2023-11-03 23:16

LIMA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The water level at Lake Titicaca on the Peru-Bolivia border is edging towards a record low, exacerbated by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino that is expected to get still more intense in coming months. The waters of the sprawling freshwater lake nestled in the Andes mountains have fallen an average 4 inches (10 cm) per month since April, said Milagros Quispe, an engineer with Peru's national meteorology and hydrology service Senamhi. Severe drought conditions and unusually high temperatures have caused the shoreline to shrivel at Titicaca, South America's largest lake and the world's highest navigable body of water. The water level is now around 13 inches (33 cm) above its record low recorded in 1943. The double whammy of extreme dryness and heat has led to higher-than-normal water evaporation, said Quispe. Over the past seven months, the lake's water level has fallen 29 inches (74 cm), according to Senamhi data. Limited rainfall in the mountainous area had not been enough to stabilize the lake's shoreline, Quispe added. El Nino causes major rainfall along Peru's Pacific coast but drought conditions in its highlands. Last month, Peru's climate study office raised the probability that the intensity of this El Nino will be strong from December, up from a previous forecast that saw only moderate intensity. Climate change is doubling down on the impacts from the natural El Nino phenomenon — layering heat on top of heat, or excess rainfall on top of excess rainfall. That includes Titicaca. "The lake's basin and ecosystem have been modified as a result of global warming," said Quispe. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/south-americas-lake-titicaca-nears-record-low-water-level-el-nino-bites-2023-11-03/

2023-11-03 23:05

KATHMANDU, Nov 4 (Reuters) - At least 128 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal when a strong earthquake struck the western area of Jajarkot, officials said on Saturday, as houses in the area collapsed and buildings as far as New Delhi in neighbouring India shook. The quake occurred at 11:47 p.m. (1802 GMT) on Friday with a magnitude 6.4, Nepal's National Seismological Centre said. The German Research Centre for Geosciences measured the quake at 5.7, downgrading it from 6.2, while the U.S. Geological Survey pegged it at 5.6. The quake is the deadliest since 2015 when about 9,000 people were killed in two earthquakes in the Himalayan country. Whole towns, centuries-old temples and other historic sites were reduced to rubble then, with more than a million houses destroyed, at a cost to the economy of $6 billion. Officials feared the death toll in Friday's quake could rise as they had not been able to establish contact in the hilly area near the epicentre, some 500 km (300 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, where tremors were also felt. The district has a population of 190,000 with villages scattered in remote hills. "The number of injured could be in the hundreds and the deaths could go up as well," Jajarkot district official Harish Chandra Sharma told Reuters by phone. Police spokesman Kuber Kadayat said 92 people were killed in Jajarkot and 36 in neighbouring Rukum West district, both in Karnali province. The epicentre was in the village of Ramidanda. At least 85 people were injured in Rukum West and 55 in Jajarkot, an official in the prime minister's office said, while Sharma said at least 50 people were in hospitals in Jajarkot alone. "Many houses have collapsed, many others have developed cracks. Thousands of residents spent the entire night in cold, open grounds because they were too scared to go in into the cracked houses as aftershocks struck," Sharma said. "I have myself not been able to go in." Search and rescue must clear roads blocked by landslides, triggered by the earthquake, to reach the affected areas, police officer Namaraj Bhattarai said. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal flew to the area early on Saturday with a 16-member army medical team to oversee search, rescue and relief, his office said. Dahal, posting on the X social media platform, expressed deep sorrow at the loss of life and property in the quake and ordered security agencies to launch immediate rescue and relief operations. Local media footage showed crumbled facades of multi-storied brick houses, with large pieces of furniture scattered. Videos on X showed people running into the street as some buildings were evacuated. "Houses have collapsed. People rushed out of their homes. I am out in the crowd of terrified residents. We are trying to find details of damage," police official Santosh Rokka said by phone. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/nepal-hit-by-64-earthquake-felt-new-delhi-2023-11-03/

2023-11-03 22:01

Nov 3 (Reuters) - California's top public pension system on Friday said it will more than double its climate-focused investments to $100 billion by 2030 and consider selling stocks in companies with poor plans for the energy transition. Staff of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) said the plan will boost returns for the $444 billion system, the largest in the U.S., plus cut in half its portfolio's "emissions intensity," a measure of emissions relative to output. "We believe there's a full opportunity set coming about from the transition to a lower-carbon economy," said Peter Cashion, CalPERS head of sustainable investing, in a call with reporters on Thursday. The moves represent a big bet on new technologies and that businesses and regulators will embrace steps to limit global temperature increases as CalPERS allocates retirement assets in the heavily Democratic state. Green energy investing faces much debate during a recent wave of oil-and-gas mergers and big writedowns for windfarm projects. But U.S. solar market values have hit record highs while gas prices have soared, supporting the business case for new infrastructure. Cashion said the new investments will be spread among companies that do things like mitigate emissions or make infrastructure more resilient to climate change, selected across different asset classes. New laws in California require more corporate climate disclosures. Additional proposed legislation would require state funds to sell fossil fuel stocks, following systems in other states such as Maine. CalPERS' board voted in March to oppose the idea, saying it would do little to limit emissions and could compromise returns. Cashion called it "a very inelegant solution." But he said CalPERS will develop a process to evaluate whether a company is prepared for stronger climate regulations or shifts in consumer demand. It will consider factors such as whether a company has plans validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, backed by the United Nations and business and environmental groups. For laggards, he said, "we believe that an underweight or some tactical change would be appropriate." Although formal approval is not required, CalPERS staff will present the plan to the board's investment committee for feedback Nov 13. California Treasurer Fiona Ma, the sole CalPERS board member to favor divestment at the March vote, did not immediately dismiss the new climate investment plan. She said in a statement she was "eager to hear more." A 2021 law in Maine directed the state's Public Employees Retirement System to halt new fossil fuel investments and divest current holdings by the start of 2026, "consistent with fiduciary obligations." Putting the law in practice could force tradeoffs. In a report last year consultant NEPC found much of the $19 billion system's exposure to fossil fuels was through private market holdings that might have to be sold at a discount, creating an estimated loss of $566 million in one scenario. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/calpers-double-climate-investments-consider-asset-sales-2023-11-03/

2023-11-03 21:27

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Panama's abrupt moves this week to potentially annul the contract for one of the world's biggest and newest copper mines through a referendum and proposed law alarmed global investors and wiped out about 40% of First Quantum Minerals' (FM.TO) market value. Lawmakers on Thursday ended efforts to scrap the contract by law, while a proposed bill to decide the future of the deal signed by First Quantum and the Panama government through a referendum in December is stuck in Congressional proceedings. That leaves the fate of the contract for now in the hands of the country's top court. Panama's moves raise questions about copper supplies, as Cobre Panama accounts for about 1% of global output. The $10-billion copper mine produces a critical metal for production of electric vehicles. Canada-based First Quantum said on Friday it remains "confident" in its legal position in Panama. Here are some questions surrounding Panama's actions. WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT? The dispute dates back to 2017 when Panama's top court deemed unconstitutional the law under which First Quantum was operating the mine. First Quantum inherited the contract after it replaced Petaquilla Gold as operator of the mine in 2013. Challenges against the court's decision were rejected and the ruling was upheld in 2021, forcing the company to start negotiations for a fresh deal with the government. The new contract, agreed on Oct. 20, was signed into law by Panama's government, which provides First Quantum a 20-year mining right with an option to extend for another 20 years, in return for $375 million in annual revenue to Panama. While the government has said the new contract offers better terms than the previous one, Panamanian protesters disagree. WHAT ARE THE PROTESTERS' DEMANDS? The protesters say the contract is overly generous to the Canadian miner and allege corruption. They also argue the mine poses environmental risks and demand the annulment of the contract and a ban on all new mining projects. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Panama's government allowed the miner to operate while negotiations for the contested contract took place. It has not commented on what would happen if the contract is revoked. Lawmakers approved on Friday a bill banning new mining concessions, but it does not affect the Cobre Panama mine, which already has a concession. Nonetheless, the lifetime of the mine could be affected by the ban since the bill forbids renewing and extending concessions. The miners' operations could also be hurt if the top court deems the contract unconstitutional, as it could move to shut down its operations or order negotiations for a new contract. Panama's government has not publicly said if it was planning to nationalize the mine. WHAT ARE LOCAL EXPERTS SAYING? Local experts have said letting the country's top court rule on the contract's validity would be the best way to resolve ongoing disputes, since ending the contract unilaterally by law could open the door for international arbitration, as it would be seen as a breach of contract by Panama government. Panama's top court will hear various challenges against the contract in the coming days. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/why-might-panama-cancel-copper-mine-contract-2023-11-03/

2023-11-03 21:06

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Binance chief Changpeng Zhao will step down and plead guilty to breaking criminal U.S. anti-money laundering laws as part of a settlement resolving a years-long probe into the world's largest crypto exchange, prosecutors said on Tuesday. But he's not the only one in regulators' sights. As token prices plummeted last year, the sector saw other stunning meltdowns that put several industry moguls into authorities' crosshairs. Investigations are not necessarily an indication of wrongdoing, and charges may not result in convictions. All the executives below have denied wrongdoing. Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Zhao is a Canadian citizen who was born and raised until the age of 12 in China. He founded Binance in Shanghai in 2017 but later moved the exchange to Tokyo and then Malta. Its holding company is based in the Cayman Islands. The billionaire owns properties in Dubai's high-end Burj Khalifa tower and Singapore, corporate records show, yet rarely indulges in ostentatious shows of wealth. While Zhao, 46, projects to his 8.6 million followers on social media platform X image of humility, Reuters reported last year that he maintained a tight grip on Binance's operations - a powerful leader committed to secrecy and focused on market domination. In addition to Tuesday's settlement with the Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and Zhao in June for allegedly operating "a web of deception." The SEC alleged that Binance artificially inflated its trading volumes, diverted customer funds, failed to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misled investors about its market surveillance controls. The company has said the SEC's lawsuit was "unjustified by the facts, by the law, or by the Commission's own precedent." Sam Bankman-Fried Onetime crypto poster child Bankman-Fried was this month found guilty of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, in a high-profile criminal case that rocked the industry. The jury reached the verdict after just over four hours of deliberations. Bankman-Fried, who had pleaded guilty, told jurors he mismanaged the exchange but had not defrauded customers. It was a sudden and dramatic fall from grace for the tech entrepreneur who had amassed billions of dollars in personal wealth running FTX and had become a prominent and respected figure in Washington and globally. Do Kwon A South Korean national, Do Kwon co-founded Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies. The market value of TerraUSD and Luna was once estimated at more than $40 billion, and their downfall precipitated a wider collapse in token prices. Kwon faces multiple charges of fraud in the U.S. and was arrested in Montenegro earlier this year for allegedly forging documents, authorities said. The SEC has also filed civil charges against Kwon and Terraform Labs, accusing the two of "orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud." Kwon has denied forging documents, according to a Montenegrin court press release. In an Oct. 30 court filing, Terraform said the "SEC is evidentiarily no closer to proving that the defendants did anything wrong." Alex Mashinsky The founder and former CEO of crypto lender Celsius Network's company filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's proprietary crypto token. In January, New York state's attorney general sued Mashinsky, also alleging fraud. A lawyer for Mashinsky at the time said he denied those allegations and "looks forward to vigorously defending himself in court." Mashinsky also faces lawsuits from the SEC, the CFTC and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that allege he touted Celsius as safe even as the company took increasingly risky steps to deliver promised returns of as much as 17%. Barry Silbert Silbert is the boss of crypto group Digital Currency Group whose subsidiary Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy in January. He was sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James last month along with Genesis and DCG, alleging that they defrauded customers of more than $1 billion. Silbert called the allegations baseless and said he would fight the lawsuit in court. "Last year, my and DCG's goal was to help Genesis weather the storm... and position Genesis for success going forward. It is unfortunate that this lawsuit omits that fundamental fact," he said. Stephen Ehrlich Stephen Ehrlich's Voyager Digital is another casualty of last year's crypto meltdown. The CFTC and the FTC have accused him of misleading customers about the safety of their assets while taking "excessive risks" that led to the crypto lender's demise. Ehrlich has said he was being used as a "scapegoat for the bad actions of others at different companies." "Having spent nearly my entire career working in regulated markets, including more than 10 years at public companies, I have never had a single blemish on my record," he said in a statement last month. Justin Sun The SEC in March charged Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and his companies including the Tron Foundation with fraud, accusing him of artificially inflating trading volume for his companies' crypto tokens and concealing payment to celebrities to promote those tokens. Sun said in a post on social media platform X that the complaint "lacks merit." https://www.reuters.com/legal/other-crypto-bosses-us-authorities-crosshairs-2023-11-03/

2023-11-03 20:55

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Danish energy firm Orsted's (ORSTED.CO) shock decision to cancel two offshore wind farms off New Jersey this week was based in large part on big delays securing the ship it needed to build the project, company officials said. The world's biggest offshore wind farm company on Tuesday said it would cease all development on the Ocean Wind projects even as it moves forward with developments off neighboring New York, triggering an angry response from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. The decision came as a surprise in part because New Jersey had passed a law letting offshore wind developers like Orsted keep federal tax credits that were previously destined for ratepayers to offset their power costs, a concession intended to keep the projects alive. "People did not anticipate (Orsted) backing out of Ocean Wind," said Timothy Fox, VP at research firm ClearView Energy Partners. Orsted CEO Mads Nipper, on a call with analyst the day after announcing the cancellation said: "Significant delays on vessel availability ... in the entire market has now meant that it would implicate a multi-year delay of the entire project." He said those delays would put Orsted in "a situation where we would need to go out and recontract all or very large scopes of the project at expectedly higher prices." MOVING AHEAD IN NEW YORK In New York, Orsted is moving forward with construction of its 704-megawatt (MW) Revolution project and is taking "a cautionary approach" to its 924-MW Sunrise project. Nipper told analysts that unlike Ocean Wind, Orsted is still pursuing Sunrise for several reasons, including the fact that the company has already lined up a vessel to build it. He added that Orsted believes it can secure a 10% bonus federal tax credit for Sunrise – reserved for projects that use a certain amount of domestically-produced content - and more money for its power by rebidding the project in an expected expedited solicitation in New York. Under the most accelerated proposal, the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority said it could release the next offshore wind request for proposals in late November or early December. Bidders would have four weeks to prepare proposals and awards could be made as early as late January. Analysts had expected Orsted and a joint venture between European energy firms Equinor (EQNR.OL) and BP (BP.L), which has developed three other offshore wind projects, to cancel their contracts to sell offshore wind power in New York after state regulators earlier this month refused to renegotiate those agreements. Instead the companies announced writeoffs of up to $5.6 billion for Orsted, $540 million for BP and $300 million for Equinor. The Ocean Wind cancellation was the latest setback for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry in recent months, which U.S. President Joe Biden and several states have counted on to fight global warming. Other energy firms have canceled contracts to sell power from offshore wind in Massachusetts and Connecticut because those deals, agreed upon before inflation and interest rates soared, were out of the money due to rising equipment, labor and financing costs as well as supply chain bottlenecks. Governor Murphy said New Jersey should receive $300 million if Orsted's projects fail to proceed and directed his administration to "review all legal rights and remedies and to take all necessary steps to ensure that Orsted fully and immediately honors its obligations." https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/ship-shortage-dealt-death-blow-orsteds-nj-offshore-wind-hopes-2023-11-03/