Sustainable Switch: French oil workers strike for 16th day

JAKKS Pacific

13/10/2022 13:58

Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
        Hello!
  
    Strikes over pay and the worsening cost-of-living crisis
continued in France’s oil refineries as a standoff between
TotalEnergies and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT)
union entered its 16th day. The industrial unrest spread to
other energy companies this week as France's National Federation
of Mines and Energy (FNME) union said some workers at EDF's
nuclear plants had resumed their strike over salaries.
Elsewhere, freight rail and port workers at South Africa’s
Transnet continued their week-old walkout demanding salaries
keep up with annual inflation, which was 7.6% there in August.
Outside the energy and logistics sectors, workers at ComTS, a
subsidiary of Germany’s Commerzbank were also taking industrial
action over wages.
    The French government told TotalEnergies to raise wages to
try to resolve the dispute. The strikes there have reduced
France's petrol output by more than 60% and left one in three
petrol stations struggling for supplies. "If one knows the
profits which they made ... companies which have the capacity
have a duty to raise wages and Total is one of them," Finance
Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio, adding that the company
had been late to start talks with the CGT trade union.
    French President Emmanuel Macron said it was up to oil
companies and the unions to reach a deal. First talks between
TotalEnergies and CGT leaders on Wednesday failed to end the
stalemate. A union representative told Reuters on Thursday the
strikes affecting four refineries and a storage site in Dunkirk
would continue. France's FNME trade union said that some workers
at EDF's nuclear plants resumed their strike over salaries,
delaying maintenance work on eight reactors. Three of the Cruas
nuclear plant's reactors are affected by the strike, while two
reactors at the Cattenom and Tricastin plants and one Bugey
reactor have had their maintenance delayed, FNME said.
    In South Africa, Transnet said it had raised its wage offer
to 4.5% from 3%-4% previously, with additional 5.3% annual
increases over the next two years. The United National Transport
Union (UNTU) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers
Union (SATAWU), which together represent most Transnet workers,
said they had rejected the offer.
    And last, but certainly not least, the Verdi labour union is
calling for a second round of strikes at a subsidiary of
Germany's Commerzbank in an escalation of a wage dispute,
according to a flier seen by Reuters. The union is calling for
an increase in the minimum wage to 14 euros ($13.59) an hour and
a 1,500-euro energy bonus to be paid this year and next.
Commerzbank said the strike would not have "any significant
impact on operations".
 
        * Talking Points 
    * The use of cheap carbon offsets by companies to meet net
zero
targets could curb their efforts to cut emissions and slow the
delivery of climate goals, Britain’s climate change advisers
said on Thursday.
    * The energy crisis in Europe presents a huge opportunity
for
Australia to export more green energy, the chief financial
officer at Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) said on Thursday.
    * Canada's Competition Bureau has launched an investigation
into
Royal Bank of Canada over allegations that the country's largest
lender had misled customers on its commitments regarding climate
action. The bank called the allegation “unfounded”.
    *         Breakingviews: 
        Exchange-traded fund (ETF) ‘God Bless America’, which
launched on Tuesday under the ticker symbol “YALL,” is promising
to boycott businesses with market capitalizations over $1
billion that speak out on subjects like Georgia’s law that put
some restrictions on voting. Even so its strategy dovetails with
some progressive causes.

        * In Conversation
  
        Ranajoy Basu, partner, and Fausto Giacomet, associate,
at law firm McDermott Will & Emery in London    
    “Establishing a gold standard for financing environmentally
sustainable objectives through the bond markets is no easy
feat. 
    “If the rules are too relaxed, then effectively no gold
standard is created. If the rules are too strict, then it may
hinder the very market it is seeking to develop, which may be
where the European green bond standard (EUGBS) is headed
following some of the recent proposals made by the European
Parliament. 
    “Widely used voluntary standards for green bonds already
exist, such as the standards administered by the International
Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the Climate Bonds
Initiative (CBI). 
    “Whilst the negotiations on the EUGBS continue, the market
standards keep improving: ICMA recently released its latest
version of ‘The Principles’ where it not only updated guidance
and templates relating to the existing green bond principles,
but also made progress on a securitization framework by
introducing new definitions relevant to ESG securitization.
    “As for the EUGBS, whether negotiations can strike a good
balance to establish a robust standard that market participants
are not overly burdened by may determine its successor or
failure as a gold. There is a great opportunity here to get it
right.”
 
        * ESG Lens
  
       * ESG Movers and Shakers 
  
    Ashleigh Antflick has joined Deloitte as a director based in
Sydney, moving over from renewables developer Maoneng. He
started this week in Deloitte’s climate and sustainability team.
Antflick has been director of the finance and risk group at the
renewable energy investment and development company Maoneng
since 2020. He also took up senior positions at various
renewable development companies such as Clean Energy
Derivatives, Elementus Energy and Century Asset Management.
    Brookfield Renewable, has named Yuriy Davidov as a director,
based in Sydney. He was previously a partner at boutique
renewable energy firm Elgar Middleton Infrastructure & Energy
Finance. Initially, he joined the boutique's London office in
2015 and in 2017 relocated to lead the Australian desk.
Previously, Davidov had worked for German bank NordLB from 2010
to 2015 in Germany and Britain, latterly as an associate
director for energy origination in London.
    Capstone Green Energy Corporation, a U.S.-based gas turbine
manufacturer, has appointed Celia Fanning as its chief
accounting officer. Before joining the company, Fanning served
as vice president of finance and accounting at Groundwork Coffee
Holdings from 2018 to 2022. She also served as vice president
finance at textile manufacturer Spencer N. Enterprises, software
firm Sentry Control Systems and toymaker JAKKS Pacific.
    GoGuardian, a U.S.-based education technology company has
hired Dionna Smith as the company's first chief diversity
officer. Smith brings more than 15 years of experience in
diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership, inclusive product
design, and multicultural marketing. Before joining GoGuardian,
Smith served as the global head of diversity, equity, and
inclusion (DEI) at U.S.-based home services platform Thumbtack.
Smith also previously led diverse talent strategies at Delta
Airlines and held multicultural branding, talent and DEI roles
at technology companies including LexisNexis, Cisco Systems and
Fiserv.
 
        * Quote of the Day
  
        “Many of the problems in the news – heat waves, our
reliance on fossil fuels, the cost-of-living crisis – come down
to the failings of investment activity. Investment no longer
serves society, but there is a better way. We are holding our
own feet to the fire, and we invite other asset managers to
step-up and do the same.” 
  
    Alexander Hoare, chair at UK investment firm Snowball
  
        
    
     
    
     * Looking Ahead
  
    * An inaugural leaders' forum of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) gathers to discuss halting the
loss of biodiversity globally on the South Korean island of Jeju
on Oct. 14.
    * Countries from the East Mediterranean and Gas Forum, a
country-based alliance of eastern Mediterranean nations, meet to
discuss the role of the region in EU energy security, and
decarbonisation of the east Mediterranean on Oct. 14.
    * Public development banks including the African Development
Bank,
the European Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency
hold a summit in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to discuss the role
development banks can play in supporting the transformation of
economies and financial systems towards sustainability on Oct.
18.
    * Standard Bank Group and the University of London’s School
of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) host Climate Summit:
Africa’s Transition to Net-Zero, bringing together industry,
investors, government, civil society and leading policymakers
from around Africa on Oct. 18.

        * 
    Oddly Enough
  
    The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has scented a new
opportunity to capitalize on quirky products, launching a
perfume called "Burnt Hair”.  He said he sold 10,000 bottles,
earning a million dollars, in just a few hours.
    "With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business
was inevitable – why did I even fight it for so long!?" Musk
asked on Twitter, where he now describes himself as a perfume
salesman.
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