To combat climate change, Norway wants to be Europe's carbon dump
A company backed by fossil fuel giants and the Norwegian government has built the world's first carbon shipping port here, with the aim of creating a dumping ground for Europe's planet-warming pollution.
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Another round of US-China talks will start next week in Sweden: Bessent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Tuesday that a third round of trade talks with China are now scheduled and will commence next week in Sweden, with the goal of delaying a deadline next month that has threatened to see tariffs rise between the world's two largest economies. 'I'm going to be in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday with my Chinese counterparts and we'll be working out what is likely an extension then,' Bessent said Tuesday morning during an appearance with Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo. The confirmation of a meeting — following talks in Geneva and then London earlier this year — comes ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline when a pause on tariffs between China and the US is scheduled to expire. Lessening tensions between the two nations appear to have boosted markets. Bessent used the appearance Tuesday morning to reiterate his message that markets should be confident that a new round of tensions with China are not in the offing, suggesting that his focus during the coming talks will be on increasing Chinese demand for US products. He said that China can become a bigger importer as American output increases, saying 'if we could do that together: we do more manufacturing, they do more consumption that would be a home run for the global economy.' Other issues that will be on the table, Bessent added, could be topics like China's consumption of Russian and Iranian oil (which Trump has promised to sanction) as well as the war in Ukraine. Next week's meeting could also set the stage for a meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping later this year. Bessent added Tuesday that trade talks are proceeding on other fronts around the globe, promising 'a rash of trade deals in the coming days' before an August 1 deadline for other nations. The promise there comes as other trading partners — from the European Union to Brazil to India — have said in recent days that they continued to negotiate while offering signals they are preparing for a possibility of Aug. 1 arriving without a deal. The European Union has even been making plans for retaliation — which could include new tariffs on an array of US goods. Yet much of the market focus in recent weeks has been on China and the lessening tensions there helping investors to pushing prices upwards. A recent reversal from the White House where Trump's team acceded to Chinese requests to allow Nvidia (NVDA) to resume sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chip has only increased confidence that a thaw is in the offing for now. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Greenpeace hails Italy court ruling allowing climate lawsuit against energy company ENI to go ahead
ROME (AP) — Italy's highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought by climate activists against Italian energy company ENI and its government shareholders can go ahead, in what Greenpeace said on Tuesday was a victory for efforts to pursue climate justice in Italy. In an ordinance released on Monday, the Court of Cassation rejected ENI's motions to dismiss the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds and ordered the case to be heard on its merits by a Rome tribunal. ENI, for its part, said that it was greatly satisfied with the decision, and it expected that the Rome court would ultimately 'dismantle' the climate activists' claims of responsibility. Greenpeace, environmental group ReCommon and a dozen Italian citizens had sued ENI and its two main government shareholders, the Italian finance ministry and development bank, in 2023 seeking damages for what they said were the effects of climate change. The plaintiffs cited their fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights, as well as Italy's ratification of various international climate accords and ENI's stated commitment to reaching climate reduction targets. ENI and the government sought to dismiss the suit on jurisdictional and other grounds, but the Cassation court ruled that the case could go ahead. For more than a century, scientists have known that large quantities of greenhouse gases, released from the burning of fossil fuels, go up into the atmosphere and heat the planet, leading to higher temperatures, rising sea levels and extreme weather events that are both more frequent and more intense. Around the world in recent years, individuals, climate activist groups and local governments have sued energy companies and governments to try to force them to take concrete action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and compensate for losses associated with climate change. Greenpeace and ReCommon called the ruling historic, saying it would impact current and future climate-related litigation in Italy. They say it brings Italian courts in line with other European countries that have recognized the rights of people to try to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for global warming through lawsuits, and called the ruling itself one of the most significant in climate change litigation internationally. 'No one, not even a colossus like ENI, can escape its responsibilities anymore,' the two groups said in a statement. 'Judges will finally be able to examine the merits of our case: those who pollute and contribute to the climate crisis must answer for their actions.' ENI said that it welcomed the ruling. 'The proceedings can finally resume before the Court of Rome, where the unfounded theories put forward by Greenpeace and ReCommon regarding the alleged responsibility of Eni for climate change-related damages will be dismantled, in a context that is rigorous and respectful of the law, rather than driven by the instrumental, unfounded, and often misleading slogans of the two associations,' ENI said in a statement. While the ruling doesn't enter into the merits of the case, Greenpeace and Recommon highlighted the judges' determination that Italian courts can have jurisdiction over claims about emissions by ENI subsidiaries in foreign countries, since in this case, harm allegedly occurred in Italy and decisions were made by the Italy-based parent company. Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
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Minister insists fuel supplies not under threat despite oil refinery closure
An energy minister has insisted fuel supplies will not be under threat after no buyer was found for one of Britain's largest oil refineries. State Oil – the parent company of Prax Group, which owns the Lindsey refinery in North Lincolnshire – collapsed into administration last month, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. Michael Shanks pledged to support the workers who are facing redundancy, but said there is little action the Government can take to improve the statutory redundancy offer. Speaking in the Commons, he said: 'We have worked urgently to ensure the safety of the refinery site, the security of fuel supplies and to protect workers. 'This has also allowed time for bidders to express an interest in the site. 'Following a thorough process, the official receiver has rigorously assessed all the bids received and concluded that sale of the business as a whole is not a credible option.' He added: 'A package has been offered to all those directly employed at the refinery, which guarantees their jobs and pay over the coming months. 'And alongside the usual support that is offered to workforces in insolvency situations, the Government will also immediately fund a comprehensive training guarantee for those refinery workers to ensure they have the skills needed and the support to find jobs, for example, in the growing clean energy workforce.' The Lindsey site is one of only five large oil refineries remaining in the UK after the recent closure of the Grangemouth plant in Scotland. Prax Group is led by majority owner and chairman and chief executive Sanjeev Kumar Soosaipillai, who bought the Lindsey oil refinery from French firm Total in 2021. Shadow energy minister Andrew Bowie, who tabled the urgent question, claimed 625 jobs are at risk as he pressed the minister for an update on its investigation into the collapse of the company. He also asked: 'What, if any, assessment has been made into the UK's resilience given the steep reduction in our refining capacity over the past six months? 'What, if any, assessment has been made on the increased reliance on imports that will be necessary as a result of the reduction in British refining capacity?' Mr Shanks said fuel supplies had 'adjusted' in the past few weeks, adding: 'Our assessment suggests there isn't an immediate risk to fuel supplies locally or in the wider area, but we'll continue to monitor that.' On the investigation, he said: 'There is not much I can update the House on at the moment, because the insolvency service is carrying out that investigation.' Conservative MP Martin Vickers, whose Brigg and Immingham constituency includes the oil refinery, said he wanted to see 'the maximum support given to those workers'. Mr Shanks replied: 'We have looked and pushed and pushed to see if there is more action Government can take to change or to give any additional payments. 'It's not possible for Government to do that, not least because the insolvency service has to follow very specific rules in terms of creditors and what their parameters are to operate in the event of an insolvency. 'But I do think the owners of this company have profited from this business, and they should do the right thing by the workforce that delivered that for them.'
