TAX

BP expects to pay $800m in windfall tax after $8.2bn in profits

Oil company BP said it expected to pay about $800 million in windfall tax on its North Sea operations in 2022, as it posted bumper profits of $8.2 billion in the third quarter. BP has seen profits soar as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed up wholesale gas prices. The company said the windfall tax figure covered the 7 months from the levy’s introduction until the end of the year, and its total tax bill on its North Sea operations this year would be about $2.5 billion. Ministers are considering whether to extend the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas operators. BP’s $8.2 billion third-quarter profit far outstrips the $3.3 billion of underlying profits recorded in the equivalent period of 2021. Campaigners at argue bumper profits could help pay for millions of UK energy bills. (The Guardian)

EMPLOYEES

Aldi supermarket increases staff pay 15% to £11 per hour

Discount supermarket Aldi has increased its starting pay for all store assistants to a minimum of £11 an hour, maintaining its position as the best-paying supermarket in the UK. Aldi store colleagues working within the M25 will see their starting pay increase to £12.45 per hour, to reflect the higher cost of living in the UK’s capital. The supermarket’s logistics staff will also see their pay rise in 2023, with starting salaries increasing to £10.90, in line with the real Living Wage. The increase sees Aldi overtake Lidl as the UK’s best-paying supermarket. In August 2022, Lidl increased entry-level hourly rates to £10.90 outside London and to £11.95 within the M25. Other supermarkets have also recently increased pay as living costs rise, with Sainsbury’s increasing wages from £10.00 to £10.25 per hour. (Personnel Today)

INEQUALITY

Study finds enormous emissions gap between top 1% and poorest

The top 1% of earners in the UK are responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year as the bottom 10% of earners over more than two decades, data has shown. The findings highlight the enormous gaps between what has been termed “the polluting elite”, whose high-carbon lifestyles fuel the climate crisis, and the majority of people, even in developed countries, whose carbon footprints are far smaller. It would take 26 years for a low earner to produce as much carbon dioxide as the richest do in a year, with the data finding that people earning £170,000 or more in 2018 in the UK were responsible for greenhouse gas emissions far greater than the 30% of people earning £21,500 or less in the same year. (The Guardian)

CLIMATE CHANGE

Listed companies are breaching emissions budgets

The world’s largest companies look set to breach their climate budgets and hinder global efforts to avert a 1.5°C temperature rise, according to new research. The latest MSCI ‘Net-Zero Tracker’, a quarterly analysis of 9,300 public companies’ climate change progress based on the MSCI ‘All Country World Investable Market Index’ (ACWI IMI), warns that companies look set to overshoot a collective carbon budget. The research found that listed companies look set to emit almost 11 gigatons of direct (Scope 1) emissions in 2022. This, MSCI warns, is a 1% increase compared to 2021 levels, but is still 4.4% lower compared to pre-pandemic levels. The findings conclude that listed companies are on track to make the world 2.9°C warmer by the end of the century, far above the aim of keeping warming to 1.5°C. (edie)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

GM sources renewable energy to power 100% of US operations

Automotive giant GM has announced that it has achieved its goal to secure enough renewable energy to power all of its US sites by 2025. The move makes GM the largest uptaker of renewable power in the automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) industry. The achievement follows GM’s 2021 announcement of its plan to reach 100% renewable energy for US sites by 2025, five years ahead of its prior 2030 target. The target was made alongside a series of sustainability commitments, including goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. GM’s renewable energy portfolio now includes sourcing agreements from 16 renewable energy plants across 10 states. (ESG Today)

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