Biodiversity Catastrophe

• [New] After falling by 2% last year, natural gas production will fall by another 2% in 2021, per EIA's forecast.
• [New] 2021 will see the next generation of cloud collaboration tools, armed with internal social networking and resource management, heighten the employee experience and ensure workers feel included.
• [New] The COP is regarded as one of the most important to date, as world leaders will agree on biodiversity targets through to 2030, after all nations failed to meet the previous Aichi biodiversity targets.
• [New] The latest climate models show greater future warming than previously predicted, even if society tracks the needed lower-emissions pathway over the coming decades.
• [New] Organic and naturally healthy food: Organic food, a staple in many households, will likely keep growing; Morgan Stanley forecasts 6% growth per year between 2020 and 2030.
• [New] Under the HF Ban scenario, the U.S. is expected to, once again, be a net importer of natural gas starting in 2025 given the reduced supply.
• [New] EIA forecast additions of 15 GW of solar photovoltaic generating capacity in 2021, buoyed by declining prices for PAV modules and increasing prices for natural gas.
• [New] EIA forecasts that annual average wholesale prices in New England will rise 43% in 2021 primarily as a result of expected colder winter weather that contributes to rising natural gas prices.
• [New] EIA forecasts that 2022 will be the first year that more natural gas is exported from the United States as liquefied natural gas rather than by pipeline.
• [New] The 2.5% decline in gas consumption in 2019 and expected declines through 2022 are primarily related to rising natural gas prices that make natural gas less economic for generating electricity.
• [New] 50 countries had joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which was launched in 2019 by Costa Rica, France and Britain to set a target of protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030.
• [New] Nearly 80% of oil and natural gas professionals feel less secure in their jobs than they did pre-pandemic, but nearly two-thirds expect advances in engineering may open up opportunities in the next three years.
• [New] Britain's Prince Charles launched an urgent appeal to private sector leaders to join a new investment alliance targeting $US10 billion ($13 billion) by 2022 to finance nature-based solutions.
• [New] In the next five years, the world will witness third-generation semiconductor materials spring up in areas such as 5G base stations, new energy vehicles, ultra-high-voltage power grids, and data centers.
• [New] California has already mandated that all new vehicles be carbon free by 2035 and its entire power grid be carbon free by 2045.
• [New] Global natural gas production is expected to grow by 24% to 4,857 Bcm in 2040, with most additions coming from North America, followed by Russia and the Middle East.
• [New] In 2021 Hyundai Motor Group will concentrate efforts to become a global electric vehicle powerhouse by launching dedicated electric vehicles built on the E-GMP, including Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5, Kia's crossover electric vehicle, and Genesis luxury brand's crossover electric vehicles.
• [New] Projections on natural gas demand in Africa show a gradual increase over the next 20 years with global peak gas only expected towards 2035-2040.
• [New] Deep-sea mining could generate up to $20 billion in annual revenue for Norway towards 2050 - compared to around $61 billion from oil and gas in 2019 - and create about 20,000 jobs.
• [New] The National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office will be integral to the federal government's AI efforts for many years to come, serving as a central hub for national AI research and policy for the entire U.S. innovation ecosystem.
• [New] Boris Johnson's Ten Point Plan for the green recovery included a £525m pot to support smaller projects - a proportion of which is expected to go towards Rolls-Royce's 16 mini reactors.
• [New] To reverse the loss of biodiversity, any agreement secured in China later in 2021 will need to be met with more ambitious policy actions.

Last updated: 19 January 2021