Green Markets - January 23, 2025

Jan 24, 2025

Green Markets is a daily series dedicated to highlighting events of interest that could impact investments within environmental markets.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has pledged to fund the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) after former U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in 2017.

Woodside Energy has unveiled plans to integrate a carbon capture and storage (CCS) system into its Browse gas megaproject off Western Australia’s coast. The system aims to capture and store millions of tonnes of CO2 produced during gas extraction, potentially reducing the project’s Scope 1 emissions by 47%, or around 53 million tonnes. The Browse project involves developing three gas fields and constructing two floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units, producing 11.4 million tonnes per year of LNG, LPG, and domestic gas.

Related Stock List(s): Carbon Capture Stocks

Microsoft has partnered with Re.green to secure 3.5 million carbon credits over 25 years, aiming to offset the growing emissions from its expanding AI infrastructure and data centers. As AI's energy demands soar, Microsoft’s carbon emissions have risen by nearly 30% since 2020, prompting a reliance on carbon credits and renewable energy to meet its carbon-negative goal by 2030.

Related Stock List(s): Carbon Credit Stocks

Italy is set to finalize legislation by the end of 2027 to restart nuclear power generation. Led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the country plans to adopt small modular reactors (SMRs), which are cost-effective, quick to build, and adaptable to smaller sites. Italy is also in talks with international companies like Westinghouse and EDF to cooperate on building these advanced reactors.

The Trump administration has imposed a 60-day freeze on the approval of wind and solar projects on federal lands and waters. This halt includes leases, rights of way, and other authorizations, and follows a similar move by the Biden administration, which targeted fossil fuel projects. Renewable energy advocates criticized the freeze, arguing it could hinder energy development and fail to meet growing electricity demand.

President Trump has withdrawn a Biden-era plan to impose stricter limits on PFAS chemical discharge into drinking water, delaying efforts by state regulators to monitor and treat these harmful "forever chemicals." Environmental advocates, including Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, have called the decision a "tragic setback," warning it signals leniency to industries and shifts the financial burden of water filtration onto the public.

Related Stock List(s): Water Stocks

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has raised €172 million ($179 million) for its BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, surpassing its initial target. The fund, launched in 2021 in partnership with Bertrand Picard’s Solar Impulse Foundation, focuses on cleantech startups in sectors like energy transition, sustainable agriculture, and circular economy.

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