More than 100 world leaders representing over 85% of the world's forests say they will halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, the U.K. government announced Monday as the COP26 conference continued in Glasgow, Scotland.
Why it matters: Forests are considered a key to addressing the effects of climate change — one-third of global CO2 released from burning fossil fuels is absorbed by forests every year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature — but they're disappearing at an alarming rate.
The building boom for places we go to have fun is over: Spending has slumped since the pandemic hit — and the drop-off isn’t letting up, per data out this morning.
This category is broad: It includes everything from bowling alleys to racetracks to theme parks. But they're all places people gather, typically for hobbies.
Sofar Ocean Technologies, which makes instruments for ocean data collection, has raised $39 million in a Series B syndicate round with Union Square Ventures and the Foundry Group.
Why it matters: Sofar's data could improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and climate monitoring in the world's oceans, which have vast blind spots compared to Earth's land areas.
In the early aughts I wrote thousands of words about Hank Morris, a New York political operative turned private equity placement agent turned convict. But until last night we'd never spoken. And he has some things he wants me, and by extension you, to know.
Driving the news: Morris is about to debut "A Turtle on a Fence Post," a musical comedy that he originally conceived as a one-man show while serving his multi-year prison sentence (the playbill credits Prisoner #11R0731 for the book). Previews began last week, with opening night on Nov. 14 at the off-Broadway Theater 555.
Digital Currency Group, a crypto conglomerate whose holdings include media site CoinDesk and asset manager Grayscale, raised $700 million in secondary funding at a $10 billion valuation led by SoftBank.
Why it matters: DCG is unlike anything else in crypto; an operating and investment firm with exposure to almost every part of the industry. It also differs from its unicorn peers in that it plans to remain private indefinitely.
Jerome Powell takes the stage again Wednesday afternoon for the Federal Open Market Committee’s press conference.
The big picture: There will be details of the upcoming taper, of course (boring!) — but we all want to hear more about the Fed’s evolving views on rate liftoff.
Last week may go down in the Big Tech history books.
Driving the news: Tesla displaced Facebook — which unveiled a new name, Meta Platforms — in the S&P 500’s top five companies by market cap. And Microsoft overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable company, for the first time in over a year.
In the worldwide campaign to prevent runaway inflation, Brazil appears to be losing.
Driving the news: The nation’s central bank just raised its key overnight interest rate by 1.5 percentage points — and expects to do so again in December. That would take it to an eye-popping 9.25%.
Barclays announced Monday that its CEO, Jes Staley, is stepping down after U.K. financial regulators found that he had a commercial relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier who was accused of child sex trafficking.
Driving the news: Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority concluded that Stanley used Epstein to connect with potential clients but did not say Staley saw or was aware of any of Epstein’s alleged crimes.
