Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 15 November 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# The French Development Agency says it is working together with the Just Energy Transition partners to strike a balance between South Africa’s energy needs and its climate commitments. AFD recently approved another 7.5-billion-rand policy-based loan to support the country’s Just Energy Transition, including the transition away from coal. As one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, South Africa faces increasing pressure to curb its carbon footprint. AFD CEO, Remy Rioux, says strengthening the network is crucial for connecting more renewable energy projects to the grid. 

# The World Wide Fund for Nature has released a toolkit to help financial institutions reduce their risk of environmental financial crime exposure. Environmental crime is the third-largest illegal activity globally. The Environmental Crime Financial Toolkit can help financial institutions with the screening of new clients and a review of existing ones. According to WWF, the toolkit can also help identify risks related to land conversion, such as deforestation, that could be linked to financial crimes.

# And finally: The United Kingdom has announced it will introduce legislation to ban new coal mines, as the Labour government ramps up its plans to make Britain a clean energy leader. The government said it will unveil the new law to restrict the future licensing of new coal mines as soon as possible in what it calls a crucial step to tackling climate change. It comes after Britain’s last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, closed in October, making the UK the first G7 country to end its reliance on fossil fuel for electricity.

Stay tuned for more news………….