The UK is on the brink of a fiscal crisis as Rachel Reeves has left a £40 billion gaping hole in public finances. A leading economic think tank is now warning that the Chancellor must resort to “moderate but sustained” tax rises to help repair Britain’s battered economy. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has pointed to U-turns on welfare cuts, high borrowing and weak economic activity for creating a “worsening fiscal outlook”.Ms Reeves is now set for a £41.2 billion shortfall on her “stability rule” in 2029-30 – this ensures that day-to-day spending is matched by…
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By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist Wall Street bucked the positive global equity trend and closed mostly lower on Tuesday, as U.S. service sector data rekindled stagflation fears and shined a light on the difficult position the Federal Reserve may find itself in next month. More on that below. In my column today I look at the tumult of the last few days that has seen the worlds of U.S. politics, policy, and company earnings collide, exposing the big divergences that run through the country’s…
The gender pension gap has been almost completely eliminated when it comes to the state pensions of people retiring today, according to new data.A reply from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to a Freedom of Information request, made by the former pensions minister Steve Webb, said “the amounts [of new state pension] for men and women are on course to be equal very shortly”.For the most recent group of retirees for which figures are available (those reaching state pension age in the year to November 2024), the gap between what men and women receive from the new state…
Dozens of carbon project developers are calling for major reforms to the complaints procedures used by registries in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), Reuters reported on Monday.They argue that the current systems unfairly damage the credibility of legitimate projects and delay essential climate funding.The VCM allows companies to offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits. However, it has faced increasing criticism from environmental groups, who claim many of these credits are “junk” and enable corporate “greenwashing.”The Project Developer Forum (PD Forum), representing over 60 carbon initiatives globally—from Kenya to Singapore, says the current complaints process lacks fairness, since projects are…
The U.S. residential solar market is uncertain. Its long-term potential is huge, exceeding current U.S. power generation capacity. However, recent policy changes threaten short-term growth. Wood Mackenzie’s analysis, “Near-term challenges but long-term potential: evaluating the US residential solar addressable market,” shows how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) affects homeowners and solar developers. The main concern is the removal of the Section 25D Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for customer-owned systems starting in 2026. The U.S. Residential Solar Stumbles in Tough Climate According to the SEIA Q2 solar report, residential solar installations fell sharply in Q1 2025. Homeowners installed 1,106…
CHAMBERSBURG – The Franklin County Commissioners are keeping a close eye on the ticking clock with the Pennsylvania budget – or lack thereof. Franklin County has enough reserves to continue to function, but it does affect the bond rating. Franklin County Commissioner John Flannery said, “We keep an eye out. It’s got to happen. I mean, these guys have got to get it done. At the end of the day, we’ve done our due diligence, and we keep a certain amount of liquid funds in accounts that we’re moving all the time. The bottom line is, for Franklin County, we…
Data centers are usually built with carbon-heavy materials like concrete and steel. However, cement and steel production together contribute to about 15% of global carbon emissions. That makes them key targets for climate action. To reduce this impact, Facebook owner Meta announced that it is turning to mass timber. So what’s mass timber? It’s a strong, engineered wood that has a much lower carbon footprint. Unlike steel and concrete, mass timber stores carbon absorbed by trees during their growth. From Steel to Timber: Meta’s Smart Shift in Construction Materials Meta is rapidly expanding its global infrastructure. But with growth comes…
Skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex discovered at Murray Ranch, Montana, U.S. Credit: Naturalis Biodiversity Center A previously unexploited source of information is now throwing new light on Earth’s climate during the age of dinosaurs. Fossilized dinosaur teeth show that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the Mesozoic Era, i.e., 252 to 66 million years ago, were far higher than they are today. This has been determined by researchers at the universities in Göttingen, Mainz, and Bochum following the analysis of oxygen isotopes in the dental enamel of dinosaur teeth. The scientists used a new innovative method to detect…
DevvStream Holdings Inc., a publicly traded carbon management and technology company, has taken a bold step into the world of digital assets. The company announced it will use $10 million from its first financing round to buy digital currencies like Bitcoin and Solana. This strategy helps DevvStream’s long-term goal. It aims to use blockchain tech to digitize and grow the global carbon credit market. The funds come from the first tranche of a much larger $300 million convertible note facility, provided by Helena Partners. DevvStream plans to speed up the growth of tokenized carbon credit systems. They will do this…
Image source: Getty Images Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) shares were on the front foot yet again this morning (5 August), jumping 8% in early trading. This followed the release of the Mexico-based silver and gold miner’s latest set of half-year figures. Profit explodes! Let’s run down those headline numbers. Adjusted revenues came in 27.1% higher at $1.98bn. This was mostly down to the company benefitting from higher precious metal prices, even though lower amounts of the latter were sold. On top of this, production costs fell a little over 20% to $673.5m, due in part to foreign exchange movements. Efforts to…