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The unavoidable greenwashing of Scope 4 emissions

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Source: ilbusca / iStock via Getty Images

(Mark Hulbert, an author and longtime investment columnist, is the founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest; his Hulbert Ratings audits investment newsletter returns.)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — If you thought the accounting of Scopes 1, 2 and 3 CO2 emissions is complicated and mysterious, leaving enormous room for greenwashing, brace yourself for Scope 4.

Scope 4 emissions reflect the difference between the carbon footprint of a company’s customers when using its goods and services, relative to what their footprint would have been if they had instead used another company’s products or services. Scope 4’s accounting requires numerous assumptions about what other products and services consumers would have used instead and how they would have otherwise behaved.

Scopes 1, 2, and 3, in contrast, focus on the direct and indirect emissions of a company’s activities and its products.

Though most have never heard of Scope 4 before, the category has actually been around at least since 2013; that’s when the concept was introduced by the World Resources Institute. Given the difficulties in accounting for Scopes 1, 2 and 3, relatively little attention has been paid to Scope 4 — so far. This appears to be changing…

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By David Callaway

The Poorest Countries in the World

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Source: sadikgulec / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

The poorest countries in the world face significant challenges in their economic development and their populations’ well-being. These countries, many of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, grapple with issues such as extreme poverty, limited access to health care and education, political instability, and environmental pressures. One measure of a country’s wealth is gross national income. (Some of the poorest countries also rank among the 30 least happy countries in the world.)

GNI is a useful measure of a country’s wealth as it takes into account both the income generated domestically and income earned from abroad for a more comprehensive reflection of a nation’s economic performance. 

When the total GNI of a country is divided by its population, GNI per capita can provide insights into a nation’s standard of living. For example, residents of countries with the lowest GNI per capita often have low life expectancies as such countries often struggle to provide basic necessities for their populations. 

To determine the poorest countries in the world, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on gross national income per capita for 198 countries and special regions with available data from the World Bank. The World Bank estimates GNI per capita using the purchasing power parity method, and figures are in current international dollars. We listed the 22 countries with GNIs per capita of less than $2,500. Additional data, measuring GDP in current international dollars, population, and life expectancy at birth also came from the World Bank, while estimated population growth came from the CIA’s World Factbook.

All but one of the 22 poorest countries are in Africa. GNI per capita among countries on this list ranges from as low as $780 to no more than $2,410. For reference, the United States’ GNI per capita is $70,480, while the average GNI per capita worldwide is $18,511, more than 7.5 times the highest figure on the list. Conversely, this is the richest country in the world.

Life expectancy at birth in the poorest countries in the world ranges from 52.5 years – the lowest of all countries – to 66.5 years, well below the average worldwide of 71 years. Meanwhile, population growth is among the highest in the world among the poorest countries.

The countries on this list are often either recovering from a prolonged armed conflict or are still embroiled in one. This includes Afghanistan, the only non-African country, which seems to have been in one kind of armed conflict or another almost continuously since the Soviet-Afghan war of the ‘80s, including the recent 20-year U.S. and its allies invasion of the country. Here are 13 major wars happening around the world right now. 

Click here to see the poorest countries in the world.

Endgame in startup EVs begins to play out

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Source: wakila / E+ via Getty Images

This week’s bankruptcy filing of Lordstown Motors $RIDE was long expected. But an interesting development in the story of rival Lucid Group $LCID should give investors in the EV startup class of 2020 some hope for more positive outcomes for some of the rest as the endgame approaches.

Lucid’s largest investor, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, increased its stake to over 60% last week, according to a filing cited by Callaway Climate Insights partner InsideArbitrage.

The filing news comes a day after the UK’s Aston Martin, also a holding of the Saudi fund, announced a deal to collaborate with Lucid by using its electric components technology in future EVs. The collaboration and added investment are likely precursors to a takeover of Lucid by the fund as it looks for ways to increase cooperation among its luxury auto holdings.

Lucid shares popped more than 10% on the news and have continued to rise this week, though at $6.83 they are still trading at about half the price they were in late January, when they spiked on speculation the Saudis were getting ready to move. A successful Lucid takeover would make investors much more comfortable with the future of other EV startups, such as Rivian $RIVN , which has high profile investors including Amazon $AMZN , or even Nikola (NKLA), also rising this week.

In any event, the Saudi PIF, which is also the fund that is hoping to buy the PGA golf tour in the U.S., seems to be making its move on Lucid at last. Don’t be surprised to see sleek Lucid EVs at next year’s PGA events.

Sanctions? What sanctions? U.S. pays billions to Russia for nuclear fuel

. . . . Despite tough talk and economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine last year, U.S. nuclear power companies still send Russia more than $1 billion a year for enriched uranium to fulfill renewable energy needs, writes Bill Sternberg. In a detailed analysis of how the business works and how the controversial trade fuels the biggest form of renewable energy growth in the U.S., Sternberg argues that the instability in Russia over the past week illustrates the folly of depending on an unstable and hostile country for U.S. energy demands, not to mention helping fuel Vladimir Putin’s war. The payment is equivalent to what Putin paid Wagner Group rebel Yevgeny Prigozhin in the past 12 months. As U.S. nuclear requirements are expected to double in the next several years, something needs to change. . . .

Read the full column

Latin America faces for hurricane season fueled by climate change

. . . . El Niño can make it hard for forecasters around the world to accurately predict how many major storms are in the cards for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. But as Mike Molinski reports, a single storm, such as Hurricane Wilma, seen above, can be deadly and devastating. Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S. typically see the brunt of the Atlantic hurricane season, with Mexico, the U.S. and Cuba suffering the most fatalities. Haiti, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are close behind in terms of devastation. And climate change is making these storms more intense.

Read the full column

Thursday’s subscriber insights

Falling EV prices likely to spur greater sector growth

. . . . A report from Kelley Blue book shows an interesting trend: The average price of an EV has dropped almost $10,000 from a year ago. Some of the credit goes to Tesla $TSLA , which reduced prices on several of its models. Overall, though, if more EVs are in reach of people’s pocketbooks, it cannot but help speed up the EV transition.

Despite political turmoil, including declarations by the auto worker’s union this week that it is concerned about a loss of jobs in the EV transition, the rising demand for electric vehicles and falling costs will ultimately spur a more rapid transition to EVs then even expected a few years ago. Read more . . .

Solar has early lead in renewables race

. . . . At the end of the day in the renewable transition, decades from now, the biggest renewables contributor is likely to be the one that can produce the most power for the least amount of money. And, according to risk management consultants DNV, that is likely to be solar energy, which is seeing installation costs continuing to fall faster than wind power and other green sources.

With expectations that solar and other renewables will someday contribute almost three-quarters of U.S. energy production, versus 10% for fossil fuels, the predictions portend a rapid change in energy infrastructure over the next 25 years, and one in which investors are only starting to understand. Read more here. . . .

Editor’s picks: EV sales surge; feds block lithium mining spot in Nevada

IEA: EV demand is booming

Demand for electric cars is booming, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency, which says EV sales are on track to jump 35% this year to 14 million. In 2019, only 2.5% of cars sold worldwide were electric. In 2023, they’re set to reach 18%. The IEA Global EV Outlook for 2023 says “the global auto industry is undergoing a sea change, with implications for the energy sector, as electrification is set to avoid the need for 5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030.” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said, “Electric vehicles are one of the driving forces in the new global energy economy that is rapidly emerging and they are bringing about a historic transformation of the car manufacturing industry worldwide.”

BLM blocks lithium mining spot in Nevada at NASA’s request

The federal Bureau of Land Management has declared a dry lakebed in Nevada’s Railroad Valley off-limits for lithium mining after NASA said the area needs to remain undeveloped so the agency can use it to calibrate satellites used for forecasting weather and studying climate change. NASA has used the dry lakebed for more than 30 years to measure the time it takes for satellite signals to travel to Earth and back, according to a report from Yale Environment 360. The report says mining firm 3 Proton Lithium, which holds claims running through the valley, said it will no longer be able to access valuable deposits of lithium brine in the lakebed.

Explain that: Ecosystem

. . . . An ecosystem, according to the UN IPCC’s glossary on global warming, is a functional unit consisting of living organisms, their nonliving environment and the interactions within and between them. The components included in a given ecosystem and its spatial boundaries depend on the purpose for which the ecosystem is defined: In some cases they are relatively sharp, while in others they are diffuse. Ecosystem boundaries can change over time. Ecosystems are nested within other ecosystems and their scale can range from very small to the entire biosphere. In the current era, most ecosystems either contain people as key organisms, or are influenced by the effects of human activities in their environment.

Words to live by . . . .

“Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.” — Walt Whitman.

By David Callaway

The Worst Seafood to Eat

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Source: LuffyKun / Getty Images

Fish can be one of the healthiest foods there is. It’s low in harmful fats (counterintuitively fatty fish are considered a “lean” source of protein) and often high in nutrients, including beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids, which contribute to brain and heart health. (Eating fatty fish is one of the healthy eating habits that will change your life.)

Not all fish is good for you, however. Many varieties — especially the larger ones with longer lifespans — contain various contaminants, most often significant amounts of mercury. This highly toxic metal can have a serious neurological impact, particularly in children and on fetuses, and increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack. (While species with particularly high mercury levels are best to avoid entirely, others are fine to eat occasionally — typically no more than once a week.)

Health issues aside, there are also environmental and ethical reasons to avoid eating some fish. Many species are overfished, sometimes illegally, some to the point where they are threatened with extinction. 

Bycatch is another issue. The term refers to species of fish or shellfish — or other marine creatures, like sea turtles and seabirds — inadvertently taken along with the target species. Desirable bycatch is often retained and sold, but many species (and non-edible bycatch) are simply discarded, meaning returned to the sea, where they likely die.

Farmed fish can cause environmental problems, too, as they can escape into the surrounding environment where they interbreed with or compete for food with wild species. The antibiotics and other chemicals often used to raise them can leak into surrounding seas, too. (Another factor polluting the oceans is plastic waste. These 50 investors are bankrolling the plastic waste crisis.)

Click here to see the worst seafood to eat

To determine which varieties of fish and shellfish are best to avoid (or at least to eat sparingly) — for reasons of health or environmental impact, or both — 24/7 Tempo reviewed recommendations and warnings from numerous environmental and medical websites, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, Greenpeace, Sustainable Fisheries, the FDA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries site, WebMD, One Medical, Healthline, and Medical News Today.  

Latin America preps for a drastic hurricane season, exacerbated by climate change

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Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.)

CANCUN, Mexico (Callaway Climate Insights) — The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season started this month, with dire predictions on the number of tropical storms Mother Nature has in store, all of them exacerbated by climate change.

Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States typically see the brunt of the Atlantic hurricane season, with Mexico, the United States and Cuba the countries with the most fatalities. Haiti, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are close behind in terms of devastation. In terms of cost, the United States leads the way with billions of dollars lost to hurricane damage each year.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted a “near normal” hurricane season that we could see anywhere from 12 to 17 named tropical systems. Five to nine of those could be hurricanes and, of those, one to four of them being major hurricanes.

But Mexico’s National Water Commission says there could be up to 21 hurricanes in Mexico this season…

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By David Callaway

Sanctions? What sanctions? U.S. pays billions to Russia for nuclear fuel

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Source: Adam Berry / Getty Images News via Getty Images

(Bill Sternberg is a veteran Washington journalist and former editorial page editor of USA Today.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — For the United States to reach its climate goals, nuclear power will have to play an important and growing role. Nuclear already provides more than half of the nation’s clean power, and it’s the most reliable low-carbon source of electricity when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. The Energy Department estimates that, to meet its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. will have to more than double its nuclear power capacity.

But just as fossil fuel plants require coal or natural gas to produce electricity, nuclear power plants require enriched uranium. And therein lies the rub.

Nearly half of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity is in — you guessed it — Russia. Despite the talk about the mother of all economic sanctions being imposed on Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, American companies send as much as $1 billion a year to Rosatom, the government-owned nuclear company, for nuclear fuel.

It’s a devil’s bargain. America’s nuclear utilities need Russia’s enriched uranium to run their reactors. Vladimir Putin needs cash to finance his war of aggression and to maintain his increasingly tenuous grip on power after this past weekend’s aborted rebellion. Nearly $1 billion appears to be the amount the Russian government paid the mercenary Wagner Group in the year that ended in May, Putin acknowledged Tuesday. …

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By David Callaway

17 World-Changing Events That Shaped the Earth as We Know It

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Source: Justinreznick / E+ via Getty Images

Mauna Loa, an active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, began erupting in late November for the first time in nearly four decades. There are reports of lava fountains spewing as high as 164 feet into the air. Still, the eruption is not expected to cause any loss of life, nor any lasting impact to infrastructure, besides coating some parts of the island in as much as a quarter inch of ash.

Since the Earth was formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago, it has gone through dozens of major cataclysmic events, including the eruption of supervolcanoes, impacts by comets and asteroids, major tectonic shifts, exposure to cosmic radiation, and more. Most of these took place long before homo sapiens ever walked the Earth.

Some of these events were so violent that they directly ushered in new geologic periods. These were often accompanied by ice ages, mass extinction events, or conversely warming and ecological flourishing. These periods left lasting, major changes to the planet’s species, continental structure, and atmospheric composition. 

For those concerned about the looming threat of global climate change, these events, many of which are now millions of years old, bear grim relevance to today. 

The major extinction events that occurred since life began on Earth, in the majority of cases, share a few attributes, including major changes in CO2 levels and other gases like methane and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere and an increase in ocean acidification, which can result from higher CO2 levels. 

Since the Industrial Revolution, both carbon concentration in the atmosphere and ocean acidification are increasing at far faster levels than can be explained by cyclical changes. Ocean acidity has increased by 30%, and CO2 levels have roughly doubled compared to preindustrial levels, and the result is the endangerment of tens of thousands of species. These are the animals humans are driving to extinction.

Currently, the planet’s flora and fauna are dying at a much faster rate than is normal in nature. Scientists have warned we could be in the midst of a sixth major extinction event, which unlike previous extinction events is caused by human activity and could worsen if human-related greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked. These are the 26 climate crisis disasters that will get worse if we do nothing. 

To compile a list of the largest geological forces in Earth’s history, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed publications in scientific journals focusing on cataclysmic events in Earth’s history that resulted in sudden, abrupt, and massive environmental impacts. For each event where the date of occurrence can only be estimated, we list the rough number of years it is believed to have occurred before today, and for events where the exact year of the occurrence is known, the year is written out with A.D. notation. 

Click here to see 17 cataclysmic events that changed the Earth forever.

Strained Texas grid a showcase for how to manage renewables, and how not to

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Source: Yelantsevv / iStock via Getty Images
— Texas grid, reluctantly, becomes a showcase for how to work with renewables, and how not to
— In the battle for EV dominance between the U.S. and Europe, how each treats China will be the deciding factor
— How to build a guilt-free cruise ship
— Lithium-ion battery market expected to quadruple by 2030. Here are the winners

As the Texas electric grid strains under the pressure of an unprecedented heat dome this week, grid operators around the country — and the world — are watching for valuable lessons in both renewable energy and grid management.

Against the wishes of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and most of the fossil fuel industry, it is solar and wind power that are saving the grid as the rush of air conditioners piles on the demand. Texas is a leader in solar and wind, despite being oil and gas country, a lesson in how the two energies can co-exist on a perfect grid, outside of the political arena. It’s first in wind and in the top five in solar.

But the spirit of isolationism still runs strong in Texas, and its leaders have consistently resisted connecting the state grid with the other major U.S. grids, which could send it power in times of need, such as California often requesting power from nearby Nevada or Oregon. This is a lesson in how all grids will need to be connected, because the current setups are rapidly succumbing to the extreme temperatures hitting wide parts of the country and world, as seen this week from Texas to Beijing.

For investors, the lessons should be abundantly clear. Solar and wind stocks, mostly weak the past few years as the energy trade became unpopular, at some point are going to react to the tremendous increase in renewable production. But only if all that energy can be absorbed by our grids, which need a massive overhaul.

They might not be as sexy as AI, but innovation and new technologies in grid evolution will ultimately be kingmakers in the energy transition.

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By David Callaway

50 Natural Wonders Everyone Should See at Least Once

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Source: RICARDO STUCKERT / Getty Images

After two years of travel restrictions, people have been eager to embark on new adventures. National parks are again overcrowded and they are home to many natural wonders.

In addition to domestic travel, though, international travel has also been on the rise. The rest of the world, too, offers natural wonders — and it is hard to believe some of them even exist.

24/7 Tempo compiled 50 natural wonders that you must see to believe. Some are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and most were nominees for New7Wonders of Nature, a 2007 initiative with a global poll that attracted over 100 million votes.

The natural world has always inspired awe. Fire shooting from the ground, lights blazing across the sky, and glowing ocean waves were fodder for the imaginations of ancient people, inspiring myths and legends of gods and otherworldly powers.

Though science may now be able to explain the geological forces behind some of the Earth’s most dramatic landscapes, that doesn’t make them any less magical.

If you are still reluctant to travel overseas and prefer a local perspective, here are the most natural wonders in every state.

Click here for the natural wonders you need to see to believe

Europe quick to act as climate change bites from glaciers to islands

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Source: sharply_done / E+ via Getty Images

(A native of England, veteran journalist Matthew Diebel has worked at NBC News, Time, USA Today and News Corp., among other organizations.)

How something glacial may have sped things up

When I was a boy in the 1960s, my family went on a skiing vacation in Brand, a small Austrian town near the Swiss border. It turned out I was quite good on the slopes. In addition, I fell head over heels for the ski instructress, Birgit, who wore a fetching pink anorak. Unfortunately, though, my father also fell head over heels — literally — and had to be brought down the slopes to a hospital in a “blutwagen” (blood wagon) to have his badly broken leg mended. Thus ended our skiing trips.

I remember the place fondly (even beyond Birgit, that is). At the end of a deep valley, the settlement was picturesque and loomed over by the almost 10,000-foot Schesaplana, a dramatic mountain peak that had a wide ice field called the Brandner Glacier on its slopes.

I was reminded of all this when I read that the population of Switzerland, never a nation to rush into big changes, had voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposed law to cut the use of fossil fuels and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050…

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By David Callaway

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