ESG News Round-up

BNM gets 250k STRs in 2022

Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) received about 250,000 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) in 2022, representing a nearly 30% increase from the year before, deputy governor Marzunisham Omar said.

He said the top five risk crimes ─ fraud, corruption, smuggling, illicit drug trafficking and organised crimes ─ accounted for about 70% of FIU’s disclosures to law enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs. ─ The Star

IMF sees drought causing Argentina of 2.5% contraction in 2023

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday is now projecting Argentina's economy will contract 2.5% in 2023, with a year-end inflation rate of about 120%, largely due to a crippling drought that has curtailed agricultural production.

The forecast, a steep downgrade from April’s 0.2% growth projection in 2023, stands in stark contrast to a slightly improved outlook for global growth in the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook projections. ─ Reuters

Octopus Energy to invest USD20b in offshore wind

UK-based Octopus Energy’s generation arm, which manages USD7.7b worth of green energy projects globally, said it planned to deploy USD20b of investment into offshore wind by 2030. The investment will go

towards the generation of 12 GW of renewable electricity capacity, enough power for 10m homes, Octopus said. of played by ─ Reutersthat examines the role climate change in extreme

The global energy and technology group first entered the offshore wind farm market last year and has since made five offshore deals, amounting to a total of USD1b. ─ Renewable Energy World

EU Council adopts law to decarbonise maritime sector

The EU Council has approved new legislation, called the FuelEU maritime initiative, to reduce the carbon footprint of the shipping industry.

One of the key measures is the gradual reduction of greenhouse gas intensity in fuels used by the shipping sector, starting with a 2% decrease in 2025, and reaching 80% by 2050. The new rules will apply from 1 January 2025. ─ ESG Investor

Climate change role in July heatwaves 'overwhelming'

Human-induced climate change has played an "absolutely overwhelming" role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept across North America, Europe and China causing forest fires, water shortages and a rise in heat-related hospital admissions this month, according to an assessment by scientists published on Tuesday.

Without human-induced climate change, these events would have been "extremely rare", according to a study by World Weather Attribution, a global team weather.

Source: Kenanga Research - 28 Jul 2023