Latest news with #environmentaldata
Reuters
12-06-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Racing sailors to double as ocean scientists in European waters
June 12 (Reuters) - Every yacht in this summer's Ocean Race Europe will double as a floating laboratory, gathering vital ocean data as crews battle their way between seven iconic European ports, organisers say. The fleet will gather measurements on water temperature, salinity, oxygen, CO2 levels, microplastics and environmental DNA during the offshore competition from August 10 to September 20. Some teams will deploy drifter buoys designed to transmit meteorological information for years afterward. "We know conditions in our ocean are changing rapidly but scientists need more data to better understand what is happening, the pace of change and how this impacts ocean health," said Lucy Hunt, Ocean Impact Director of The Ocean Race and a marine biologist. "Due to the vastness of the ocean, reliable data is very sparse, and there are many areas that are undersampled." The race begins in Kiel, Germany and visits Portsmouth, Porto, Cartagena, Nice, Genova, and Montenegro's Boka Bay. Organisers report that the 2023 around-the-world race generated more than 4 million data points for researchers. "By putting different configurations of The Ocean Race Science Instruments on different race boats we can broaden the scope of the data we collect," said Stefan Raimund, Scientific Advisor to The Ocean Race. The Ocean Race Europe is a multi-stage offshore sailing competition organised by the same group behind the round-the-world Ocean Race. It features top-tier IMOCA 60 and VO65 yachts crewed by mixed-gender teams. The IMOCA 60 and VO65 are elite ocean racing yachts at the heart of major offshore events. The 60-foot IMOCA is a foiling, carbon-fibre monohull designed for solo or short-handed races, while the 65-foot VO65 is a one-design yacht used in fully crewed races like The Ocean Race.
Forbes
30-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Green Fintech's Data Dividend: How APIs, ESG-Linked Trade And 'Kilowatt Tokens' Turn Sustainability Data Into Cash Flow
Money used to move after a tree was planted or a turbine spun. Now the proof that a tonne was avoided, a supplier hit its target, or a kilowatt came from wind is itself a monetisable asset. Over the past twelve months three fast-maturing tools including carbon-accounting APIs, sustainability-linked trade-finance rails and blockchain energy tokens, have shown just how quickly environmental data can translate into basis-points and working-capital savings. Open your Tide UK business app and every purchase carries a CO₂ estimate thanks to a plug-and-play feed from London start-up Connect Earth; the same API went live this February in Colombia Fintech's sandbox to seed 'transactional carbon accounting' across Latin America (Connect Earth blog, Feb 2025). Enterprise platforms are racing the same way: in May 2025 Watershed open-sourced its emissions-factor library, betting free data would funnel more corporates into its paid analytics stack (Watershed release). Regulators are effectively underwriting the market. In April 2025, Canada's securities watchdogs paused mandatory Scope-3 filings until 'credible primary datasets' are widely available, pushing issuers toward off-the-shelf carbon feeds rather than spreadsheets (Canadian Securities Administrators notice). Meanwhile the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) has started accrediting SaaS providers, Watershed in the US, Persefoni in Europe, Pantas in Southeast Asia, so banks can drop API numbers straight into financed-emissions ledgers (PCAF partners list, 2025). Data is already shaving basis-points off container finance. In August 2024 Santander Brazil launched a R$50 million (≈ US$8.3 million) sustainability-linked supply-chain line for Vestas: suppliers uploading audited emissions and earning at least a 'bronze' EcoVadis rating pay up to 70 bp less for early-payment financing (Santander CIB post). Global Finance judged it 2025's 'Best Sustainable Supply-Chain Finance Program' (Global Finance Awards 2025). Fintechs are scaling the model. TradeSun's CoriolisESG now pipes satellite-verified deforestation and factory-level CO₂ data into bank trade-origination screens, auto-scoring shipments before a letter-of-credit is approved (Fintech Times, Nov 2024). And in October 2024 the European Investment Bank earmarked €5 billion to purchase short-term trade assets that meet verifiable green criteria (EIB press release). Treasurers have noticed. An auto-parts supplier in Thailand that trims emissions intensity by 10% under Vestas's programme can cut 50–70 bp off funding costs, sometimes the difference between accepting or rejecting a purchase order. Carbon data, in effect, is becoming collateral. While banks tokenise emissions, energy markets are tokenising the electrons themselves. In January 2025 Australia's Power Ledger began national roll-out of its peer-to-peer rooftop-solar marketplace after pilots delivered household tariffs 43% below retail rates and community savings of 6–12% a year (Power Ledger case study). Southern Europe is seeing similar moves: in March 2025 Spain's utility Acciona and partner Galp expanded GreenH2chain®, a blockchain registry that tags every megawatt of green hydrogen with a provenance certificate accepted by Iberian grid operators (Acciona news). Analysts at Global Market Insights reckon the blockchain-in-power vertical hit US $2.1 billion in 2024 and is compounding at 41% a year through 2034 as kilowatt tokens, hourly renewable-energy certificates and on-chain heat-pump credits go mainstream (GMI report, July 2024). Corporates are already arbitraging: an Asian data-centre operator buys hourly matched solar tokens to prove Scope 2 compliance under Europe's CSRD, then retires them against local tariffs when prices spike. Two macro forces explain the land-grab. First, disclosure mandates: Europe's CSRD and the new ISSB baseline will force more than 50,000 companies to publish audited Scope 1-3 data by 2027, turning API pipelines into audit-cost insurance (European Commission CSRD overview, June 2024). Second, capital costs: Moody's expects sustainable-bond issuance to hold the US $1 trillion line in 2025 even as conventional high-yield shrinks, keeping cheap money fenced behind verifiable ESG metrics (Moody's ESG Outlook 2025). The payoff is real. Santander reports lower risk weights on ESG-verified trade paper, freeing capital; Vestas says suppliers in Brazil shaved 80 bp off financing costs; Power Ledger users earn 18–37% more for excess solar than under feed-in tariffs. Where data drives margin, bad data drives fines. In January 2025 the UK's Financial Conduct Authority hit a fund manager with a £5.6 million penalty for 'unsubstantiated sustainable-investment claims,' the regulator's largest greenwashing fine to date (FCA enforcement notice). Energy tokens face other pitfalls: certificate double-spending, grid congestion when real-time settlement outpaces physical delivery, and speculative swings that could mimic the 2022 crypto rout if oversight lags. McKinsey pegs global cross-border payment friction at roughly US $150 billion a year. Strip out even a slice by embedding tamper-proof sustainability data and treasurers unlock an entirely new spread. Carbon APIs, ESG-scored invoices and kilowatt tokens prove environmental metadata is no longer a cost centre; it is tradable collateral and pricing power. The winners will be the fintechs and banks that wire sensor feeds straight into ledgers. Everyone else will be stuck paying carbon-era information rent.
Bloomberg
09-05-2025
- Climate
- Bloomberg
Why Trump's Plan to Stop Tallying Weather Losses Matters to the Insurance Industry
NOAA's billion-dollar disaster list provides a crucial metric for tracking rising damages tied to climate change and development. By and Brian K Sullivan Save Extreme weather is an increasingly expensive problem in the US. Last year, fires, droughts and storms caused more than $182 billion in damages — but going forward, the federal government won't be keeping track. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, announced Thursday it will 'retire' its popular database of climate and weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage, a move that follows the Trump administration's efforts to scrub environmental data across the federal government.
