Care home group to sue Barclays for up to £37m in Libor-rigging test case
Barclays will become the first bank to stand trial in the High Court over the effects of its manipulation of the Libor interest rate. This landmark case could open the way for a fresh wave of claims from those affected by the Libor scandal. The Guardian Care Homes chain of care homes is suing Barclays for up to £37m over £70m worth of “swaps” they bought in 2007, which were designed to protect businesses against interest rate spikes. As part of its claim, the group says the bank deliberately sold a product that depended on the Libor benchmark, at the same time that senior management knew they were lying about the bank’s daily submission. The case means that the High Court will rule next year on whether customers can claim compensation for products sold by banks manipulating the Libor rate, even if they cannot prove they suffered an individual loss. (Times*, Independent, Guardian)
Environment
Protests over chemical plant force Chinese officials to back down
Officials in the coastal city of Ningbo, China, promised on Sunday night to halt the expansion of a petrochemical plant after thousands of demonstrators clashed with the police during three days of protests against the plans. On Saturday, the demonstrations turned violent when riot police fired tear gas and began to beat protesters, detaining at least 100 people. The protests follow similar demonstrations in other cities in the past year, and indicate the growing public discontent with industrial expansion and pollution. The project, an $8.8bn expansion of a refinery owned by the state-run Sinopec, China’s biggest oil refiner, was backed by local government which has been promoting a large industrial zone outside Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province. (Financial Times*, New York Times)
Renewable energy will overtake nuclear power in UK by 2018
Renewable energy capacity will overtake nuclear power in the UK by 2018, if current rates of growth continue, and will provide enough power for one in 10 British homes by 2015, according to new research by the trade association, Renewable UK. The study also showed that the amount of electricity supplied by wind energy alone is up by a quarter since 2010. While the UK Government has notably cooled on wind power the industry has continued to grow, with investment in offshore wind up by about 60 percent to £1.5bn in the past year. The organisation also underlined the importance of clear and appropriate energy policy to help support the renewables industry, in anticipation of the energy bill currently under parliamentary scrutiny. (Guardian)
Protesters occupy new gas-fired power station
Around 20 climate change protesters have seriously disrupted operations at one of the UK's new generation of gas-fired power stations at Nottinghamshire. Overnight 11 protesters from the campaign group No Dash for Gas successfully scaled one of the plant's water cooling towers, and another six have occupied a second one which was not yet in use, securing themselves on ledges. Police have made already made five arrests. Speaking from the group's makeshift camp on the central chimney one of the protesters said: "the plan is to stay up here with some of us in the flue to stop the furnace starting again." The plants owners and operators, EDF, confirmed that the middle tower had been closed down. (Guardian)
Reporting
BSI develops new European standard for energy auditing
The British Standards Institution (BSI) has developed a new standard for best practice energy auditing that will serve as a tool for energy, sustainability and environmental managers, auditors, consultants and senior management interested in targeting energy efficiency. According to BSI, the standard will apply to commercial, industrial, residential and public-sector organisations, excluding individual private dwellings. BSI said the new standard, created in collaboration with a number of different energy experts, is appropriate to all organisations regardless of size or industry sector. Director of publishing at BSI, Shirley Bailey-Wood, said: "Effective energy auditing is the first step towards best practice energy management and provides a powerful means to address energy complacency within an organization.” (Edie)
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