertook when Tallcree First Nation received agricultural benefits in 2017 under Canada’s Specific Claims process.

The Priddis-based Alberta law firm signed an agreement with Tallcree First Nation in 2015 that set a contingency fee of no less than 20 per cent received in a settlement agreement.

Tallcree First Nation, one of approximately 20 Treaty 8 First Nations at the time negotiating an agreement with Canada, received $57.6 million based on a formula that took into account the number of band members. The settlement was consistent with offers made to other signatories of Treaty 8.

Under the agreement with Rath & Company, the contingency fee would therefore be $11.5 million, but Tallcree put up a fight.

Tallcree sought a review of the fee. The review officer upheld Rath & Company’s fee.

Tallcree appealed the decision to the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta and the judge ruled that the fee was unreasonable and reduced it to $3 million, “inclusive of disbursements.”

Rath appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

In a split decision of two to one, the higher court upheld the lower court’s $3 million contingency fee. However, the appeal court found the lower court’s conclusion was “tainted” and therefore conducted a new analysis to determine what constituted a reasonable fee.

Among the errors the appeal court majority said the lower court judge made was in the “hindsight analysis.” The lower court found that Rath could have predicted that the upcoming federal election (of 2015) would result in a government change with a new government that would be more amenable to Indigenous peoples.

The appeal court also took issue with the lower court’s conclusion that Tallcree First Nation was under economic pressure to enter into the contingency fee agreement with Rath because of impecuniosity (poverty). The appeal court said the argument wasn’t sustained by a financial statement from Tallcree.

And the appeal court found error in the conclusion that Rath & Company, because it was located in a small community, did not have the expertise to handle First Nations’ law.

“Since both the Review Officer’s and the chambers judge’s analyses of the reasonableness of the contingency fee agreement were tainted by reviewable error, it is necessary for this court to conduct a fresh analysis,” wrote Justices Frans Slatter and Kevin Feehan in their 2022 majority decision.

At the time Tallcree signed with Rath, Tallcree felt that their claim was lagging – their smaller claim was being piggybacked on the larger claims – and that their present law firm was not sharing information with them. In light of this dissatisfaction, the First Nation signed with Rath to expedite the process.

Tallcree’s business manager had not been briefed about the mandatory statutory timetable for resolving specific claims.

The Treaty 8 claimants had triggered the Specific Claims procedure, which had a specific timeline in place: three years from filing to acceptance for negotiation and a further three years to negotiate settlement. It was expected a per capita formula for the settlements would be put in place.

Tallcree’s claim was accepted as “filed” by Canada in 2013, setting 2016 as the end of the research and assessment period.

Canada had already accepted other claims for negotiation so it was highly unlikely that Tallcree’s claim would not be accepted.

The contingency fee agreement with Rath was signed 26 months into the 36-month assessment period.

Since a number of claims had already been accepted for negotiations, “the reasonable observer” would not have considered liability seriously contested, would have perceived a settlement in the near future, and would expect Tallcree to receive an offer, held the court of appeal majority opinion.

“The 20 per cent contingency would likely be triggered with minimal additional effort or risk. Given the range of settlement being discussed, the resulting fee would clearly be unreasonable…,” said the majority decision.

Rath estimated the hourly rate for work undertaken for Tallcree at $391,900. Rath had conceded before the lower court judge that a fee between $1 million and $2 million would be appropriate. The judge set $3 million as the contingency fee.

The appeal court majority said although the $3 million fee was “based on unsupportable analysis,” Tallcree had not filed a cross appeal, so the $3 million fee stood.

Dissenting Justice Thomas A. Wakeling held that Tallcree First Nation had entered into the contingency fee agreement with Rath & Company “with its eyes wide open” and understood its obligations.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Rath’s leave to appeal on March 16, 2023. The Supreme Court does not provide reasons for leave application judgments.

BY SHARI NARINE, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINDSPEAKER.COM
THE CANADIAN PRESS

PUBLISHED MARCH 21, 2023

Scientists use tardigrade proteins for human health breakthrough

by University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming student Maxwell Packebush works with Silvia Sanchez-Martinez,

 a senior research scientist, to purify one of the tardigrade proteins used in a study showing

 that the proteins can be used to stabilize an important pharmaceutical for people with 

hemophilia and other conditions without the need for refrigeration. 

Credit: Thomas Boothby

University of Wyoming researchers' study of how microscopic creatures called tardigrades survive extreme conditions has led to a major breakthrough that could eventually make life-saving treatments available to people where refrigeration isn't possible.

Thomas Boothby, an assistant professor of molecular biology, and colleagues have shown that natural and engineered versions of tardigrade proteins can be used to stabilize an important pharmaceutical used to treat people with hemophilia and other conditions without the need for refrigeration—even amid high temperatures and other difficult conditions. The findings are detailed in Scientific Reports.

The pharmaceutical known as human blood clotting Factor VIII is an essential therapeutic used to treat genetic disease and instances of extreme bleeding. Despite being critical and effective in treating patients in these circumstances, Factor VIII has a serious shortcoming, in that it is inherently unstable. Without stabilization within a precise temperature range, Factor VIII will break down.

"In underdeveloped regions, during natural disasters, during space flight or on the battlefield, access to refrigerators and freezers, as well as ample electricity to run this infrastructure, can be in short supply. This often means that people who need access to Factor VIII do not get it," Boothby says. "Our work provides a proof of principle that we can stabilize Factor VIII, and likely many other pharmaceuticals, in a stable, dry state at room or even elevated temperatures using proteins from tardigrades—and, thus, provide critical lifesaving medicine to everyone everywhere."

The human blood clotting cascade. The clotting cascade of human blood plasma follows two prominent pathways; intrinsic, measured by Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (aPTT) and extrinsic, measured by Prothrombin Time (PT). To activate the intrinsic pathway, Human Blood Clotting Factor XII (FXII) acts as the first protein in a cascade of clotting factor activation. FXII activates FXI which activates FIX which finally activates FVIII. FVIII subsequently binds to and activates FX. To activate the extrinsic pathway, FVII forms a complex with Tissue Factor, activating FX. After activation of FX, both coagulation pathways converge. FX forms a complex with FV, converting prothrombin into thrombin. Thrombin then converts fibrinogen into fibrin, in turn creating a fibrin clot. Human plasma deficient in Factor VIII (highlighted in red) is unable to clot properly through the intrinsic pathway, unless supplemented with this factor, and thus clots more slowly. Adapted from Zaragoza and Espinoza-Villafuerte, 2017. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31586-9

Measuring less than half a millimeter long, tardigrades—also known as water bears—can survive being completely dried out; being frozen to just above absolute zero (about minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit, when all molecular motion stops); heated to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit; irradiated several thousand times beyond what a human could withstand; and even survive the vacuum of outer space. They are able to do so, in part, by manufacturing a sugar called trehalose and a protein called CAHS D.

According to the research paper, Boothby and his colleagues fine-tuned the biophysical properties of both trehalose and CAHS D to stabilize Factor VIII, noting that CAHS D is most suitable for the treatment. The stabilization allows Factor VIII to be available in austere conditions without refrigeration, including repeated dehydration/rehydration, extreme heat and long-term dry storage.

The researchers believe the same thing can be done with other biologics—pharmaceuticals containing or derived from living organisms—such as vaccines, antibodies, stem cells, blood and blood products.

"This study shows that dry preservation methods can be effective in protecting biologics, offering a convenient, logistically simple and economically viable means of stabilizing life-saving medicines," Boothby says. "This will be beneficial not only for global health initiatives in remote or developing parts of the world, but also for fostering a safe and productive space economy, which will be reliant on new technologies that break our dependence on refrigeration for the storage of medicine, food and other biomolecules."

Boothby and other researchers hope that their discoveries can be applied to address other societal and global health issues as well, including water scarcity. For example, their work might lead to better ways of generating engineered crops that can cope with harsh environments.

More information: Maxwell H. Packebush et al, Natural and engineered mediators of desiccation tolerance stabilize Human Blood Clotting Factor VIII in a dry state, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31586-9. www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31586-9

Provided by University of Wyoming 

Researchers reveal new knowledge of microscopic creature's durability

The world's toughest animal could one day help save your life
By Bronwyn Thompson
March 20, 2023

Water bear, moss piglet, scientific marvel: the tiny tardigrade
DepositphotosThey’ve been fired from a gas gun to test their candidacy for panspermia, are believed to have survived the Beresheet lunar probe's crash-landing on the Moon, can live without water, withstand radiation, survive being frozen and are expected to be one of the final forms of life on Earth when the sun begins to dim in about five billion years.


So it’s no surprise that everyone’s favorite microscopic critter has yet another superpower up its chubby sleeves: some clever chemistry unique to the tardigrade that can stabilize medicines without refrigeration. It has huge potential for getting life-saving treatment to those who need it.

Researchers at the University of Wyoming have homed in on one of the tardigrade’s key survival skills, anhydrobiosis. The team believed that the animal’s ability to enter reversible suspended animation when faced with extreme water loss from cells, could provide the same stable dry storage for biologic medicines that would otherwise require the chilled environment.

Biologics – vaccines, antibodies, stem cells, blood and other blood products – are derived from living organisms and require cold conditions to prevent heat breaking down the protein and destroying it. One that relies on this prohibitive cold-chain infrastructure is human blood-clotting (coagulation) factor VIII (FVIII), which among its therapeutic applications are treating genetic diseases such as hemophilia A and those with extreme physical trauma and bleeding.

By harnessing a specific protein and sugar that the microscopic water bear produces in anhydrobiosis, the researchers found that it could offer FVIII similar desiccation shields, meaning the biologic could be dehydrated and then rehydrated for use without the loss of its natural qualities. What's more, their study shows the FVIII remained stable for 10 weeks in its treated form.

“In underdeveloped regions, during natural disasters, during space flight or on the battlefield, access to refrigerators and freezers, as well as ample electricity to run this infrastructure, can be in short supply,” said Thomas Boothby, assistant professor of molecular biology at UW. “Our work provides a proof of principle that we can stabilize factor VIII, and likely many other pharmaceuticals, in a stable, dry state at room or even elevated temperatures using proteins from tardigrades – and, thus, provide critical live-saving medicine to everyone, everywhere.”

Using the Hypsibius dujardini species, the team fine-tuned a treatment based on the cytosolic abundant heat soluble (CAHS) proteins and the sugar trehalose. In particular, the CAHS D protein protects enzymes in its dehydrated state, forming gel-like filaments to keep the animal’s cell structure intact. When hydration returns, the filaments retreat without causing cellular stress.

Taking the biophysical properties of CAHS D and trehalose, the team was able to stabilize the FVIII, opening the door to develop this transport and storage technology across the spectrum of biologics.

“This study shows that dry preservation methods can be effective in protecting biologics, offering a convenient, logistically simple and economically viable means of stabilizing life-saving medicines,” said Boothby. “This will be beneficial not only for global health initiatives in remote or developing parts of the world, but also for fostering a safe and productive space economy, which will be reliant on new technologies that break our dependence on refrigeration for the storage of medicine, food and other biomolecules.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Source: University of Wyoming

Tardigrade protein can keep medicines stabilized without refrigeration

The results demonstrated that FVIII could remain stable in its treated form for up to ten weeks.

Mrigakshi Dixit
Created: Mar 21, 2023

Tardigrade stock image.

The tiny tardigrades, which measure less than half a millimeter in length, are frequently referred to as scientific marvels.

They can withstand harsh conditions such as freezing cold or super hot temperatures; they can survive without water, thrive in outer space, and can combat harmful radiation. These critters do, in fact, have a survival superpower.

It turns out scientists can tap into their superpower, which could help save medicines in unsuitable conditions and places.

 
Understanding tardigrade's survival skill

Scientists have delved into understanding how tardigrades survive frigid conditions, which could pave the way for medicines to be stabilized without refrigeration. This study is led by scientists from the University of Wyoming.

These microscopic creatures, also known as water bears, survive by producing trehalose (sugar) and CAHS D (protein). They do so through a process called anhydrobiosis — meaning life without water in Greek.

For this, the team fine-tuned the biophysical properties of CAHS D and trehalose in order to stabilize Factor VIII. Factor VIII is a critical protein in human blood clotting.

The results demonstrated that FVIII could remain stable in its treated form for up to ten weeks. It survived in the absence of refrigeration, dehydration/rehydration, dry storage, and even heat.

“Our work provides a proof of principle that we can stabilize Factor VIII, and likely many other pharmaceuticals, in a stable, dry state at room or even elevated temperatures using proteins from tardigrades — and, thus, provide critical life-saving medicine to everyone everywhere,” said Thomas Boothby, assistant professor of molecular biology, in a press release

Medicines require cold storage

Biologics, which include vaccines, antibodies, stem cells, blood, and other blood products, require cold temperatures to prevent heat from breaking down and destroying the protein.

Among these is factor VIII (FVIII), which has a significant pharmaceutical application and is heavily reliant on cold-chain infrastructure. It is used to treat genetic diseases such as hemophilia A and individuals who have experienced physical trauma and bleeding.

“In underdeveloped regions, during natural disasters, during space flight or on the battlefield, access to refrigerators and freezers, as well as ample electricity to run this infrastructure, can be in short supply. This often means that people who need access to Factor VIII do not get it,” said Boothby.

This method is also considered "logistically simple and economically viable" for preserving medicines. The details have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Study abstract:

Biologics, pharmaceuticals containing or derived from living organisms, such as vaccines, antibodies, stem cells, blood, and blood products are a cornerstone of modern medicine. However, nearly all biologics have a major deficiency: they are inherently unstable, requiring storage under constant cold conditions. The so-called ‘cold-chain’, while effective, represents a serious economic and logistical hurdle for deploying biologics in remote, underdeveloped, or austere settings where access to cold-chain infrastructure ranging from refrigerators and freezers to stable electricity is limited. To address this issue, we explore the possibility of using anhydrobiosis, the ability of organisms such as tardigrades to enter a reversible state of suspended animation brought on by extreme drying, as a jumping off point in the development of dry storage technology that would allow biologics to be kept in a desiccated state under not only ambient but elevated temperatures. Here we examine the ability of different protein and sugar-based mediators of anhydrobiosis derived from tardigrades and other anhydrobiotic organisms to stabilize Human Blood Clotting Factor VIII under repeated dehydration/rehydration cycles, thermal stress, and long-term dry storage conditions. We find that while both protein and sugar-based protectants can stabilize the biologic pharmaceutical Human Blood Clotting Factor VIII under all these conditions, protein-based mediators offer more accessible avenues for engineering and thus tuning of protective function.