Press Release: EarthRate ESG Luxury Climate and Diversity meeting

Press Release: EarthRate ESG Luxury Climate and Diversity meeting online 24th June 2024

EarthRate arranged its first ESG Luxury Climate and Diversity meeting online on
24th June 2024. The speakers included Kelly Kehn, gaming professional,
environmental chartered activist Luke Douglas-Home and Päivi Härkönen, Director
ComteamPUB Plus.

– This was EarthRate’s first ESG luxury meeting online. It was part of London
Climate Week and we wanted also make our impact on environment, says Päivi
Härkönen, Director of ComteamPUB Plus Limited.

EarthRate also presented snap highlights of its EarthRate ESG Luxury White Paper
of the global luxury companies and their ESG metrics. The luxury industry has done
a lot since pandemic but the journey will continue.

The environmental activist, chartered leader Luke Douglas-Home said that their
community initiative has gathered plastics from the UK coastal areas about 750
kgs and they continue to engage with schools, communities and organizations.

The Coastline Runner Initiative has raised national awareness in the UK lately with
several media exposures.

– Diversity and inclusive cultures are among the top priorities for today’s leading
businesses. Successful corporates need to embrace these values as part of their
wider sustainability strategy, says Kelly Kehn, gaming and diversity professional.

More info contact: paivi.harkonen@earthrate.de
EarthRate- an ESG innovator
ComteamPUB Plus Limited
LONDON, UK

US: Houston and Texas having power outbreaks after storms

Hundreds of thousands citizens in Houston and Texas are out of power due to the deadly storms on Thursday/Friday. According the CNN, seven people have been killed in the storms.

The authorities are warning about triple-digit heats as the power cut impact also air conditions.

The power outbreak may continue several days and there is still possibility of flood risks. The state of Houston declared the state of disaster on Friday.

Hong Kong to ban single plastics – SCMP

Hong Kong is to ban single plastics, the South China Morning Post reports. The forcement will start from April 22, the Earth Day.

According to the news the aim is to decrease the non-biodegredable plastics in landfill sites. This will mean that the sale and distribution of single use plastics become restricted.

In the next phase the aim is to ban the single used plastics in cups and boxes in takeways. This is planned to start in 2025.

There will be 6 months grace period after it there will be penalties starting from  1500 HKK.

The city of Hong Kong has established so called green communities where people can recycle their plastics items.

Japan and China have started discussions of Fukushima wastewater – NikkeiAsia

The Governments of Japan and China have started a new round of discussions related to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant wastewater, the NikkeiAsia writes on Friday.

China opposes the nuclear contaminated water release to the sea and the country has suspended all seafood import from Japan after the starting of the release in August.

The countries have had working groups on the matter and they agreed to safety measures monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA.

ECB to integrate green transition and nature loss to monetary work and supervision

The European Central Bank ECB has published its roadmap for climate and nature plan for years 2024-2025 yesterday. According to the plan, Central Bank will integrate the climate change and its impact on economies, financial markets and preparation of monetary policy decisions.

This means in practise that ECB will integrate green transition into macroeconomic models and develop risk monitoring further. Sustainable finance is seen as one of the tools.

ECB will also contribute their findings to stress testing in Fit for 55. The Central Bank will also introduce climate related disclosure requirements in the collateral framework from 2026 onwards.

In the banking supervision, the Central Bank will monitor the green transition planning and implementation.

The ECB has also determined to green the ECB’s non-monetary policy portfolios and the Bank will also disclose the process.

UKHSA: Amber Cold-Health Alerts until 20 Jan 2024

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office have today issued an Amber Cold-Health Alerts for England until 20 Jan 2024.

-As of Thursday 18 January, the amber Cold-Health Alerts (CHAs) issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office have been extended until midday on Saturday 20 January, the agency said.

Previously, all regions were under an amber alert until midday on Friday 19 January.

– Under the new CHA system, an amber alert means that cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for an extended period of time, with potential for the whole population to be at risk and where other sectors may also start to observe impacts, indicating a coordinated response is required, the Agency warned.

– The temperatures we will see leading into the week ahead can rapidly have a serious impact on the health of those over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing health conditions as it increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections, said Dr Agostinho Sousa, Head of Extreame Events and Health Protection at UKHSA.

– It is therefore vital to check in on friends, family and neighbours to ensure they are well prepared for the cold weather, he reminded.

The stars and laggards in the pharma sector in 2023

The year 2023 was a mixed for pharma companies in the US and Europe. The obesity market created the winners for 2023: the US Eli Lilly (LLY) and Danish Novo Nordisk (NOVO) Their stocks rocketed by 59,34% and 48,81% respectively during last year.

The Covid- mrna vaccine companies did not managed to keep the Covid-trend during last year, altought their December performance was positive for Biontech and Moderna.

The stock of Biontech (BNTX) closed down 29,74% for the year and Pfizer’s stock closed down 45,81% for the year. Moderna (MRNA) stock went down 44,63%. During December the trend changed and the companies went up 5,11% for Biontech and for Moderna 26,99%. Pfizer (PFE) continued with negative tertotory, down 5,51%.

The other pharma and biotech companies:

• Abbot (ABT), up 5,50% in December, up 0,26% in 2023
• AbbVie (ABBV), up 8,83% in December, down 4,11% in 2023
• AstraZeneca (AZN), up 4,58% in December, down 5,60% in 2023
• GSK (GSK), up 2,41% in December, up 1,11% in 2023
• Roche (ROG), up 3,58% in December, down 15,83% in 2023
• Johnson&Johnson (JNJ), up 1,34% in December, down 11,27% in 2023
• Kenvue ( KVUE), up 5,33% in December, down 19,96% in 2023
• Merck (MRK), up 6,38% in December, down 1,74% in 2023
• Novartis ( NOVN), down 0,29% in December, up 4,33% in 2023
• Novavax ( NVAX), down 12,73%in December, down 53,31% in 2023
• Sandoz (SDZ), up 8,20% in December, up 8,29% in 2023
• Sanofi (SAN), up 5,03% in December, down 0,09% in 2023

Earthquake in Honshu Island Japan – deathtoll 30

A large 7,6 magnitude earthquake hit the Japan’s main Island Honshu on Monday, 1st January. According to Reuters, the deathtoll is 30 and the government has warned of possible further quakes and tsunami later on.

The earthquake has broken buildings and roads on the western coastline.The Army and fireworkers are called to help the rescue in the area.

So far all nuclear plants are operating normally.

Earthquake in China – 126 people killed

The midnight earthquake in Chinese Gansu Province has killed at least 126 people on Monday. According to Reuters, more than 700 has been injured in the quake.

A magnitude of 6,2 earthquake hit the region at the midnight and the rescue patrols have faced cold in their operations. More than 155 000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Gansu province is located in the north-western part of China.

UK to implement import carbon tax by 2027 (updated)

The UK Government has today announced its plans to implement import carbon price tax by 2027. The tax is subject to goods imported to the UK from overseas with lower carbon price or no carbon price at all.

– The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas in the iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen, ceramics, glass and cement sectors face a comparable carbon price to those produced here, the UK Government said on Monday.

-The design and delivery of the CBAM will be subject to further consultation in 2024, including the precise list of products in scope. The government will also engage with trade partners, including developing countries, and affected businesses and organisations, to minimise the impact on trade and the necessary compliance steps, it said.

– Alongside a CBAM, the government is also announcing its intention to work with industry to establish voluntary product standards that businesses could choose to adopt to help promote their low carbon products to customers; and to develop a framework which measures the carbon content of goods, that could support other decarbonisation policies in future, the government added.

– And today, in addition to the government announcing a UK CBAM, stakeholders including power, aviation and industrial sectors have been invited to offer their views on proposed changes to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, that will ensure it continues to support the UK’s progress to net zero, it said.