COP OUT 26

China, world’s top carbon emitter, offers few new climate targets ahead of U.N. summit

Smoke and steam rise from towers at a coal-fired power plant in western China.
(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

BY CHRISTINA LARSON
ASSOCIATED PRESSOCT. 29, 2021
WASHINGTON —
China is offering no significant new goals for reducing climate-changing emissions ahead of the United Nations climate summit set to start next week in Glasgow, Scotland.

China, the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global warming, formally submitted its goals Thursday. The highly anticipated announcement includes targets previously established in speeches by President Xi Jinping and domestic policy documents.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Xi would talk to global leaders at the summit by video link only. Xi has avoided foreign travel since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

China says it aims to reach peak emissions of carbon dioxide — which is produced mainly through burning coal, oil and natural gas for transportation, electric power and manufacturing — “before 2030.” The country is aiming for “carbon neutrality,” meaning no net emissions of CO2, before 2060

Joanna Lewis, an expert in China, climate and energy at Georgetown University, said the document submitted Thursday “gave more detail about [how] China will meet those goals,” through measures such as increasing its wind and solar power capacity and carbon-absorbing forest cover. “It’s not surprising, but it is disappointing that there wasn’t anything new” in terms of goals, Lewis said.

Climate experts say key questions about China’s future carbon emissions remain unanswered.


What U.S.-China tension means for fighting climate change


“The document gives no answers on the major open questions about the country’s emissions,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki, Finland. “At what level will emissions peak and how fast should they fall after the peak?”

Nations participating in the U.N. climate conference submit what are called “nationally determined contributions,” or NDCs, that lay out emissions reduction plans.

It’s still possible that China may have additional announcements at the climate summit related to financing for renewable energy overseas, said Lewis.

China’s NDC is “consistent with everything that we’ve seen from Xi Jinping’s previous statements,” said Sam Geall, CEO of the nonprofit organization China Dialogue and associate fellow at Chatham House in London.


Column: Can humanity rise to the challenge in Glasgow and take some meaningful steps on climate change?

“It may not be enough to get us to 1.5 degrees, which is where we want to go,” he said, referring to the target set under the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

At the summit, Geall said he is looking to see countries take steps to “restore trust in the process” of climate negotiations, after widespread economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Promises on climate finance” — money pledged by rich countries to fund climate responses in developing countries — “are coming in far too late, far too small,” he said.

Ahead of Glasgow climate conference, India and China 

dim hopes for reaching 

sweeping deal

David Knowles

·Senior Editor

Thu, October 28, 2021, 2:51 PM·3 min read

The hope that world leaders will reach a broad-reaching climate change accord in Glasgow, Scotland, to keep global temperatures from crossing 1.5 degrees Celsius of rise over preindustrial levels has continued to dim in recent days. 

China, by far the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases, announced Thursday that it would not go beyond previous commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 and to reach peak levels of carbon emissions by 2030. That means that at a time when scientists have warned that nations must commit immediately to reducing greenhouse gas emissions or suffer devastating extreme weather consequences, the world's biggest atmospheric polluter plans to continue apace for nine more years. 

China's defiance ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, comes days after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a personal appeal to President Xi Jinping to bolster the commitments made in Paris in 2015.

“I commend President Xi Jinping for announcing at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly that China will end financing of coal-fired power plants abroad and direct support to green and low-carbon energy,” Guterres said. “We must do everything possible to keep the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement alive. I appeal for China’s presentation of an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution in the run-up to COP-26 in Glasgow.”

A heating plant in Jilin, China. (Reuters)

On Wednesday, India, the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, flatly rejected calls to set a deadline to achieve net-zero emissions.  

“It is how much carbon you are going to put in the atmosphere before reaching net zero that is more important,” Indian Environment Secretary R.P. Gupta told reporters. 

While the U.S., Britain and the European Union have all pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the devil is in the details. Meanwhile, the fate of the climate change measures contained in President Biden's infrastructure and spending bills remained in doubt as he left for Europe on Thursday. 

The biggest weapon Biden had to meet the clean energy provision was stripped from the Democrats’ framework by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Just six of the G-20 nations have updated their emissions targets ahead of Glasgow, and a new report released this week found that another six, including the U.S., failed to meet their old ones. 

A report by the United Nations Environment Program released this week found that, given current emissions pledges, the world was poised to see 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming, and that a 55 percent cut in overall emissions was needed to keep temperatures from rising beyond the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. 

“We have eight years to make the plans, put in place the policies, implement them and ultimately deliver the cuts,” Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director, said in a statement. “The clock is ticking loudly.”

The lack of action has left many climate scientists doubtful that the Glasgow conference will yield a new and effective agreement that keeps temperatures from crossing the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold. 

Australia rules out committing to methane reduction target


 In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, cattle graze in a field as smoke rises from burning fires on mountains near Moruya, Australia. Australia Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, ruled out promising to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade in a stance that will add to criticisms that the country is a laggard in addressing climate change. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)More


ROD McGUIRK
Wed, October 27, 2021, 

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia on Thursday ruled out promising to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade in a stance that will add to criticism that the country is a laggard in addressing climate change.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor announced his government’s decision before he was to fly with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

The United States and the European Union pledged in September to the 30% methane reduction target.

Taylor said the only way Australia could achieve that target would be to reduce numbers of cattle and sheep.

“At present, almost half of Australia’s annual methane emissions come from the agriculture sector, where no affordable, practical and large-scale way exists to reduce it other than by culling herd sizes,” Taylor wrote in The Australian newspaper.

“What activists in Australia and elsewhere want is an end to the beef industry,” he added.

Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and liquified natural gas. The gas and mining sector account for almost one third of Australia’s methane emissions.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said his Nationals party, the conservative government’s junior coalition partner, had insisted Morrison not commit to reducing methane at the Glasgow summit, known as COP26.

Inaction on methane was one of the conditions the rural-based Nationals had placed on support for Morrison’s Liberal Party’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.

“The only way you can get your 30% by 2030 reduction in methane on 2020 levels would be to go and grab a rifle, go out and start shooting your cattle because it’s just not possible,” Joyce said.

But Meat and Livestock Australia — a Sydney-based producer-owned company that provides marketing, research and development services to over 50,000 cattle, sheep and goat farmers — said the Australian red meat industry was pursuing its own net zero target for 2030.

“This target means that by 2030, Australian beef, lamb and goat production, including lot feeding and meat processing, will make no net release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere,” the company website said.

Morrison’s net zero deal with the Nationals means he cannot budge from Australia’s 6-year-old target of reducing emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Scientists agree Australia’s 2030 targets are among the weakest in the developed world. The United States has committed to reductions of between 50% and 52% below 2005 levels. Britain has pledged to cut emissions by 68% below 1990 levels.

Critics argue that Morrison’s plan to achieve net zero without imposing costs on households or businesses will not achieve the target and contains no measures to wean the Australian economy off fossil fuels.

Morrison and Joyce appeared to contradict each other on Thursday over the extent to which the agricultural sector will bear the burden of transitioning to net zero.

When Joyce was asked if he was certain that agriculture had been excluded from the net zero plan, he told reporters: “Absolutely, 100%.”

Morrison backed Taylor who earlier this week said the government’s policy was to reduce emissions across the entire Australian economy.

“I have no misunderstanding. It’s a whole-of-economy emissions reduction plan,” Morrison said. “That’s the policy agreed by Cabinet.”

Joyce said the net zero deal had also included a government commitment to create a “fund to support people in regional Australia.”

But neither Joyce nor Morrison would say how much the fund would cost.

Morrison said policies to “invest in rural and regional Australia” would be announced before the next election, which is due by May.

COP26 Glasgow: Net zero goals aren’t the solution, says India before UN climate summit

Via AP news wire
Wed, October 27, 2021

India Climate (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The solution to climate change is not setting net zero carbon emissions targets as dozens of nations have done, India’s federal environment minister said.

Instead, rich countries need to acknowledge their “historic responsibility" for emissions and protect the interests of developing nations and those vulnerable to climate change, said minister Bhupender Yadav.

India — the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States — is committed to “being part of the solution” at the upcoming United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Yadav said.


India is among the few countries on course to reach its targets for curbing the release of planet-warming gases. But a UN-backed report published Tuesday said the country had “significant room” for more ambitious goals, which it has yet to provide to the UN climate agency.

Asked about newer targets, Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, India’s top environmental official, said that “all options were still on the table.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending a Group of 20 summit scheduled for this weekend in Rome, then the summit at Glasgow, known as COP26.

Yadav stressed that India had reached its climate targets without the promised financing from rich nations. The cost of meeting the targets is estimated to be $2.5 trillion, a 2019 finance ministry document said.

Although India is now a top emitter of greenhouse gases, it has historically contributed only 4% of total emissions since the 1850s.

Gupta said that “net zero in itself isn't a solution,” since cumulative emissions were the cause of the climate problem. He said countries need to focus on how much carbon is put in the atmosphere while getting to that goal.

Developing nations need space to grow and assistance — and without it, they are faced with a choice of compromising on development or relying on dirty fuels, he said.

But India's dependence on coal — it's the world's second-largest user of fossil fuel and has vast reserves — is likely to continue.

Electricity demand is expected to soar — and while the overall share of energy from coal will keep coming down, Gupta said weaning the country off coal at this point would impact its energy security.

Pete Buttigieg took parental leave. LGBTQ+ advocates and administration officials say that should be normal.


Pete Buttigieg his husband, Chasten, attend President Joe Biden's inauguration. (PHOTO BY TOM WILLIAMS/CQ-ROLL CALL/GETTY IMAGES)

By Kate Sosin, Sara Luterman, Chabeli Carrazan

Published October 15, 2021

Advocates for LGBTQ+ people and the Biden administration are pointing to recent criticism of parental leave taken by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as evidence that the country needs new policies around paid leave.

Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, recently adopted twins, and the secretary took time off starting in mid-August. He is now returning to work. The details of his leave were first reported by Politico.

Buttigieg, on MSNBC on Friday evening, talked about the awe he felt upon becoming a parent.

“Like so many working parents, I’m thinking about how best to meet that incredibly compelling responsibility while also of course the other responsibilities that I have in my day job,” Buttigieg said.

LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD said that while the issue of paid parental leave is key for queer families, it’s one with resonance for all families. It called coverage of Buttigieg’s leave “a little puzzling.”

“Many companies are already expanding their parental leave policies to include both parents’ need and desire to bond with their children,” GLAAD said in a statement.

Their comment came in the wake of a Politico newsletter asking if Buttigieg was “MIA” while pointing out he was on leave, as well as criticism by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who frequently targets women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and people of color on his show. Fox News offers paternity leave to its employees.

Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Insitute, which works to elect out public officials, accused Carlson of resorting to petty homophobic rants.

“We should give Tucker the collective eye roll he deserves and use this opportunity to have a conversation about the policies America needs to ensure parents can succeed – including same-sex parents,” Parker said in a statement. “For the benefit of all families, America should adopt parental leave policies comparable to what almost all other developed nations offer.”

Buttigieg, in his comments on MSNBC, linked his leave to administration policy.

“What’s really strange is that this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro family,” Buttigieg said of Carlson’s criticism. “What we have right now is an administration that is actually pro-family, and I’m blessed to be able to experience that as an employee.”

A proposal for paid parental leave is part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. It would establish 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation. Fathers and adoptive parents would also qualify. It’s being weighed alongside other policies that would represent historic investments in care infrastructure, including a $450 billion provision to enact a universal prekindergarten program and raise wages for child care providers while lowering the cost of child care for parents.

“As advocates we’re really proud of the provisions being discussed, including an inclusive definition of ‘family’ which really takes into account the nature and needs of families in America today,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All, an advocacy group focused on establishing national paid family leave.

Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, is pregnant and expecting her first child any day now. She said she’s not yet sure how much parental leave she will take but that she has a contingency plan in place and that her experience has shaped how she thinks about policies the administration is putting forward.

“It really does make you a more sympathetic person involved in policy making — so representation is real,” Young said. “As you’re going through it yourself, it rings more true to you, personally.”

Despite efforts to normalize taking time off for the birth or adoption of a child for both parents, fathers in particular are still stigmatized for taking time off from work. It’s one of the reasons a national paid leave policy has experienced little momentum in the United States until quite recently, while nearly every other developed nation has had a policy in the books for several years, if not decades.

The fact that that is not the standard, for both parents, is surprising, Young said.

“That’s just a no-brainer for me that we need to make sure that moms and dads both have time with their children and that’s why you see the policies put forward because we think every American deserves that.”

Buttigieg said in a statement from the Transportation Department that his experience has also influenced his view of how important leave is.

“The Secretary feels fortunate and grateful to be able to take time to focus on his responsibilities as a father, and believes all American parents deserve the same,” the statement said.

Pregnancy loss is common. Paid time off afterward is not
BY BARBARA RODRIGUEZ 

AND THE 19TH
October 22, 2021 11:10 AM MDT

Spontaneous pregnancy loss takes a physical and emotional toll, and some state lawmakers are starting to push for paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth.

CAVAN IMAGES—GETTY IMAGES

This story was originally published by The 19th.

It was her first weeks as a Michigan state legislator, and Kyra Harris Bolden was having a miscarriage.

PAID CONTENT
This company thrives with a commitment to inclusivityFROM REYNOLDS AMERICAN

“It’s not like a one-day event, which is something I think is also a misconception,” Bolden told The 19th. “It happens over weeks for a lot of people. So I was starting a new job and literally still going through my miscarriage, on my first days of entering my first session.”

It was 2019, and the Democratic lawmaker had just been elected. She described her constituents as her “90,000 bosses.” So Bolden balanced policy debates with doctor’s appointments and other related care to address her physical pain. She did not feel like she could take time off work.

“It just was not a feasible option for me, because it’s not something that’s been normalized,” she said. “Looking back on it, I should not have been at work. It just was not good for me, emotionally or physically.”

Months later, Bolden filed a bill to require eligible employers in the state to offer paid medical leave to a person and their spouse or partner if they experience a miscarriage or stillbirth. It mirrors similar proposals at other statehouses — one of the strongest indications that policymakers are beginning to acknowledge the physical and emotional toll of spontaneous pregnancy loss. But few bills have become law, highlighting the challenges to enacting such policy.

Such pregnancy loss is considered common. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage (defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks of pregnancy). Separately, there are around 24,000 stillbirths every year, defined as the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery, at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In March, New Zealand approved legislation to provide three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, becoming one of just a handful of countries with available benefits. New Zealand’s policy includes both birthing people and their partners.

But political headwinds in America, which unlike many other countries lacks some type of paid parental leave policy, are rougher. A bill filed in Congress this year that would provide paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth has not advanced. And while some states have begun to offer paid parental leave and other related accommodations, it appears no state has approved a statewide policy that accommodates both miscarriage and stillbirth.

Bolden’s 2019 bill did not advance or even get a preliminary public hearing in the Michigan legislature. She refiled the bill in September as part of a package of bills aimed at helping women return to the workforce. Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat who chairs the Michigan Progressive Women’s Caucus that supports the bills, said there is a stigma around miscarriages and stillbirths.

“People don’t know to ask, and don’t want to ask even, so it’s important to make sure that it is a uniform policy across the board, and that people who may be experiencing that level of loss just know that it is an option available to them,” she said.

A bill introduced in the New York legislature this spring proposes paid family leave to mourn the “loss of a stillborn child” or to mourn “the loss of a miscarriage.” Separate legislation filed in Kentucky would offer paid leave for parents following a miscarriage or stillbirth or grieving the loss of a child under one year old.

“I think more and more legislators, policymakers and stakeholders are realizing that paid leave doesn’t negatively impact employees but actually supports and improves employees performance,” said Michaelle Solages, a Democrat in the New York Assembly who first filed her bill on miscarriage and stillbirth in 2019.

Solages is more hopeful her bill can advance this year, especially in a Democratic-controlled legislature with a new governor. The state of New York already offers paid family leave in part through employees’ contributions. She said ensuring that system can pay for an expansion of benefits to accommodate pregnancy loss will be key to the bill’s passage. She said the estimated cost of the bill is not available yet.

The most promising movement has happened on the local level. In March, the city council in Washington, D.C., passed a bill to expand paid bereavement leave for city employees who lose a child under the age of 21, including a stillbirth.

Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who filed the bill, said she did so after a woman, Elizabeth O’Donnell, spoke out on social media about delivering a stillborn daughter when she was seven months pregnant. Her employer, D.C. Public Schools, denied her request for eight weeks of paid time off for postpartum recovery.

O’Donnell posted on Instagram about the realities of a stillbirth: She was in labor for 48 hours, lost nearly a liter and a half of blood and felt constant pain from complications.

“My daughter living or dying should not determine whether or not I receive 8-week paid family leave to HEAL MY BODY after delivering a baby,” she wrote.

The physical impact on a person who experiences a miscarriage or stillbirth varies. That’s because different stages of spontaneous pregnancy loss impacts the body in different ways, according to Sara Twogood, an OB-GYN in Los Angeles. A miscarriage can result in days or weeks of vaginal spotting or bleeding, as well as cramping. Twogood said delivering a stillborn is comparable to the experience of delivering a healthy baby, which has multiple health effects on the birthing parent.

Twogood added that depending on the severity of the pregnancy loss, a person is probably taking some sort of time off — whether paid or unpaid — from work for doctors’ visits and other needs.

“People are already taking time off work to cope with this. It’s just — they’re taking a sick day. They’re taking a vacation day,” she said.

There is also emotional trauma. Research shows that people who experience pregnancy loss face grief and depression after a miscarriage and stillbirth.

Silverman said as more people like O’Donnell share publicly the realities of that loss, more policy discussions will emerge.

“I think that it has been taboo or uncomfortable and not part of pleasant conversation for women to talk about how traumatic a miscarriage or stillbirth is,” Silverman said. “I think we’re starting to see a societal change in that women are coming forward talking about this.”

Bolden does not expect Republicans, who still control both of Michigan’s legislative chambers, to take up her latest measure or to even hold a public hearing. The chair of the legislative committee that would oversee the bill’s passage did not return a request for comment.

But Bolden is hopeful for gradual change. Last October, she spoke on the House floor about her miscarriage as part of a resolution recognizing Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month. She said sharing so much of herself can be hard, but she’s willing to do it if fellow policymakers start to look at the issue differently.

“There were Republican men that came up to me and said, ‘My wife had a miscarriage, thank you so much for sharing your story.’ And I think that’s the first step into making sure legislation like this moves,” she said.

TILL THE PLANET BURNS

Executive says Exxon will be focused on hydrocarbons 'for a long time'

VERONA, Italy, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp remains focused on hydrocarbons and plans to press ahead with a $30 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, a top executive said on Thursday.

"We've been in hydrocarbons for over 130 years... it's the core part of our business and it will be for a long time," Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman said at a conference in the northern Italian city of Verona.

Chapman's comments come after a report that Exxon's board was questioning whether to pursue several major oil and gas projects as investors call on fossil fuel companies to be more cost-conscious and green-energy friendly.

Activist investor Engine No. 1 shocked the industry earlier this year when three of its four nominees were elected to the board by Exxon shareholders. The appointment of activist Jeff Ubben in March put a third of the 12-member board in new hands.

"Yes we've had changes in the boardroom but it's the responsibility of management to lay out a clear strategy for stakeholders," Chapman said.

He said Exxon's capabilities in oil and gas would support its pivot to the new technologies it was working on of carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels.

"It's the pace issue we have to manage and that requires a flexible strategy," he said.

As oil and gas demand falls in the energy transition, Exxon believes the world is better served by companies supplying the lowest cost barrels with the lowest emissions, he said.

Chapman said the group had not changed its plans over multi-billion-dollar gas investments in Mozambique and Vietnam.

"We don't know the date (for the Mozambique final investment decision) right now but there's no change and what was reported in the U.S. media was not correct," he added. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Alexander Smith)

P3 PUBLIC PENSIONS FUND PRIVATE PROFIT

Ontario Pension Taps Antares to Invest in Private Credit Deals

Esteban Duarte
Thu, October 28, 2021, 
(Bloomberg) -- Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, a money manager for pension funds in the Canadian province, tapped Antares Capital LP to invest $500 million in loans to be used by private equity firms to finance transactions.

The portfolio will target between 75 and 100 transactions U.S. and Canadian issuers operating in the mid-market, according to an emailed statement seen by Bloomberg. IMCO selected Antares as its private debt manager after a competitive process.

“We are building out the global credit strategy for the long term,” Jennifer Hartviksen, IMCO’s managing director of global credit, said in an interview. “As we surveyed the landscape, we identified Antares as being the best fit for us because of that superior performance generated by a demonstrated low loss rate over many cycles.”

Pension funds and other large institutions are deploying more capital to private credit as they seek higher yields to shield themselves from the accelerating inflation. Antares’s mandate will be followed by others at IMCO that will be focused on real estate debt, emerging market debt and other asset classes, Hartviksen said.

Early this year, IMCO assigned a separate $500 million mandate for Ares Management Corp. to invest in a diversified multi-strategy credit portfolio. The firm’s credit portfolio is expected to grow to C$8 billion ($6.5 billion) by 2025 from C$4.6 billion at the end of 2020.

IMCO was created about five years ago to consolidate several public-sector funds in Canada’s largest province under one manager. IMCO managed C$73.3 billion in assets as of the end of 2020. It posted an overall gain of 5.4% for 2020.

US Pensions Should Stop ‘Hibernating’ Investments, JPMorgan Says

Max Reyes
Thu, October 28, 2021, 


(Bloomberg) -- Pensions should change the de-risking strategies they’ve pursued since the 2008 financial crisis to embrace a wider array of investments, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset-management unit said in a report.
be

Equities, hedge funds, real estate and emerging-markets sovereign debt are among the investment categories that can help pensions “fine-tune the level of risk relative to the expected return,” the asset manager said Thursday in its report. Defined-benefit employee retirement plans have leaned on long-duration fixed-income securities for too long, according to the report.

“The pension community has been sold a story by insurance companies and low-skilled fixed-income managers that hibernating their pension plan and ultimately terminating it is the best use of that capital, and that is false,” Jared Gross, the head of institutional portfolio strategy at the asset manager, said in an interview. He co-wrote the paper with Michael Buchenholz, who heads pension strategy for the business, which has $2.7 trillion of assets under management.

Back-to-back financial market crashes in 2001 and 2008 prompted pensions to aggressively de-risk, Gross said. Plans previously had much more equity exposure, and the shift into fixed-income securities was a natural response to the ravages of the dot-com crash and the Great Recession. Plan sponsors should now seek out opportunities to develop a more robust and diverse portfolio, he said.

Funding levels for plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies stand at 94%, according to data from pension-advisory firm Mercer. That makes it an opportune time for companies to offload obligations through a pension risk transfer. The market for such transactions is on track for its busiest year since 2012.

Gross said the JPMorgan report isn’t meant to warn companies away from the pension risk transfer market, which he said has a role to play in managing liabilities. Rather, the goal is to make sure pensions aren’t making de-risking decisions that don’t add up.

“Funds that stabilize will still make use of the pension risk transfer market. They should,” Gross said. “But only when it makes economic sense. They shouldn’t push themselves to a point of inefficiency,” where a more-efficient solution suddenly becomes appealing, he said.

Pemex Oil Output Rises as New Wells Offset Impact of Mishaps

Amy Stillman
Thu, October 28, 2021



(Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos reported a small increase in third-quarter production after adding new wells, which more than offset the impact of two accidents at its offshore operations.

Pemex’s oil and condensate output rose to 1.752 million barrels a day from 1.736 million in the second quarter, the company said in a statement Thursday. Production was 4.2% higher than a year earlier.

The gain comes despite the impact of a deadly fire on the company’ E-Ku-A2 platform in the Gulf of Mexico in August that saw oil production temporarily cut by a quarter. There was also a fire in July at the Ku-Maloob-Zaap cluster of offshore fields due to a gas leak from a marine pipeline.

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has championed the state driller, and has made several efforts to help Pemex shore up its finances and increase production.

On Wednesday, Pemex Chief Executive Officer Octavio Romero Oropeza told lawmakers that the government would be taking over the company’s future amortization payments, sending its overseas notes to a one-month high. The Finance Ministry has also said that it’s reducing Pemex’s profit-sharing duty next year to 40%, from 54% this year.

Production increased from the same quarter last year after the loosening of Covid-19 contingency measures, and the recuperation of output after Pemex’s FPSO Yuum K’ak’ Naab was shut in July 2020 for repairs because of a collision with a tanker.

The higher production numbers are also the result of including condensate, a very light oil that’s usually worth less than regular crude. Condensate output has gradually increased as Pemex exploits major onshore fields such as Quesqui and Ixachi.

Production of the company’s Isthmus light crude has also increased, while output of its flagship Maya heavy grade has declined for years.

Pemex had a net loss of 77.2 billion pesos ($3.8 billion) in the quarter, in part due to the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, the company said in an earnings report.

The net loss reported to the stock exchange, using the same criteria adopted by most publicly traded Mexican companies, was narrower at 62.8 billion pesos. That compares with net income of 14.4 billion pesos the previous quarter, and 1.4 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Pemex’s financial debt has edged up 1.6% this year to $113 billion at the end of September.

Pemex CEO Says Mexican Government to Take Over Debt Payments

Amy Stillman and Justin Villamil
Thu, October 28, 2021, 

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the great champion of his beloved but beleaguered state-owned oil giant, may be making his boldest move yet to keep it afloat.

Petroleos Mexicanos chief Octavio Romero told lawmakers Wednesday that AMLO, as the president is known, has instructed the company that it isn’t allowed to issue any more bonds and therefore the government would take over its amortization payments.

While Romero’s remarks left some doubts on the details -- and the Finance Ministry, seemingly caught off guard, wasn’t immediately able to provide confirmation -- happy bondholders sent the oil producer’s overseas notes to a one-month high. The extra support is even more surprising since it comes at a time when Pemex revenue should be rising as global oil prices soar.

Read More: Pemex Spreads vs. Mexico May Tighten, History, Regionals Suggest

“The president has given us instruction that we can no longer issue bonds,” Romero said. “Due to that, Pemex won’t be the one in charge of debt amortizations, but it will be the federal government. This is a huge support that will be given to this great company, because it will prevent it from going further into debt.”

Pemex, the world’s most indebted major oil producer with $115 billion of outstanding obligations, is under pressure to bolster its finances after about a decade and a half of production declines and high levels of spending that haven’t done much to bolster its reserves. While there’s always been an implicit understanding that the federal government would rescue Pemex if it needed to, Romero’s comments move closer to suggesting that the support is official policy in AMLO’s administration.

Pemex dollar bonds due in 2050 jumped 1.4 cents to about 95 cents on the dollar in the aftermath of Romero’s comments. Euro-denominated notes due in 2029 gained 1 cent, the most since March, pushing the yield down 17 basis points to 4.96%.

The comments come at a time when Pemex should be benefiting from an oil rally. Front-month Brent futures have already topped $86 a barrel this week, and are up almost 9% so far this month.

The president’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment. President Lopez Obrador will speak at his daily press conference at 7 a.m. local time.

Romero “just sent the message that if Pemex can’t pay, Hacienda will,” said Luis Maizel, a portfolio manager at LM Capital Group in San Diego, referring to the Finance Ministry by its Spanish name. “He basically went from an implicit guarantee to a more explicit one.”

The government had previously announced it would pay Pemex’s amortizations in 2021, but it hasn’t been clear if the assistance will extend into the following years. In March, Romero said Mexico’s government will absorb Pemex’s debt amortization payments “starting this year” in the amount of $6.4 billion.

The government has also cut the company’s profit sharing obligation to 40% of earnings next year, from 54% this year, as part of efforts to shore up the producer.

John Padilla, managing director at energy consultancy IPD Latin America, said he was skeptical that the move announced today would be enough to significantly improve Pemex’s operations and reverse long-term declines. It doesn’t fix those fundamental issues, Padilla said.

Lopez Obrador has promised to revitalize Pemex and the country’s flagging energy sector by boosting investment in production onshore and in shallow waters and building a new refinery in his home state of Tabasco. He’s sought to dial back the opening of Mexico’s energy industry to international competition, and strengthen Pemex’s dominance in the oil and fuel market.

“At the end of the day, it’s debt of the country,” Romero told legislators. “You can divide the debt of the Finance Ministry and of Pemex, but in the final balance for the nation, the two are added together.”

Read More: Mexico Energy Minister Says Idea Exists to Help Pemex With Debt

 

U.S. calls on Allies to lift restrictions on lethal aid supplies to Ukraine

29.10.2021 10:00

The United States, which has been providing Ukraine with lethal defensive aid in the face of Russian aggression, is urging allies and partners to lift restrictions on security assistance.

That’s according to Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper who spoke at an online event "U.S. Defense and Security Engagement in the Black Sea Region," held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The first thing I would mention is I would like to see all allies lift their restrictions on defensive lethal assistance," Cooper said. 

IF IT IS LEATHAL IT IS OFFENSIVE FIRST,LAST AND ALWAYS

She reminded that the United States had handed Javelin anti-tank systems to Ukraine and Georgia, which she said was a clear example of defensive lethal assistance capability provided by the U.S.

Read also: Ammunition, high-precision weapons, medicines: PM Shmyhal tells about U.S. aid

"We have a number of allies who have that as a restriction – some have it as a restriction in terms of their security assistance programs, but some also have it as a restriction in terms of their sales," the Pentagon spokeswoman said.

" I believe that Ukraine should be able to purchase the capabilities it needs to defend itself, so I’d like to see that restriction lifted," Cooper stressed.

At the same time, she noted that Ukraine continues to be the focus of U.S. attention so Washington will continue to provide defense assistance to Ukraine as the country needs to defend itself.

Cooper also reminded of the importance of reforms in defense and other areas, reaffirming U.S. support in their implementation.

HIS BILLIONS ARE OUR COMMONWEALTH
'This country made him rich -- he owes us': Elon Musk blasted for attack on billionaire tax
Julia Conley, Common Dreams
October 29, 2021

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk (pictured December 2020) (AFP)

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk drew outrage Thursday after publicly complaining that his vast wealth would be further taxed under a new proposal by Sen. Ron Wyden, aimed at raising revenue to pay for social supports under the Build Back Better Act.

As Democrats continued debating what would be included in the plan—which the majority of party members want to provide paid family leave to workers, far-reaching climate action and green jobs, Medicare reforms to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices, and other provisions—Musk tweeted about Wyden's proposal.

"Eventually, they run out of other people's money and then they come for you," he said earlier this week, adding on Wednesday evening that "spending is the real problem" contributing to the national debt, rather than the failure of corporations and the richest Americans to pay a fair tax rate.



Musk's comments caught the attention of economic justice advocates including Patriotic Millionaires—the coalition of wealthy Americans who believe they should be taxed at a much higher rate to help narrow the wealth gap—which noted the Tesla founder himself relied on "other people's money" to build his empire.
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"Millions of hard-working people who do their part for the country every day, while entitled 'technokings' like Elon Musk shirk their most basic responsibilities."

"Elon Musk was born with an emerald spoon in his mouth, and when he needed more money for his various schemes, he turned to U.S. taxpayers for billions of dollars of subsidies and direct handouts," said Erica Payne, president and founder of Patriotic Millionaires.


Musk's companies—Tesla, SolarCity Corp., and SpaceX—received an estimated $4.9 billion in federal funding as of 2015 via subsidies and direct grants from the Treasury Department.

"Government support is a theme of all three of these companies, and without it none of them would be around," hedge fund manager Mark Spiegel, whose firm shorted Tesla's stock, told the Los Angeles Times in 2015.

Musk's companies also "rely on a workforce educated by public tax dollars and a physical, legal and economic infrastructure built, maintained, and paid for by American taxpayers," Payne said.

"It's too bad we can't tax egos," she added. "We could pay off the entire federal debt with a miniscule tax on this guy's overblown opinion of himself."

Payne's disdain was echoed by political observers.

Musk's opposition to Wyden's Billionaires' Income Tax—which would apply to about 700 taxpayers with over $1 billion in assets or more than $100 million in income for three consecutive years, and would impose an annual tax on tradable assets, whether or not they are sold—shows why the proposal is needed, wrote Greg Sargent at The Washington Post.

The billionaires' tax would also address glaring flaws in our tax code that deserve attention in their own right: They've driven soaring inequality and badly unbalanced our political economy. Fixing these would itself confer major benefits, irrespective of helping "pay for" Democratic investments.
Musk's opposition helps illustrate this. Like many other rich people, his extreme wealth is partly the creation of government investment undertaken for the public good. But he's also perfectly happy to protect that wealth from fair taxation in ways that deprive the government of revenue for other socially beneficial investments, just as many other billionaires are.

On Twitter, Sargent wrote that according to Musk, government investments in companies like his own are "good and visionary" while investing in an expanded child tax credit, paid family leave, and other anti-poverty initiatives are equal to "bad taking" of public resources.

In response to Musk's comments, as Democrats continued their negotiations on Thursday, Patriotic Millionaires sent a mobile billboard around Capitol Hill, displaying an image of Musk and the text: "Elon Musk: 300 billion more reasons to tax the rich."

The billboard also mocked what the group called Musk's "baffling decision to change his title at Tesla to 'Technoking'," displaying an image of the billionaire with the text "Techno 'Mooch' King."



"Musk paid a 3.27% tax rate on $13.9 billion in gains between 2014 and 2018. Since then, Musk has earned over a hundred billion dollars more, and paid even less on those gains," said Payne. "Someone earning just $25,000 a year in income pays a top rate of 12%, almost four times what he paid. Millions of hard-working people who do their part for the country every day, while entitled 'technokings' like Elon Musk shirk their most basic responsibilities."

"This country made him rich," she added. "He owes us."

Just 2% of Elon Musk’s wealth could help solve world hunger, UN says
Thomas Kingsley
Wed, October 27, 2021

Elon Musk’s company Tesla recently passed $1 trillion in market value (AP)

A small group of billionaires could help solve world hunger with just a fraction of their wealth, the United Nations has said.

UN food chief David Beasley, director of the World Food Programme, called on wealthy individuals to “step up now, on a one-time basis” - specifically naming the world’s two richest men, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

He said that $6 billion would help 42 million feed people who are “literally going to die if we don’t reach them”, adding: “It’s not complicated”.


According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk has a net worth of nearly $289 billion (£209 billion), with his company Tesla reaching $1 trillion in market value earlier this week, the second fastest company to reach the mark.

CNN said that Musk would have to donate just 2 per cent of his wealth to help save people from hunger.

Beasley told the broadcaster that the world is currently facing “a perfect storm of conflict, climate change and Covid”, which he said means many nations are “knocking on famine’s door”.

A UN report earlier this year stated that world hunger had reached a 15-year-high in 2020, with the pandemic reversing years of progress in global malnutrition.

Half of Afghanistan’s 22.8 million population face a hunger crisis according to a report from the UN World Food Programme. The Taliban-ruled nation faces soaring unemployment and a liquidity crisis, leaving the country on the edge of a humanitarian crisis which would leave 3.2 million children under five years old at risk.

Beasley’s comments come following his direct tweet to Musk last week congratulating him for passing Bezos as the world’s richest person, but also calling on the Tesla boss to help save millions from starvation.

He wrote: “Congratulations to @elonmusk for passing up @JeffBezos as the world’s richest person - worth a whopping $221B! Elon, to celebrate I’m offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity: help us save 42M people from starvation for just $6.6B!! Offer expires SOON.. and lives do too.”

Musk recently announced plans for his company SpaceX to launch its next-generation Starship SN20 rocket next month after successfully testing its deep space Raptor Vacuum engine.

The launch will be the first orbital flight for the Mars-bound craft, which is being built to transport people and cargo around the Solar System.

Elon Musk to Congress: Drop the billionaire tax. It will only mess with ‘my plan to get humanity to Mars’

Sophie Mellor
Thu, October 28, 2021



Elon Musk, the world's richest man, took to Twitter overnight to savage the so-called billionaire tax proposal that's dividing Washington over ideological lines and is dominating the discourse on social media too.

The tax idea, which would target the 700 richest U.S. taxpayers, was dreamed up to finance President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion “Build Back Better” campaign, which carries a number of historic investments around childcare, education, health care, and combating climate change. The Democrat-led proposal, though, is facing stiff blowback in Congress—not just from Republicans but also from more moderate Democrats.

The thorniest part of the "billionaire tax" is a 23.8% tax rate on the long-term capital gains on tradable assets. As it currently stands, it would be levied only on billionaires who either earn more than $100 million in annual income or have $1 billion in assets. It would be a radical rewrite of the tax code, which currently taxes assets like shares in companies only when they're bought or sold. The new policy would treat billionaires’ fortunes like business income, and tax their assets on a mark-to-market basis each year.

Such a move would hit hard tech titans like Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk has been the most vocal of the bunch. Again on Wednesay he tweeted out warnings that a tax on billionaires would only make a small dent in the federal deficit. Washington, he ominously added, would eventually come after the general public too. “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you,” he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1453479688832180228

He tweeted today what he intends to use the money on.

"My plan is to use the money to get humanity to Mars and preserve the light of consciousness."

Criticisms

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's personal wealth is nearing $300 billion, a 72% year-to-date gain that's fueled by a bull run in Tesla stocks and his stake in the rocket-manufacturing company SpaceX. Bezos, at $196 billion, is a distant second.

Musk's vocal opposition comes as tax watchdogs take aim at the ultrawealthy's use of the tax code to shield their fortune from the full tax rate. For example, Musk paid $455 million in income tax between 2014 and 2018, according to IRS data reported by ProPublica.

On Twitter, progressive-minded commentators remind Musk that Tesla has been highly reliant upon government stimulus spending through the years. For example, the electric-vehicle maker received a $465 million loan from the U.S. Energy Department back in 2010 and more recently took a $2.9 billion contract from NASA in 2019 to build a moon lander.

https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1452823743408087040

In the end, it may be Democrats, and not billionaires, who ultimately kill the billionaire tax bill.

The loudest Democrat critic is West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who told reporters, “I don’t like it. I don’t like the connotation that we’re targeting different people.” He also praised billionaires’ contribution to society by creating jobs and through their philanthropic pursuits.

Meanwhile, Mark Warner, the second richest senator with a net worth of $215 million, said that it made sense that the “absolute wealthiest Americans pay a fair share.” But he also noted the “devil is in the details” and it was crucial to not favor “one asset class over another.”

 

Sustainability Key To Pollution Reduction Might Be In Practice At COP26 – OpEd

 

October 29, 2021  

By Naseem Sheikh*

Glasgow, UK is hosting a summit that’s seen as vital if climate change is to be brought in restraint. The meeting in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 Nov could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.

The COP, or conference of the parties, is the overall decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This will be its 26th annual meeting, where decisions will be made by 197 countries to prevent “dangerous anthropogenic interference” with the climate.

Glasgow was chosen by the UK to host COP26 due to its experience in hosting world-class events, commitment to sustainability, and first-rate facilities. The city is also currently ranked 4th in the world in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) that promotes responsible business tourism best practices.

The world is warming because of fossil fuel emissions caused by humans. Extreme weather events linked to climate change – including heat waves, floods, and forest fires – are intensifying. The past decade was the warmest on record, and all governments agree urgent collective action is needed.

The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.

The COP-26 is being held under the presidency of the UK that is partnering with Italy for the event. It will be the World Leader’s summit of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Agents of about 200 nations will meet in Glasgow, Scotland for the Joined together Nations’ 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to consider the state of the climate emergency. There, they’ll audit and can fortify the Paris Assertion, the universal community’s system for worldwide participation in climate activity

The G-20 is a leading global forum that brings together the world’s major economies. The forum has met every year since 1999, its members account for more than 80 percent of the global GDP, 75 percent of global trade, and 60 percent of the population of the planet. The G-20 has emerged as the premier global forum for international economic cooperation.

The Rome summit will be attended by heads of state and government of G-20 member countries, the European Union, and other invited countries and several international organizations.

The forthcoming summit will be centered around the theme ‘People, Planet, Prosperity, focussing on areas of recovery from the pandemic and strengthening of global health governance.

It will also focus on economic recovery and resilience, climate change and energy transition, and sustainable development and food security.

The high-level segment of COP-26, titled the World Leaders’ Summit (WLS), will be held on November 1 to 2. The summit will be attended by heads of state and governments of more than 120 countries.

The UNFCCC embodies the global will and vision to combat climate change. The periodic Conference of Parties to this Convention has emerged as global climate summits, providing an opportunity for stocktaking and for charting the way forward.

At COP-26, the parties will work to achieve the completion of Paris Agreement implementation guidelines; the mobilization of climate finance; actions to strengthen climate adaptation, technology development, and transfer; and keeping in reach the Paris Agreement goals of limiting the rise in global temperatures.

The COP-26 summit is being billed as one of the biggest ever congregations of world leaders and experts in combating climate change.

Sustainability is key to pollution reduction 

COP26 Presidency releases details about its approach to food and catering for conference delegates, including information on sustainability and food sourcing, and highlighted that, COP26 delegates will be served sustainable, locally-sourced food at the upcoming climate summit in Glasgow. Overall, 95 percent of the food will be from the UK, major sourced from Scotland, and be seasonal.

COP26 sources 80% of food from Scotland for its sustainable menus. This will put sustainability at the heart of catering for the summit, reducing emissions, and promoting environment-friendly food production.

COP26 will set an example for other large-scale international events, in terms of food sourcing, by taking several measures to ensure a sustainable approach:

• Ingredients will be replicated across the conference’s menus to ensure products can be repurposed for other meals, if necessary, to avoid food waste.
• The cups used to serve drinks will be reusable and it is estimated that this approach will save up to 250,000 single-use cups.
• Suppliers are setting high standards for sustainable food production, from Edinburgh’s Mara Seaweed, which is abundant and entirely sustainable and does not require fertilizer, freshwater, or soil to grow, through to Benzie’s carrots and potatoes who use wind turbines to power their cool storage, biomass to provide heating and actively recycle the water they use.

For the Glasgow summit to be deemed a success, a few things need to go right. First of all, countries need to commit not simply to net-zero targets by 2050, but stronger targets for 2030. Without them, there’s zero chance the world will hold the rise in global temperatures to 2℃.

Major emitters will also need to support developing countries with the finance and technologies to empower them to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change impacts, including severe flooding and prolonged droughts. Let’s be united as there are signs of hope.