Economic loss from extreme weather fell in 1H: Swiss Re

Spanish Market: Emissions
11/08/26

Global economic losses from extreme weather events in the first half of the year were 10pc lower than the 10-year average, but this "masks rising natural catastrophe risk", Swiss reinsurance firm Swiss Re said today.

Economic losses globally from natural catastrophes, such as storms and wildfires, stood at $100bn in the first half, down by 34pc on the year, and 16pc lower than the 10-year average, Swiss Re data show. Global insured losses from natural catastrophes were $42bn, the lowest for the first half since 2020, the company said. Insured losses in January-June were less than half of those in the same period of 2025, which were driven by wildfires and severe storms in the US, including wildfires in California in January.

But "a less costly first half of the year does not mean the risk has gone away", Swiss Re head of catastrophe perils Balz Grollimund said. "Europe's recent wildfires highlight how hotter and drier conditions are making large wildfires more likely and, with more homes, businesses and infrastructure built in risk-exposed areas, also more costly", he added.

Wildfires had by 10 August burnt almost 543,000 hectares in the EU, nearly treble the long-term average, European Commission data show.

The recent record heat in much of Europe "created an environment more conducive to wildfires", Swiss Re said. Although wildfires have only incurred a relatively small share of insured losses in Europe to date, it is the "fastest-growing weather peril globally", Swiss Re said. Its research estimates that insured losses from wildfires in Europe have increased by 8-11pc annually in real terms since 1970.

Western Europe experienced its hottest July on record, data from EU earth-monitoring programme Copernicus show. The extreme heat and widespread drought has pressured the bloc's power systems and disrupted deliveries made by river. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating twice as quickly as the global average since the 1980s.

"Strengthening resilience and reducing underlying risk will… be increasingly important in maintaining the affordability and availability of insurance", Swiss Re said.

By Georgia Gratton

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10/08/26

US Senate starts recess without permitting deal

Washington, 10 August (Argus) — The US Senate left town on Saturday for a five-week summer break without finishing its work on a bipartisan infrastructure permitting bill, complicating the path to enacting the legislation this year. Getting the bill done before the August recess was the "best chance" for it to become law, Senate Environment Committee chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) said in June. But on 8 August, the Senate recessed after voting 90-6 for a funding bill that would avoid a shutdown in seven weeks. Senate negotiators have yet to release any text of the permitting bill, and they only have three weeks in session before the midterm elections on 3 November. Oil and renewable industry officials see an increasing likelihood that any votes on the permitting bill will not take place until after the midterms. If Democrats win control of either chamber, Republicans see slim chances to pass a permitting bill in the lame duck session or the next two years because of friction between Democrats and President Donald Trump. "It's going to be almost a dead issue from my perspective, in terms of thinking that the House is going to be able to do something constructive if the House flips," US senator Alan Armstrong (R-Oklahoma) said on 29 July. Congressional negotiators say they are not giving up on permitting, although they are floating the idea of narrowing the bill's scope to focus on issues with bipartisan agreement. Timing will not be an issue if the final bill has broad enough support among Republicans and Democrats, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) said in a podcast interview POLITICO published on 3 August. He attributed delays with the bill to the Trump administration rather than his Republicans counterparts. "It has been the White House that consistently throws up new challenges, and that just makes it harder for us to sell any product to our caucuses," Heinrich said. Democrats have spent the last year warning the White House that taking further steps to undermine wind and solar development would make it more difficult for them to support a permitting bill, with little apparent success. The administration halted work on offshore wind projects that were under construction until they were blocked in court. The US Department of Defense was recently ordered by a federal judge to restart reviews of wind farms that had been frozen for a year. A recent proposal by the administration to weaken enforcement of the National Historic Preservation Act was "not helpful" to permitting legislation, Heinrich said. Republicans who are pushing for a permitting deal say it would be short-sighted of Democrats to scuttle a deal just because the administration has been blocking some projects. Armstrong, who was the executive chairman of pipeline company Williams before being appointed to the Senate, said a permitting bill would address the issue Democrats want to resolve. "Our industry's had its toes stepped on plenty of times," Armstrong said on 29 July. "I totally understand the emotions of that, but this is about legislating in a way that we don't have to tolerate that." The White House appears poised to unilaterally make changes to permitting policy even absent any legislation, although oil and renewable industry officials say those changes would not offer the certainty they need to invest billions of dollars in new infrastructure. As early as this month, the administration plans to finalize changes to make it harder for states to block "section 401" water permits for pipelines and to propose new rules for offshore wind permitting, according to a regulatory dashboard. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

New Zealand eyes Australia-aligned CBAM

05/08/26

New Zealand eyes Australia-aligned CBAM

Sydney, 5 August (Argus) — New Zealand might explore a future carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) aligned with Australia in case the Australian government decides to introduce such a scheme, climate change minister Simon Watts said at a conference on 5 August. As part of its upcoming safeguard mechanism review , the Australian government will consider introducing a CBAM that could initially cover imports of cement and clinker and potentially expand to products such as hydrogen, steel and ammonia , as well as derivatives such as urea and ammonium phosphate. Such commodities face risk of future carbon leakage from imports, which could lead to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions being relocated from Australia to overseas, according to the findings of the carbon leakage review published in February. "I would expect that if there was ever any policy change in this area, that would be something that would be in conjunction with Australia," Watts told delegates at the Carbon Forestry 2026 conference in Rotorua on 5 August. The New Zealand government has been "actively monitoring" policy developments in the area and remains "open-minded", Watts said. "I think it's probably going to be something that will come later next year, looking where the Australians are," he added. Watts was responding to a question on whether a CBAM would be a better approach than government support to specific industries, as it did with a recent grant of up to NZ$60mn ($35.2mn) for Golden Bay Cement (GBC) to continue cement manufacturing at its Whangarei plant. Operator Fletcher Building was considering closure of the GBC clinker facility in Whangarei in favour of switching to a cheaper import-only model, mainly because of emissions costs. The grant would preserve "a strategically significant domestic capability without creating a precedent for wider support or undermining the integrity of the ETS," the government said. New Zealand emissions unit (NZU) spot prices collapsed in November after the government announced it would decouple the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) unit volumes and price control settings from the country's nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris agreement. Prices reached low NZ$30s/t CO2e early this year but have since recovered , closing at NZ$55.70/t CO2e on 5 August . Apart from Australia, other jurisdictions actively exploring CBAM-style border measures include Canada and the US, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) said in a report in April. "While New Zealand exporters have limited direct exposure to currently planned CBAMs, this could change as these mechanisms spread to more countries, sectors and products," the CCC said. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Australia's AVL partners with Alcoa on vanadium Bess

04/08/26

Australia's AVL partners with Alcoa on vanadium Bess

Sydney, 4 August (Argus) — Developer Australian Vanadium (AVL) and its fully-owned subsidiary VSUN Energy have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a scoping study for a vanadium battery energy storage system (VBess) at aluminium producer Alcoa's alumina refining operations in Western Australia (WA). The study will assess the financial and technical merits of a 400-640MWh vanadium Bess for increasing Alcoa's renewable energy use and reducing its electricity costs during peak demand periods, AVL said on 4 August. The study will also examine "electrolyte supply considerations," which may include sourcing from AVL's 33 MWh/yr vanadium electrolyte plant in Perth, WA. AVL is one of four vanadium developers in WA and is currently conducting a feasibility study for its 11,200 t/yr vanadium pentoxide mine , located 50km south of Meekatharra in WA. The company partnered with Japanese manufacturer Sumitomo Electric to apply for the WA government's A$150mn ($105mn) tender to construct a 500MWh VBess in Kalgoorlie and submitted its stage-two expression of interest on 27 July. Alcoa expands aluminium operations Alcoa announced in June its $4.1bn acquisition of Australian miner South32's bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets across Australia, South Africa and Brazil. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. This includes the 4.4mn t/yr Worsley alumina refinery , which will be added to Alcoa's existing WA alumina portfolio, including the 4.2mn t/yr Pinjarra refinery and the 2.85mn t/yr Wagerup refinery. Alcoa currently operates its WA alumina refineries using natural gas. The company extended a gas supply deal with Woodside for a further 31.1 petajoules (PJ) (830mn m³) over three years from 2027-2030 in June. Alcoa also has a 10-year gas supply deal with US oil firm Chevron for 130PJ starting from 2028. The Australian government will offer A$2bn in low-emissions aluminium production credits from 2028-29 to help smelters transition to renewable energy sources by 2035. South32's Worsley refinery emitted 3.18mn t/yr of scope 1 CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2024-25, making it the third largest non-LNG emitter in Australia, according to Australia's Clean Energy Regulator. Meanwhile, Wagerup and Pinjarra emitted a collective 2.58mn t/yr of scope 1 CO2e in 2024-25. By Daniel Gage-Brown Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US Senate farm bill targets E15, SRE reform

03/08/26

US Senate farm bill targets E15, SRE reform

Houston, 3 August (Argus) — The US Senate is pondering a farm bill that would expand small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending obligations and allow year-round sales of ethanol fuel blends up to 15pc (E15). The bill, also known as Farm Bill 2.0 and introduced by Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) on 31 July, provides a new avenue for advancing provisions from the stalled HR 1346 bill , with some changes. HR 1346 made little progress in the US Senate after passing the US House of Representatives in May , as some lawmakers balked at supporting year-round E15 sales without negotiating broad changes to the RFS, sources familiar with the discussions said. Like HR 1346, the proposed bill would allow year-round sales of fuel blends up to E15, which are currently restricted during the summer to limit ground-level ozone. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has increasingly issued and extended summertime E15 waivers from Clean Air Act regulations in recent years. Both bills would direct the EPA to conduct a rulemaking to modify fuel dispenser labeling and underground storage tank requirements for compatibility with E15 within 18 months of enactment. The biggest difference between the two bills concerns exemptions for small refiners from annual biofuel blending mandates under the RFS. The RFS requires refiners to blend various types of biofuels each year or buy credits, known as renewable identification numbers (RINs), from others that do so to cover their obligations. Refining facilities with a nameplate capacity of no more than 75,000 b/d can request an annual exemption from the EPA if they can show that compliance would cause disproportionate economic hardship. These are referred to as small refinery exemptions (SRE). The EPA decides whether to grant full, partial or no relief. Under the new proposal from the Senate, the EPA would reduce the compliance obligations of any qualifying small refinery by the lesser of two amounts: Its highest actual annual production volume from 2023-25, or its production volume for the calendar year in which the agency applies the reduction. For the former volume, the facility must have petitioned for an extension of its SRE by June 2026 for any of its 2023-25 obligations. If a refinery's actual annual production volume exceeds its highest volume from the 2023-25 period, only the additional amount is subject to RFS obligations. If a refinery no longer qualifies as a small refinery in 2028 or any year after, the EPA cannot grant a waiver from its RFS blending obligations in any subsequent year. The EPA would need to reallocate any RFS obligations exempted from small refineries under these proposed requirements, minus an amount equal to the energy content of 500mn USG of conventional biofuels, based on its estimate of annual exempted fuel when determining program compliance obligations. The agency would start in 2028 then compare its estimate with the actual amount of exempted fuel, with any required adjustment reflected in the next year of obligations. The EPA would also return RINs retired as part of 2016-18 obligations to small refiners that meet certain eligibility requirements, similar to HR 1346. However, HR 1346, in contrast, would have tightened the definition of a small refiner to apply only to companies or entities that did not exceed 75,000 b/d across all facilities in 2025. The EPA would reduce by 75pc RFS obligations for qualifying small refineries starting in 2028, if they did not in 2026 or any other year exceed the 75,000 b/d threshold. The House version of the bill prohibits the EPA from reallocating any exempted volumes onto other RFS participants. The addition of E15 and SRE language is a departure from the initial discussion draft of Farm Bill 2.0 released in June, which contained nothing about either provision. Lawmakers were reluctant to add E15 and SRE provisions into the bill as of last month, citing already narrow support, with Democratic committee members' approval resting on ongoing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) negotiations and the medical absence of senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), sources familiar with discussions around the bill told Argus . It is unclear what changed sentiment, but the committee's Democratic members have not indicated that the newest version of the bill achieves the SNAP changes required for their support to move it out of committee. The current farm bill expires on 30 September. Ethanol-focused industry groups Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association said they plan to continue engaging on the bill. While the American Petroleum Institute (API) had put its support behind the "common sense" House version of SRE amendments, it is now urging Congress to reject the Senate language. "The proposal included in the Senate farm bill fails to deliver that balanced approach, replacing it with flawed provisions that weaken America's fuel supply instead of providing the long-term certainty consumers, farmers, biofuel producers and refiners need," API told Argus . The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee will hold a markup for the bill on 6 August. The Senate will leave for recess on 7 August, while the House is already on recess until 31 August, meaning significant progress will likely not happen until September. By Denise Cathey Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Oman eyes potential 33pc emissions cut over 2024-35

03/08/26

Oman eyes potential 33pc emissions cut over 2024-35

London, 3 August (Argus) — Oman has released a new climate plan, with an absolute emissions reduction target of up to 33pc over 2024-35, depending on the level of international support received. The country's government committed to an unconditional reduction of 7pc in emissions by 2035, from a 2024 baseline, and an additional 26pc reduction over the same timeframe on a conditional basis. National climate plans submitted by developing countries to UN climate body the UNFCCC are often split into unconditional and conditional actions — the latter reliant on external financial or technical support. Oman estimated its total emissions in 2024 at 93.6mn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e). It has changed its approach, now using 2024 as its baseline, rather than using a business-as-usual trajectory. Oman plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The government plans to reduce emissions by expanding renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and managing land and water resources sustainably to maximise carbon sinks. It aims to ramp up waste-to-energy, address methane from landfill sites and look at "gradual adoption" of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) in heavy industry. The government also flagged green hydrogen as a "major diversification pathway". Oman has a green hydrogen production target of at least 1mn t/yr by 2030 and up to 8.5mn t/yr by 2050, according to the plan. But for the time being, Oman's economy "remains heavily dependent on oil and gas exports", the plan noted. The country has a "clear direction toward economic diversification", it said. The government plans to reduce the oil sector's share of GDP to 16pc by 2030 and 8.4pc by 2040. "Oil activities" accounted for 32pc of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the country's foreign ministry. Oman, a member of the Opec+ group, produced 923,500 b/d of crude in June . Oman's new plan also set out the estimated investment needed to reach its emission reduction targets — a total of $31bn over 2026-35 to abate 30.4mn t/yr of CO2e across energy, industry, waste and agriculture. Much of the plan also focuses on adaptation — adjusting to the effects of climate change where possible. Water stress and availability is a key area for Oman, and the plan notes a "clear warming trend" in the country — its mean temperature increased by around 0.4°C per decade between 1980 and 2013. The plan is Oman's third nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris climate agreement. Signatories to the Paris agreement are required to submit NDCs every five years, rising in ambition each time. While countries reach decisions at Cops, the NDCs are the chief route for the implementation of climate action. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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