Latest news with #economicloss
The Herald
4 days ago
- General
- The Herald
World risks R700-trillion in economic losses from vanishing wetlands: report
The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of $39-trillion (R698.8-trillion) in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released on Tuesday. About 22% of wetlands, freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of loss of any ecosystem. Pressures including land-use change, pollution, agricultural expansion, invasive species and the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels and drought, are driving the declines. "The scale of loss and degradation is beyond what we can afford to ignore," said Hugh Robertson, lead author of the report. The report called for annual investments of $275bn (R4.9-trillion) to $550bn (R9.8-trillion) to reverse the threats to the remaining wetlands, and said spending was a "substantial under-investment" without giving figures. The world has lost 411-million hectares of wetlands, the equivalent of half a billion football pitches, and a quarter of the remaining wetlands are classified as in a state of degradation, according to the report.
Al Arabiya
11-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Wind turbine maker to pay settlement after blade broke apart and washed up on nantucket beaches
The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on beaches for months has agreed to a $10.5 million settlement to pay local businesses for their economic losses, officials said Friday. Fiberglass fragments of the blade began washing ashore last summer during the peak of tourist season after pieces of the wind turbine at the Vineyard Wind project began falling into the Atlantic Ocean in July 2024. GE Vernova, which agreed to the settlement, blamed a manufacturing problem at one of its factories in Canada and said there was no indication of a design flaw. It reinspected all blades made at the factory and removed other blades made there from the Vineyard Wind location. Crews in boats and on beaches, along with volunteers, collected truckloads of debris. The company said the debris was nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that the pieces were one square foot or smaller. The settlement calls for establishing a fund, along with a process to evaluate claims from businesses and distribute payments, Nantucket officials said. The development's massive wind turbines, with blades more than 328 feet (100 meters) long, began sending electricity to the grid at the beginning of 2024.
Washington Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Wind turbine maker to pay settlement after blade broke apart and washed up on Nantucket beaches
NANTUCKET, Mass. — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on beaches for months has agreed to a $10.5 million settlement to pay local businesses for their economic losses, officials said Friday. Fiberglass fragments of the blade began washing ashore last summer during the peak of tourist season after pieces of the wind turbine at the Vineyard Wind project began falling into the Atlantic Ocean in July 2024.
Associated Press
11-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Wind turbine maker to pay settlement after blade broke apart and washed up on Nantucket beaches
NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on beaches for months has agreed to a $10.5 million settlement to pay local businesses for their economic losses, officials said Friday. Fiberglass fragments of the blade began washing ashore last summer during the peak of tourist season after pieces of the wind turbine at the Vineyard Wind project began falling into the Atlantic Ocean in July 2024. GE Vernova, which agreed to the settlement, blamed a manufacturing problem at one of its factories in Canada and said there was no indication of a design flaw. It reinspected all blades made at the factory and removed other blades made there from the Vineyard Wind location. Crews in boats and on beaches, along with volunteers, collected truckloads of debris. The company said the debris was nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that the pieces were one square foot or smaller. The settlement calls for establishing a fund along with a process to evaluate claims from businesses and distribute payments, Nantucket officials said. The development's massive wind turbines with blades more than 328 feet (100 meters) long began sending electricity to the grid at the beginning of 2024.
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Canadian Tourism To U.S. Down 33% In June—Billions In Losses
Last month saw one-third fewer Canadians visiting the U.S. by car compared to June 2024—as Canada propels international tourism declines to an expected overall economic loss of $29 billion in 2025. One third fewer Canadians traveled to the US by car in June, cementing ar huge economic loss for ... More American tourism industry. getty The volume of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the means by which most Canadians visit—dropped by 33% last month compared to June 2024, according to new data from Statistics Canada, following a 38% drop in May. There was also a 22% decline in air travelers from Canada was the sixth consecutive month of steep declines in inbound Canadian travel, including double-digit year-over-year drops in car travel and air travel to the U.S. every month since April. Travel in the other direction is also down, as fewer Americans traveled to Canada in June compared to last year, with car travel down 10% last month—down slightly from an 8% drop in May, per Statistics Canada data. Last year, Canadian tourists made up roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers who came to the United States, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), collectively spend $20.5 billion in 2024—nearly double the $10.4 billion Americans spent at McDonald's over the same period. The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) warned in February that even a 10% drop in Canadian inbound tourism could translate to a $2.1 billion in lost spending and 140,000 jobs jeopardized in the hospitality and related sectors—and the new data suggest those losses will be exponentially larger. In early February, when President Donald Trump began talking about tariffs and started referring to Canada as 'the 51st state,' then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians not to spend vacation dollars in the U.S., and he repeated that call to action until he left office in April. Three-quarters of Canadians who had previously planned a trip to the U.S. say the tariff announcements influenced their plans. Over half (56%) of those who had been planning to visit the U.S. have since decided to travel elsewhere, according to a survey by Leger Marketing of over 1,500 Canadian adults fielded mid-May. Ongoing headlines in multiple news outlets of more than 50 Canadian tourists being detained at the U.S. border have driven Charlie Angus, a recently retired minister in Canada's House of Commons, to call for his government to 'do the right thing and issue a travel warning to any Canadian about the threats they might face from the United States government?' and calling the U.S. 'a nation that has no respect for individual rights or the rule of law.' U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment, instead directing Forbes to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). What About International Tourists From Other Countries? The U.S. is looking at a significant 9% drop in U.S. international arrivals for 2025, and a drop of $8.5 billion (-4.7%) in international visitor spending relative to last year, according to the latest forecast from Tourism Economics, a nonpartisan Oxford Economics company tracking tourism statistics. But the true damage is actually twice as 'catastrophic' because 2025 was supposed to be a big growth year for international tourism, Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, previously told Forbes. The U.S. was projected to see a $16.3 billion increase in tourism revenue from international markets and now is facing losses of up to $12.5 billion—for a combined forecasted loss of up to $29 billion. Further Reading U.S. Tourism Will Lose Up To $29 Billion As Visitors Plummet Amid Trump Policies (Forbes) U.S. Now 'Flyover' Country For Canadians—Who Are Traveling To Mexico, Caribbean Instead (Forbes)
