How Climate Change will drive Geopolitical Risk: And how companies can prepare
Last year was when climate risks become a reality. Major rivers including the Rhine, Po and Yangtze fell to record lows. Heatwaves in China forced many factories to close over the summer. Pakistan suffered a devastating once in a century flooding and extreme heatwaves. Climate change will make extreme weather such as the flooding or…
Where others fear to tread: China and the frontiers of global lithium mining
Global demand for lithium is set to explode thanks to the insatiable demand for electric batteries. A typical electric car battery requires 8 kg of lithium. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that demand for lithium will increase by 40 times from 2020 to 2040. Lithium is the lightest and least dense of all the…
Geopolitics, Climate Change and Energy Transition
Why the next decade will be warmer, more chaotic and conflict ridden What is causing this? Global Rivalry Geopolitical rivalry has already scuppered talks between the two big beasts of emissions – China and USA. US support for Taiwan has angered Beijing so much that it has suspended talks on all climate matters. Special US…
The Geopolitics of Nickel: Energy Transition, Electric Vehicles and Environmental Destruction
“Nickel is the biggest challenge for high-volume, long-range batteries!” Elon Musk Cobalt, lithium and copper have often dominated headlines about electric vehicles and energy transition. But there is another metal, traditionally used to produce stainless steel, which has emerged as a critical element in the energy transition story. Nickel is a key material in the…
Risk and Sustainability in Supply Chains
Investigating how firms can protect and decarbonise the arteries of the global economy Modern Supply chains are both a major source of greenhouse gases and highly exposed to climate risks. Progressively minded companies should critically assess their supply chains and ask two questions: ➡️What are the climate risks inherent their supply chains and how can…
Eyes in Sky: How geospatial finance is transforming our understanding of the earth
🛰️In 1957 Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first satellite, Sputnik into orbit. Since 1957, around 11,000 satellites have been launched into space by an ever expanding list of countries (Nigeria was the latest to start a space program) and private companies. The recent emergence of low cost and orbit “nano-satellites” (those weighing…
Geopolitics of the Clean Energy Transition
How metals and minerals will replace oil & gas as the world’s most valuable resources. Why is the price of lithium soaring this year? ⛏️Why are the US Government backing a potentially highly polluting refining process in Texas and the Pentagon investigating so called biomining to secure supplies of rare earth metals? 📈Why is the demand for…
A Guide to Climate Tech Finance
The news in 2021 has highlighted climate change like never before. Storms and hurricanes wreaked havoc across the US as far north as New York. Floods in Germany and temperature records across the globe were smashed. Public opinion has shifted towards a demand for more action. In Germany the Green Party looks set to play…
Nature’s Fury: How can the world prepare for more natural disasters
The verdant hills of Tizi Ouzou in Northern Eastern Algeria are normally covered in olive trees and scattered with small villages. But in August 2021 the region was engulfed by multiple forest fires which reduced the trees and villages to ashes. The Algerian government were unprepared and despite a large military budget was forced to…
A Guide to Climate Tech: How Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurs Can Build a Zero Carbon World
Tiny brightly coloured microbes live in Yellowstone park’s volcanic springs which can thrive in incredibly hot temperatures up to 235 C. These so called extremophiles are bright yellow, orange, blue and survive and by turning light into energy. Scientists have long been fascinated by their unique habitat and properties. The microbes caught the eye of…
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Merlin Linehan 