Climate Money
By Susan Su
Fighting and solving climate change is the biggest value creation opportunity of our lifetime, and the movement is getting bigger every day. Here's your way to stay up to date on all things climate business, from venture investing to big government dollars to infrastructure financing deals.
We'll cover the biggest headlines of the week with concise analysis so you can know what's going down — and what's going up —in the world of climate money.
Climate MoneyMar 28, 2024
Climate change and the cost of food
On today’s episode, we talk about climate change and the cost of food.
New work from researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the European Central Bank is projecting that climate change will drive up food prices around the world by up to 3.2% per year by 2035.
Food will grow to take up a greater proportion of total household income because these price increases will outstrip overall climate-driven inflation. The impact will be disproportionately borne by people in sub-Saharan Africa, where many communities are already living with moderate to severe food insecurity.
Today’s episode looks at exactly what these numbers mean for communities around the world, how it relates to markets, and how the actions of some larger players to mitigate food waste could contribute to a solution.
Related links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-01173-x
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/global-food-waste-solutions/
Climate Money Ep. 9: The True Cost of Direct Air Capture
Welcome to the Episode 9 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- New research that shoes Direct Air Capture won’t be able to hit the magical $100/ton cost benchmark, and why this flies in the face of everything we’ve been told
- How a billion-dollar CO2 pipeline project is a secret force opposing EV adoption
- The blossoming frenemy-ship between Big Oil and Big Ag
- And how all this underscores the wicked, systems problem of climate change
As always I welcome your feedback and reflections.
Climate Money Ep. 8: The EU vs Fast Fashion
Welcome to the Episode 8 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- The EU’s newly revised Extended Producer Responsibility proposal, and how it’s taking on food waste and fast fashion.
- Why linear capitalism’s days could be numbered
- The real numbers behind the climate wealth gap and what it means for builders and investors
As always I welcome your feedback and reflections.
Climate Money Ep. 7: Big Wind Faces a Big Setback. The Reasons Might Surprise You.
Welcome to the Episode 7 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- Enel Energy’s $500M+ wind farm loss, and what it teaches us about energy history, tribal sovereignty, and knowing your audience
- Why culture, not money, is the tide that floats all boats — or sinks them, as we’ll see
This is a particularly thorny issue so we’ve dedicated the entire episode to this topic. As always I welcome your feedback and reflections.
Links and resources related to this week’s episode:
- Large Wind Turbine Facility in Oklahoma Ordered to be Dismantled https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/large-wind-turbine-facility-in-oklahoma-ordered-to-be-dismantled/
- Enel faces huge bill to dismantle 84-turbine wind farm as US judge backs tribal nation https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/enel-faces-huge-bill-to-dismantle-84-turbine-wind-farm-as-us-judge-backs-tribal-nation/2-1-1577066
- Federal Judge Sides With Osage Nation, Orders Removal Of 84 Wind Turbines https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/federal-judge-sides-with-osage-tribe (Warning: Robert Bryce’s work is controversial for its anti clean energy bias and funding from conservative think tanks, but this post presents details not available elsewhere.)
- Osage Nation back in court in latest bid to rid mineral estate of wind farm https://www.kosu.org/energy-environment/2023-09-20/osage-nation-back-in-court-in-latest-bid-to-rid-mineral-estate-of-wind-farm
- The Real History Behind ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-history-behind-killers-of-the-flower-moon-180983086/
- OSAGE ARE RICHEST PEOPLE.; Greatest Per Capita Wealth in World Results From Oil Deal https://www.nytimes.com/1921/06/25/archives/osage-are-richest-people-greatest-per-capita-wealth-in-world.html
- OSAGE LANDS & MINERALS - 1872 to TODAY https://osagenation.s3.amazonaws.com/B/B.5.a.Lands&Minerals1872-TodayFactSheet.pdf
- There's a big climate cost to failing to recognize Indigenous sovereignty https://www.corporateknights.com/leadership/big-climate-cost-of-failing-to-recognize-indigenous-rights/ Norway to pay Sámi reindeer herders millions for violating their human rights https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affairs-desk/norway-to-pay-sami-reindeer-herders-millions-for-violating-their-human-rights/
- Osage Wind Farm, US — Power Technology market data https://www.power-technology.com/marketdata/osage-wind-farm-us/
Climate Money Ep. 6: The EU’s Big Hairy Climate Goal
Welcome to the Episode 6 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- The European Commission’s new recommendation to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, and what Chinese labor has to do with it
- The EU’s upcoming Parliamentary elections and how they could effect European Climate Money
- A revised look at Kenya’s carbon credits fee and how regulation can help markets, even if they impose costs
Links and resources related to this week’s episode:
European Commission calls for 90% cut in EU emissions by 2040
https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-european-commission-calls-for-90-cut-in-eu-emissions-by-2040/
EU rebuffs European solar industry’s plea for emergency help to fight cheap China imports https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3251047/eu-rebuffs-european-solar-industrys-plea-emergency-help-fight-cheap-china-imports
A sharp right turn: A forecast for the 2024 European Parliament elections https://ecfr.eu/publication/a-sharp-right-turn-a-forecast-for-the-2024-european-parliament-elections/
European Union Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990 - 2024 https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/EUU/european-union/ghg-greenhouse-gas-emissions
A Dark Spot for the Solar Energy Industry: Forced Labor in Xinjiang https://www.csis.org/analysis/dark-spot-solar-energy-industry-forced-labor-xinjiang
The Powering Past Coal Alliance https://poweringpastcoal.org/
‘They’re drowning us in regulations’: how Europe’s furious farmers took on Brussels and won https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/10/theyre-drowning-us-in-regulations-how-europes-furious-farmers-took-on-brussels-and-won
China’s Carbon Emissions Are Set to Decline Years Earlier Than Expected https://kanebridgenews.com/chinas-carbon-emissions-are-set-to-decline-years-earlier-than-expected/
Climate Money Ep. 5: On Climate Deniers & Climate Money
Welcome to the Episode 5 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- New research that sheds light on climate deniers, the mental models that do — and don’t — fuel their skepticism, and what it has to do with climate money, especially as more climate companies and jobs are flooding otherwise climate unfriendly red states in the US
- Two important food labeling updates and what they mean for our transition to a cleaner, lower carbon, and lower cruelty food system.
Links and graphics referenced in this episode:
Climate Money Ep. 4: AI’s climate footprint, nuclear's renaissance and the new climate subsidy wars
Welcome to the Episode 4 of the Climate Money Podcast.
In this episode, we look at:
- Five big takeaways from the IEA’s newly released 170-pg Electricity 2024 report, including the structural success of renewables, where the biggest emissions reductions are happening, and nuclear’s big moment
- AI’s climate footprint and who’s poised to profit. Private equity firm and landlord of the nation Blackstone just shared Q4 earnings, buoyed by the stellar performance of its data center holdings where value has grown 250% in just two years. But what’s the climate cost of all this new compute power, what role do renewables play, and how else might technology help?
- The new climate subsidy wars, and what Europe getting in the game means for the global climate technology ‘space race’
Climate Money Ep. 3: The narrative miss on $200B in climate losses + deep dive on Tesla’s Hertz problem with mobility expert Olaf Sakkers
Welcome to the Episode 3 of the Climate Money Podcast. Follow the climate headlines — and the climate money — with me, Susan Su.
In this episode, we look at:
- $200B in climate losses and the climate narrative problem. New data out from global reinsurer Munich RE shows that 2023 was the biggest year on record for climate-related losses. So why are we still talking about the “weather?”
- Tesla’s Hertz problem, Ford’s Lightning layoffs, and why China is exporting millions of combustion vehicles even as it becomes the biggest market in the world for EVs. We’re joined by special guest and mobility expert Olaf Sakkers, of RedBlue Capital, to learn more about what’s really behind all the bad news for EVs, and why there’s still reason to be bullish on an electric future
Climate Money Ep.2: Kenya's Carbon Cash Cow, Solyndra 2.0 and Yikes, JBS
Welcome to the Episode 2 of the Climate Money Podcast. Follow the climate headlines — and the climate money — with me, Susan Su.
In this episode, we look at:
- Kenya’s carbon cash cow, a plan to charge a new 15%-25% take rate on all carbon credits minted in the country, and whether this is good, bad or meh for Kenya’s climate ambitions and for global carbon markets
- Solyndra 2.0, a fraud-hunt that’s animating Republicans and threatening the $400B DOE Loan Program Office that is or will be key to many climate companies’ deployment success
- Yikes, JBS. The world’s largest meat processor and Amazon deforester extraordinaire might get blocked from the NYSE, on climate grounds; why it matters
- Italy and France are set to ban cell based agriculture — and why this is a warning for every climate company that regulatory capture might be worse than climate denial
Climate Money Ep.1: A new $30B climate fund on the block, India’s solar and wind story and more
Welcome to the Episode 1 of the Climate Money Podcast. Follow the climate headlines — and the climate money — with me, Susan Su. One of the central ideas behind my work as a climate investor, and that of many others like me, is that solving climate change is the value creation opportunity of a lifetime. In this episode, we look at: - The UAE's new $30B climate fund and what it means for climate investing - A big development for carbon sequestration in... Louisiana? - India's solar and wind story, the good the bad and the tricky - First Solar's $700M revenue bump from tax credits courtesy of the IRA