Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in Germany on Tuesday to mark the opening of the company's new factory near Berlin, its first in Europe.
Why it matters: The plant is Tesla's third major plant — after plants in California and Shanghai — and is expected to eventually build 500,000 electric vehicles a year, per the New York Times.
The SEC’s issuance of proposed climate disclosure rules comes amid a torrent of climate disasters, from floods to heat waves and wildfires.
Why it matters: Each of these events has affected companies' bottom lines. Exhibit A is PG&E, a large public utility that declared bankruptcy in 2019 due to crushing wildfire liabilities. Your investments could be Exhibit B, such as coastal real estate wiped out from sea level rise and more powerful storms.
A tornado outbreak was lashing Texas and Oklahoma overnight, as a severe storm system destroyed buildings and triggered tornado warnings across at least two states.
Threat level: Some 22 million people were under threat from the spring storm system in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, per NBC News. It "will bring threats of tornadoes and flooding across the Southern U.S. today into Tuesday," per the National Weather Service.
Actor and climate tech investor Robert Downey Jr. stirred controversy last week when he tweeted that “the technologies that suck carbon out of the air and capture it" are as equally important in global efforts to halt global warming, as "building new renewable energy."
Why it matters: To climate tech investors (and scientists), the topic is more nuanced, with the debate focused on the optimal scale and prioritization of carbon removal and capture as a tool to fight climate change.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-1 Monday to propose regulations that, for the first time, require companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions as well as their exposure to climate change risks.
Why it matters: The rule is meant to give companies more certainty about how they need to incorporate climate change into their financial reporting, but it contains gaps that may allow big emitters to obscure their complete carbon footprint.
In a major speech Monday morning, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine could set back the climate agenda and spark a global food crisis.
Driving the news: Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, and food prices are rising around the world as supplies are cut off.
The U.S. on Monday is poised to take a big step toward requiring that publicly traded companies disclose their climate risk exposure.
Driving the news: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to take up the proposed rule Monday morning. The rule, which has been under discussion since last year, aims to provide some clarity for investors by enabling them to determine the climate risks lurking in their portfolio.
At least two firefighters in central Texas were injured battling growing wildfires that forced more communities to evacuate Sunday, officials said, per the New York Times.
The big picture: The Eastland Complex Fire, a group of blazes in and around Eastland County, west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has killed a sheriff's deputy who was helping people escape and has razed scores of homes, per the NYT.
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