DEFORESTATION

Facebook to block illegal sales of protected Amazon rainforest areas

Social media giant Facebook has announced it will crack down on the illegal sales of protected Amazon rainforest land via its platform, after a BBC investigation found that the company’s “Marketplace” product was being used to broker sales of protected lands, including Indigenous territories and national forest reserves. Facebook will now review listings on Facebook Marketplace against an authoritative database of protected areas to identify listings that may violate this new policy, run by the UN Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre. However, experts have raised doubts about the effectiveness of Facebook’s approach as the social media company does not require users to specify the coordinates of the land they are selling. Critics are calling on Facebook to make geo-location references mandatory for sales of land. (Eco-Business)

HEALTH

Moderna plans African vaccine plant as drugmakers urged to help poorest

Biotechnology company Moderna has revealed plans to invest up to $500 million to build a factory in Africa to make up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year, including for COVID-19, as pressure grows on the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture drugs on the continent. Moderna's proposed site is expected to include drug substance manufacturing as well as bottling and packaging capabilities. Moderna's move comes as a debate rages between drugmakers and governments about waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines to support the roll-out in developing countries. The USA said it would support a waiver, but the idea has faced opposition from pharmaceutical firms due to the complexity of the manufacturing and distribution process. As of 7th October, only 4.5% of Africans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

POLICY 

IEA: National climate plans could deliver 'peak' fossil fuel demand in 2025

Fossil fuel use is set to peak by 2025 if the climate pledges announced so far by governments are delivered, according to the latest projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The energy watchdog's annual World Energy Outlook report predicts that fossil fuel demand is set to go into an "eventual decline" over the coming years and decades under both a “stated policies scenario” and “announced pledges scenario”, which herald the rise of a "new energy economy" powered by solar, wind, electric vehicles, and other low-carbon technologies. However, the report warns the transition to clean technologies must be significantly accelerated to meet global climate goals, noting that the rapid growth of solar and wind technologies around the world is being offset by still rising emissions from coal. (Business Green)

LOBBYING

Cross-sector coalition urges Australia to invest in clean energy exports

Australia's big business lobby group, unions and two green groups have joined to urge the government to invest in clean energy exports. The Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Business Council of Australia, which represents the country's biggest companies, the Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF-Australia jointly commissioned research on export opportunities for Australia. The coalition advises the government to set an interim target of 6 gigawatts of hydrogen and three green metals plants by 2027, going beyond the government's 10-year plan to promote development of clean energy technologies. Research showed Australia could create 395,000 new jobs and generate A$89 billion ($65 billion) in new trade by 2040 by investing in renewable hydrogen and ammonia, green steel and aluminium, critical minerals, battery manufacturing, education and training and engineering and consulting services. (Reuters)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Total, GIG, and RIDG plan large-scale offshore wind green hydrogen hub

Offshore Wind Power Limited, the consortium formed by Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG), energy company TotalEnergies, and Scottish developer Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG), has announced it is studying the use of offshore wind to power the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale on the island of Flotta in Scotland. The partners believe green hydrogen could provide a critical alternative route to market for some of Scotland’s largest offshore wind projects. The plan follows the formation of the partnership in June 2021, in order to bid for sites in Scotland’s multi-billion dollar, 10GW offshore wind project, ScotWind. Plans to power the proposed Flotta Hydrogen Hub are being in partnership with Flotta Terminal’s owner Repsol Sinopec and energy company Uniper. (ESG Today)

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