Category: Environment

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Ministry of Coal Organizes Roadshow on Opportunities in the Coal Sector & Commercial Coal Mine Auctions in Kolkata

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 2:58PM by PIB Delhi

    The Ministry of Coal successfully organized a Roadshow on ‘Opportunities in the Coal Sector & Commercial Coal Mine Auctions’ at Kolkata today. Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Shri Vikram Dev Dutt was the chief guest and graced the occasion accompanied by Ms. Rupinder Brar, Additional Secretary and Nominated Authority Ministry of Coal, reinforcing the Ministry’s commitment to supporting stakeholders. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation from industry leaders, investors, and stakeholders, showcasing the Government’s commitment to transforming the coal sector through progressive reforms and transparent policies.

    In her welcome addresses Ms. Rupinder Brar, Additional Secretary and Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal reassured investors of the Ministry’s commitment to supporting them throughout the investment process. She emphasized the streamlined clearance processes and continuous enhancements to the ease of doing business in the sector. Ms. Brar stated that the Ministry is dedicated to ensuring a seamless investment journey for all stakeholders, backed by a transparent regulatory framework and accelerated project approvals. She also highlighted the Government of India’s progressive policies promoting coal gasification and underground mining to diversify coal utilization methods, reduce environmental impact, and enhance mining efficiency. She reiterated the Ministry’s unwavering commitment to good governance, maintaining the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and transparency, while being open to dialogue, feedback, and collaboration with stakeholders.

    In his keynote address, Secretary, Ministry of Coal Shri Vikram Dev Dutt emphasized the Ministry’s vision to unlock the untapped potential of India’s coal resources. He highlighted how ongoing reforms are fostering sustainable growth and delivering mutual benefits to all stakeholders, ensuring that India’s coal sector remains a strong driver of economic growth and energy security. Shri Dutt also mentioned the Ministry’s active coordination with various State Governments and various Ministries, including the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to expedite early clearances and enhance logistical support through Ministry of Railways. Secretary, emphasized that underground mining will have its place in upcoming auctions, offering a sustainable and efficient approach to coal extraction while minimizing environmental impact.

    He urged private players to not just invest in mining but also contribute meaningfully to the communities they operate in. He emphasized that the industry owes much to society and should strive to set new benchmarks in afforestation, restoration, and welfare initiatives. “Our growth must be inclusive, and our progress must leave a lasting, positive impact on both people and the planet,” he affirmed.          

    The Roadshow featured comprehensive presentations on the upcoming commercial coal mine auctions, offering insights into investment prospects and policy frameworks. It also provided a platform for investors to engage with key decision-makers, explore new business avenues, and gain a deeper understanding of India’s evolving coal sector landscape.

    The event also served as an interactive platform for stakeholders, including industry leaders, potential investors, mining experts, and policymakers, to exchange insights and explore collaborative opportunities. Stakeholders were able to gain clarity on the auction process, better understand regulatory frameworks, and learn about investment incentives. This engagement reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to creating an investor-friendly ecosystem, ensuring stakeholders can capitalize on the growing opportunities within the coal sector and contribute to India’s energy security and sustainable growth.

    The Roadshow in Kolkata marks a significant milestone in the Ministry of Coal’s efforts to unlock new avenues for investment and foster growth in India’s coal sector, further reinforcing the country’s position as a global leader in coal production.

    ****

    Shuhaib T

    (Release ID: 2104668) Visitor Counter : 81

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Appointments to Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis and its four sub-committees

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Government announced today (February 19) the appointment of non-official members to the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis (ACNM) and its four sub-committees for a new term of two years, from February 10, 2025, to February 9, 2027.
          
         The membership lists of the ACNM and its four sub-committees for the new term are at the Annex. The newly appointed members of the ACNM include Ms Cheng Jie, Mr Lee Shing-put, Mr Sunny Lee Wai-kwong, Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah and Mr Simon Ng Ka-wing, who will also serve on the respective sub-committees under the ACNM. Additionally, Professor Karl Tsim Wah-keung is appointed as a new co-opted member of the Sub-committee on Development of Industries.
          
         The ACNM is chaired by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan. The four sub-committees under the ACNM are the Sub‑committee on Planning, Land and Conservation; the Sub-committee on Development of Industries; the Sub-committee on Transport and Other Infrastructure; and the Sub-committee on Promotion and Public Engagement. The sub-committees aim to conduct in-depth discussions on relevant areas and provide recommendations.
          
         Mr Chan said, “The Northern Metropolis is a crucial component of Hong Kong’s social and economic development. It serves as the carrier of a new engine of economic growth, playing a pivotal role in advancing innovation and technology, deepening integration with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and dovetailing with the overall national development strategy. Also, the Northern Metropolis creates high-quality career opportunities and living environments for the public. The development of the Northern Metropolis has been advancing on all fronts at full speed. The valuable insights provided by the ACNM members are instrumental in our work.” He expressed gratitude to members of the last term for their contributions. He also looks forward to working closely with members of the new term to continue promoting the development of the Northern Metropolis.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Import of poultry meat and products from Auglaize County of State of Ohio in US suspended

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Import of poultry meat and products from Auglaize County of State of Ohio in US suspended
    Import of poultry meat and products from Auglaize County of State of Ohio in US suspended
    *****************************************************************************************

         ​The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (February 19) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Auglaize County of the State of Ohio in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 79 630 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat, and about 19.6 million poultry eggs from the US last year.     “The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

     
    Ends/Wednesday, February 19, 2025Issued at HKT 16:30

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: LCQ22: Planning for former Choi Hung Road Market

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         Following is a question by the Hon Yang Wing-kit and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (February 19):
     
    Question:

         It has been learnt that the Government closed the Choi Hung Road Market in Wong Tai Sin in 2022 to free up the site for other long-term development purposes, but so far the site has not been planned for any use. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (1) whether it has considered revitalising the former Choi Hung Road Market; if so, of the timetable and roadmap;

    (2) whether it will consider opening up the former Choi Hung Road Market to youth groups or non-profit-making district groups in the short term for the creation of music and art spaces as well as cultural and creative markets, so as to optimise the use of idle spaces; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3) whether it will, in the long run, consider converting the former Choi Hung Road Market for the provision of dental clinics as well as leisure and cultural services facilities (e.g. libraries and study rooms) to cater for the needs of local residents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

    Reply:

    President,
         
         With regard to the overall planning of the Choi Hung Road (CHR) Playground, the CHR Sports Centre and the former CHR Market site, the Energizing Kowloon East Office (the Office) of the Development Bureau commenced the study and planning work in collaboration with relevant government departments including the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Planning Department and the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD). The objective is to improve the recreational and sports facilities and integrate other uses under the principle of “single site, multiple use” to make better use of land resources and meet societal needs at the same time. After consultation with the relevant policy bureaux and departments, the reply to the questions is as follows:

    (1) and (3) The CHR Playground, the CHR Sports Centre and the former CHR Market are located in San Po Kong with a total site area of about 4.5 hectares. Taking into account the actual district situation, it is recommended to preserve the playground open space area as far as possible with enhancement to increase its attractiveness and inclusiveness. To gather creative design and ideas, the Office and the ArchSD co-organised the Design Competition for Redevelopment of Open Space at CHR Playground and would consider adopting some of the design ideas and concepts of the winning entry for the design of the redevelopment project. As for the CHR Sports Centre and the former market part, taking into account the advice from relevant policy bureaux and departments, it is proposed to develop a new integrated government complex under the principle of “single site, multiple use” to reprovision and upgrade the existing recreational and sports facilities and to introduce some new services. The Office consulted the Wong Tai Sin District Council and other members of the local community on the preliminary proposals of the redevelopment project in February 2023 and incorporated the relevant comments. In terms of recreational and sports facilities, under the latest design, the sports centre facilities which will be reprovisioned and upgraded include an indoor multi-purpose arena, badminton courts, a multi-function activity room, a children’s play room, a table tennis room, a dance room and a fitness room, and a new indoor futsal-cum-handball court. The integrated complex will also provide space for welfare facilities (including elderly and child care centres) and set up the Wong Tai Sin District Health Centre as a hub to provide and co-ordinate primary healthcare services of the district. A public vehicle park will be provided in the redevelopment project and the existing San Po Kong Public Library will also be reprovisioned in the integrated complex so as to upgrade the services and facilities of the library. The relevant preliminary studies for the project have been completed. The Office is liaising with concerned departments on details of commencing the relevant town planning procedures to prepare for the project implementation.

    (2) The CHR Playground and the CHR Sports Centre are still in operation while the CHR Market was closed in March 2022. To optimise the use of resources, following the established procedures, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has identified appropriate alternative user departments to use the premises. Currently, part of the premises is separately used by the FEHD for temporary storage purpose and by the Transport Department for temporary storage of seized bicycles that were illegal parked or abandoned.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI: Enlight Renewable Energy Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    All of the amounts disclosed in this press release are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted

    TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. (NASDAQ: ENLT, TASE: ENLT) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2024. The Company’s earnings conference call and webcast will be held today at 8:00 AM ET. Registration links to both the call and the webcast can be found at the end of this earnings release.

    Financial Highlights

    Full year 2024

    • Revenues and income of $399m, up 53% year over year
    • Adjusted EBITDA1 of $289m, up 49% year over year
    • Net income of $67m, down 32% year over year
    • Cash flow from operations of $193, up 29% year over year

    3 months ending December 31, 2024

    • Revenues and income of $104m, up 35% year over year
    • Adjusted EBITDA1 of $65m, up 31% year over year
    • Net income of $8m, down 48% year over year
    • Cash flow from operations of $36m, up 49% year over year

    ________________________
    1 The Company is unable to provide a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort because items that impact this IFRS financial measure are not within the Company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Please refer to the reconciliation table in Appendix 2

      For the twelve months ended   For the three months ended
     ($ millions) 31/12/2024 31/12/2023 % change 31/12/2024 31/12/2023 % change
    Revenue and Income 399 261 53% 104 77 35%
    Net Income 67 98 (32%) 8 16 (48%)
    Adjusted EBITDA 289 194 49% 65 50 31%
    Cash Flow from Operating Activities 193 150 29% 36 24 49%
    • In 2023 the net income contained substantial one-time items
    • A detailed analysis of financial results appears below

    2024 Guidance vs Actual Results

    • Reported revenues and income for 2024 was 15% higher than the Company’s original guidance at the midpoint.
    • Reported Adjusted EBITDA for 2024 was 18% higher than the Company’s original guidance at the midpoint.

    Revenues and Income and Adjusted EBITDA includes $21m of U.S. tax benefits

    “We are proud to conclude 2024 with outstanding financial results that surpassed both our targets and analysts’ forecasts,” said Gilad Yavetz, CEO of Enlight Renewable Energy.

    “Enlight continues to grow thanks to its diversified and innovative operations, spanning three continents and employing the three main technologies of the industry: solar, wind, and energy storage.

    “The year 2025 represents another leap forward for us, as a massive capacity of 4.7 FGW – with a total investment of $5.5bn – will be under various stages of construction. Together with the Company’s operating portfolio, this will secure approximately 90% of the Company’s ambitious growth plan: to reach operating capacity of 8.6 FGW by the end of 2027. This plan will bring Enlight to an annual revenue rate of over $1bn by 2028, tripling the business in just three years.

    “We expect that the average return on equity for the vast asset portfolio that will become operational by 2027 will exceed 15%. Our three-year growth plan is already reflected in our 2025 guidance: we project revenues and income in the range of $490-510 million and Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $360-380 million, a 25% increase.”

    Portfolio Review

    • Enlight’s total portfolio is comprised of 20 GW of generation capacity and 35.8 GWh storage (30.2 FGW2)
    • Of this, the Mature portfolio component (including operating projects, projects under construction or pre-construction) contains 6.1 GW generation capacity and 8.6 GWh of storage (8.6 FGW)
    • Within the Mature portfolio component, the operating component has 2.5 GW of generation capacity and 1.9 GWh of storage (3.0 FGW)

    The full composition of the portfolio appears in the following table:

    Component Status FGW2 Annual recurring revenues ($m)3
    Operating Commercial operation 3.0 ~5004
    Under Construction Under construction 1.8 ~175
    Pre-Construction 0-12 months to start of construction 3.8 ~385
    Total Mature Portfolio Mature 8.6 1,060~
    Advanced Development 13-24 months to start of construction 7
    Development 2+ years to start of construction 14.7
    Total Portfolio   30.2

    ________________________
    2 FGW (Factored GW) is a consolidated metric combining generation and storage capacity into a uniform figure based on the ratio of construction costs. The company’s current weighted average construction cost ratio is 3.5 GWh of storage per 1 GW of generation: FGW = GW + GWh / 3.5
    3
    Does not include income from tax benefits for under construction and pre-construction projects.

    4 Based on the midpoint of 2025 guidance.

    • Operating component of the portfolio: 3 FGW
      • Start of commercial operations of 1.1 FGW in 2024, including projects Atrisco in the U.S., Pupin and Tapolca in Europe, the Israel Solar and Storage Cluster in MENA. These additions contribute approximately $100m to the annual revenue run rate.
    • Under Construction component of the portfolio: 1.8 FGW
      • Consists of three projects in the U.S. with a total capacity of 1.4 FGW; the Gecama Solar project in Spain with a capacity of 0.3 FGW; and a solar and storage cluster in Israel. 35% of the cluster is expected to reach operations in 2025, with the rest commissioning in 2026.
      • Projects under construction are expected to contribute $175m to the annual revenue run rate during their first full year of operation.
    • Pre-construction component of the portfolio: 3.8 FGW
      • Two mega projects in the U.S., Snowflake and CO Bar, with a combined capacity of 2.6 FGW will begin construction in 2025 and are expected to contribute $246m to revenues on an annualized basis.
      • Nardo, a stand alone storage project in Italy with a capacity of 0.25 FGW, is expected to begin construction in 2H25 and contribute $31m to revenues on an annualized basis.
    • Advanced Development component of the portfolio component: 7 FGW
      • 5.3 FGW in the U.S., with 100% of the capacity having passed completion of the System Impact Study, the most important study of the grid connection process, significantly de-risking the portfolio.
      • The U.S. portfolio includes several mega-projects and follow-ons to Mature projects, such as Cedar Island (1.4 FGW), Snowflake B (1.2 FGW), and Atrisco 2 (0.7 FGW).
      • These projects reflect the Company’s “Connect and Expand” strategy, leveraging existing grid infrastructure with the development of new ones, thereby reducing construction costs and project risks while improving project returns.
      • 0.7 FGW in Europe, focused on Italy, Spain, and Croatia.
      • 1 FGW in MENA, focused on solar and storage projects and stand alone storage facilities, including approximately 0.5 FGW that won availability tariffs as part of the Israel Electricity Authority’s first high voltage storage availability tariff tender.
    • Development component of the portfolio: 14.7 FGW
      • 10 FGW in the U.S. with broad geographic presence, including the PJM, WECC, SPP and MISO regions.
      • 2.7 FGW in Europe, focused on Italy, Spain, Croatia and entry into stand-alone storage operations in Poland.
      • 2 FGW in MENA, focused on solar combined storage projects and stand alone storage facilities.

    Projected COD Timeline for the Mature Portfolio5

    ________________________
    5 Additional projects currently classified in the Advanced Development portfolio are expected to reach commercial operation by 2027, however they are not included in this forecast

    Mature Portfolio Components Expected to Generate Annualized Revenues of Over $1bn6

    All the projects in the plan are expected to be completed by the end of 2027

    ________________________
    6 The projection is based on 2025 guidance, and only includes additional revenue growth from the sale of electricity from projects under construction and in pre-construction status.

    Financing Activities

    • Financial closings totaling $1.1bn in Europe and the US occurred during 2024, supporting the construction of projects with 470 MW and 2,100 MWh capacity.
    • Expansion of Series D bonds totaling $178m to finance the Company’s growth.
    • Sale of 44% of the Sunlight cluster for $50m cash at a valuation of $114m, generating a profit of up to $94m to be recognized in the first quarter of 2025. The cluster represents approximately 1% of the Company’s total portfolio.
    • As of the date of this report, the Company maintains $350m of revolving credit facilities, of which $70m have been drawn.

    2025 Guidance

    Construction and commissioning

    • Expected commissioning of 440 MW and 1.1 GWh of capacity, which is expected to add approximately $130m to annualized revenues and $105m annualized EBITDA, starting in 2026.
    • Starting construction on 1.8 GW and 3.9 GWh of capacity, which is expected to add over $300m in annualized revenues and over $250m in annualized EBITDA gradually through 2026-2027.

    Financial guidance

    • Total revenues and income7 are expected to range between $490m and $510m, a 25% increase (from the midpoint) from 2024 results. Of the projected revenues and income, 38% are expected to be denominated in ILS, 35% in EUR, and 27% in USD.
    • Adjusted EBITDA8 is expected to range between $360m and $380m, a 28% increase (from the midpoint) from 2024 results.
    • Approximately 90% of the electricity volumes expected to be generated in 2025 will be sold at fixed prices through PPAs or hedges.

    ________________________
    7 Total revenues and income include revenues from the sale of electricity along with income from tax benefits from US projects amounting to $60m-80m.
    8 EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure. The Company is unable to provide a reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort because items that impact this IFRS financial measure are not within the Company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Please refer to the reconciliation table in Appendix 2.

    Financial Results Analysis

    Revenue & Income by Segment
    ($ thousands) For the twelve months ended   For the three months ended  
    Segment 31/12/2024 31/12/2023 Change % 31/12/2024 31/12/2023 Change %
    MENA 155,693 67,687 130% 34,086 20,738 64%
    Europe 197,143 177,471 11% 49,979 50,770 (2%)
    U.S. 36,608 7,712 375% 17,894 3,571 401%
    Other 9,351 8,270 13% 2,143 2,009 7%
    Total Revenue & Income 398,795 261,140 53% 104,102 77,088 35%
                 

    Revenues & Income

    In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company’s total revenues and income increased to $104m, up from $77m last year, a growth rate of 35% year over year. This was composed of revenues from the sale of electricity, which rose 26% to $93m compared to $74m in the same period of 2023, as well as recognition of $11m in income from tax benefits, up 230% compared to $3m in 4Q23.

    The Company benefited from the revenue contribution of newly operational projects. Since the fourth quarter of 2023, 650 MW and 1,600 MWh of projects were connected to the grid and began selling electricity, including seven of the Israel Solar and Storage Cluster units in Israel, Atrisco in the U.S, Pupin in Serbia, and Tapolca in Hungary. The most important increases in revenue from the sale of electricity originated at the Israel Solar and Storage Cluster, which added $9m, followed by Atrisco, which added $6m in. In total, new projects contributed $18m to revenues from the sale of electricity

    Revenues and income were distributed between MENA, Europe, and the US, with 34% denominated in Israeli Shekel, 47% in Euros, and 18% denominated in US Dollars.

    Net Income

    In the fourth quarter, the Company’s net income amounted to $8m compared to $16m last year, a decrease of 48% year over year. In 4Q23 the Company recorded a $12m net profit stemming from the recalculation of earnout payments linked to the acquisition of Clenera. Adjusting for this figure, the net income in 4Q23 was $4m, implying year-on-year growth of 90%.

    Adjusted EBITDA9

    In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA grew by 31% to $65m compared to $50m for the same period in 2023. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was driven by the same factors that drove the increase in revenues and income, namely new projects and the recognition of higher amounts of tax benefits. This was offset by an additional $6m in higher operating expenses linked to new projects, while company overheads rose by $5m year-on-year.

    ________________________
    9 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. Please see the appendix of this presentation for a reconciliation to Net Income

    Conference Call Information

    Enlight plans to hold its Fourth Quarter 2024 Conference Call and Webcast on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. ET to review its financial results and business outlook. Management will deliver prepared remarks followed by a question-and-answer session. Participants can join by dial-in or webcast:

    The press release with the financial results as well as the investor presentation materials will be accessible from the Company’s website prior to the conference call. Approximately one hour after completion of the live call, an archived version of the webcast will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at https://enlightenergy.co.il/info/investors/.

    Supplemental Financial and Other Information

    We intend to announce material information to the public through the Enlight investor relations website at https://enlightenergy.co.il/info/investors, SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, and public webcasts. We use these channels to communicate with our investors, customers, and the public about our company, our offerings, and other issues. As such, we encourage investors, the media, and others to follow the channels listed above, and to review the information disclosed through such channels. Any updates to the list of disclosure channels through which we will announce information will be posted on the investor relations page of our website.

    Non-IFRS Financial Measures

    This release presents Adjusted EBITDA, a financial metric, which is provided as a complement to the results provided in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”). A reconciliation of the non-IFRS financial information to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measure is provided in the accompanying tables found at the end of this release.

    We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) plus depreciation and amortization, share based compensation, finance expenses, taxes on income and share in losses of equity accounted investees and minus finance income and non-recurring portions of other income, net. For the purposes of calculating Adjusted EBITDA, compensation for inadequate performance of goods and services procured by the Company are included in other income, net. Compensation for inadequate performance of goods and services reflects the profits the Company would have generated under regular operating conditions and is therefore included in Adjusted EBITDA. With respect to gains (losses) from asset disposals, as part of Enlight’s strategy to accelerate growth and reduce the need for equity financing, the Company sells parts of or the entirety of selected renewable project assets from time to time, and therefore includes realized gains or losses from these asset disposals in Adjusted EBITDA. In the case of partial assets disposals, Adjusted EBITDA includes only the actual consideration less the book value of the assets sold. Our management believes Adjusted EBITDA is indicative of operational performance and ongoing profitability and uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the operating performance and for planning and forecasting purposes.

    Non-IFRS financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for financial information presented under IFRS. There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-IFRS financial measures versus comparable financial measures determined under IFRS. For example, other companies in our industry may calculate the non-IFRS financial measures that we use differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance. All of these limitations could reduce the usefulness of our non-IFRS financial measures as analytical tools. Investors are encouraged to review the related IFRS financial measure, Net Income, and the reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA provided below to Net Income and to not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

    Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s business strategy and plans, capabilities of the Company’s project portfolio and achievement of operational objectives, market opportunity, utility demand and potential growth, discussions with commercial counterparties and financing sources, pricing trends for materials, progress of Company projects, including anticipated timing of related approvals and project completion and anticipated production delays, the Company’s future financial results, expected impact from various regulatory developments and anticipated trade sanctions, expectations regarding wind production, electricity prices and windfall taxes, and Revenues and Income and Adjusted EBITDA guidance, the expected timing of completion of our ongoing projects, and the Company’s anticipated cash requirements and financing plans , are forward-looking statements. The words “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “target,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “possible,” “forecasts,” “aims” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions.

    These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our ability to site suitable land for, and otherwise source, renewable energy projects and to successfully develop and convert them into Operational Projects; availability of, and access to, interconnection facilities and transmission systems; our ability to obtain and maintain governmental and other regulatory approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits; construction delays, operational delays and supply chain disruptions leading to increased cost of materials required for the construction of our projects, as well as cost overruns and delays related to disputes with contractors; disruptions in trade caused by political, social or economic instability in regions where our components and materials are made; our suppliers’ ability and willingness to perform both existing and future obligations; competition from traditional and renewable energy companies in developing renewable energy projects; potential slowed demand for renewable energy projects and our ability to enter into new offtake contracts on acceptable terms and prices as current offtake contracts expire; offtakers’ ability to terminate contracts or seek other remedies resulting from failure of our projects to meet development, operational or performance benchmarks; exposure to market prices in some of our offtake contracts; various technical and operational challenges leading to unplanned outages, reduced output, interconnection or termination issues; the dependence of our production and revenue on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions, and our ability to accurately predict such conditions; our ability to enforce warranties provided by our counterparties in the event that our projects do not perform as expected; government curtailment, energy price caps and other government actions that restrict or reduce the profitability of renewable energy production; electricity price volatility, unusual weather conditions (including the effects of climate change, could adversely affect wind and solar conditions), catastrophic weather-related or other damage to facilities, unscheduled generation outages, maintenance or repairs, unanticipated changes to availability due to higher demand, shortages, transportation problems or other developments, environmental incidents, or electric transmission system constraints and the possibility that we may not have adequate insurance to cover losses as a result of such hazards; our dependence on certain operational projects for a substantial portion of our cash flows; our ability to continue to grow our portfolio of projects through successful acquisitions; changes and advances in technology that impair or eliminate the competitive advantage of our projects or upsets the expectations underlying investments in our technologies; our ability to effectively anticipate and manage cost inflation, interest rate risk, currency exchange fluctuations and other macroeconomic conditions that impact our business; our ability to retain and attract key personnel; our ability to manage legal and regulatory compliance and litigation risk across our global corporate structure; our ability to protect our business from, and manage the impact of, cyber-attacks, disruptions and security incidents, as well as acts of terrorism or war; changes to existing renewable energy industry policies and regulations that present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to renewable energy projects; the reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives or benefits for, or regulations mandating the use of, renewable energy; our ability to effectively manage the global expansion of the scale of our business operations; our ability to perform to expectations in our new line of business involving the construction of PV systems for municipalities in Israel; our ability to effectively manage our supply chain and comply with applicable regulations with respect to international trade relations, tariffs, sanctions, export controls and anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws; our ability to effectively comply with Environmental Health and Safety and other laws and regulations and receive and maintain all necessary licenses, permits and authorizations; our performance of various obligations under the terms of our indebtedness (and the indebtedness of our subsidiaries that we guarantee) and our ability to continue to secure project financing on attractive terms for our projects; limitations on our management rights and operational flexibility due to our use of tax equity arrangements; potential claims and disagreements with partners, investors and other counterparties that could reduce our right to cash flows generated by our projects; our ability to comply with increasingly complex tax laws of various jurisdictions in which we currently operate as well as the tax laws in jurisdictions in which we intend to operate in the future; the unknown effect of the dual listing of our ordinary shares on the price of our ordinary shares; various risks related to our incorporation and location in Israel, including the ongoing war in Israel, where our headquarters and some of our wind energy and solar energy projects are located; the costs and requirements of being a public company, including the diversion of management’s attention with respect to such requirements; certain provisions in our Articles of Association and certain applicable regulations that may delay or prevent a change of control; and other risk factors set forth in the section titled “Risk factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), as may be updated in our other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC.

    These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

    About Enlight

    Founded in 2008, Enlight develops, finances, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale renewable energy projects. Enlight operates across the three largest renewable segments today: solar, wind and energy storage. A global platform, Enlight operates in the United States, Israel and 9 European countries. Enlight has been traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 2010 (TASE: ENLT) and completed its U.S. IPO (Nasdaq: ENLT) in 2023.

    Company Contacts

    Yonah Weisz
    Director IR
    investors@enlightenergy.co.il

    Erica Mannion or Mike Funari
    Sapphire Investor Relations, LLC
    +1 617 542 6180
    investors@enlightenergy.co.il

    Appendix 1 – Financial information

    Consolidated Statements of Income
           
        For the year ended at
    December 31
        2024   2023(*)
        USD in   USD in
        thousands   thousands
    Revenues   377,935   255,702
    Tax benefits   20,860   5,438
    Total revenues and income   398,795   261,140
             
    Cost of sales (**)   (80,696)   (52,794)
    Depreciation and amortization   (108,889)   (65,796)
    General and administrative expenses   (38,847)   (31,356)
    Development expenses   (11,601)   (6,347)
    Total operating expenses   (240,033)   (156,293)
    Gains from projects disposals   601   9,846
    Other income, net   16,172   43,450
    Operating profit   175,535   158,143
             
    Finance income   20,439   36,799
    Finance expenses   (107,844)   (68,143)
    Total finance expenses, net   (87,405)   (31,344)
             
    Profit before tax and equity loss   88,130   126,799
    Share of loss of equity accounted investees   (3,350)   (330)
    Profit before income taxes   84,780   126,469
    Taxes on income   (18,275)   (28,428)
    Profit for the year   66,505   98,041
             
    Profit for the year attributed to:        
    Owners of the Company   44,209   70,924
    Non-controlling interests   22,296   27,117
        66,505   98,041
    Earnings per ordinary share (in USD) with a par value of        
    NIS 0.1, attributable to owners of the parent Company:        
    Basic earnings per share   0.37   0.61
    Diluted earnings per share   0.36   0.57
    Weighted average of share capital used in the        
    calculation of earnings:        
    Basic per share   118,293,556   115,721,346
    Diluted per share   123,312,565   123,861,293
     

    (*) The Consolidated Statements of Income have been adjusted to present comparable information for the previous year. For additional details please see Appendix 8.

    (**) Excluding depreciation and amortization

    Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of        
        December 31   December 31
        2024   2023
        USD in   USD in
        Thousands   Thousands
    Assets        
             
    Current assets        
    Cash and cash equivalents   387,427   403,805
    Deposits in banks     5,308
    Restricted cash   100,090   142,695
    Trade receivables   50,692   43,100
    Other receivables   99,651   60,691
    Current maturities of contract assets     8,070
    Other financial assets   975   976
    Assets of disposal groups classified as held for sale   81,661  
    Total current assets   720,496   664,645
             
    Non-current assets        
    Restricted cash   48,251   38,891
    Other long-term receivables   61,045   32,540
    Deferred costs in respect of projects   357,358   271,424
    Deferred borrowing costs   276   493
    Loans to investee entities   18,112   35,878
    Contract assets     91,346
    Fixed assets, net   3,699,192   2,947,369
    Intangible assets, net   291,442   287,961
    Deferred taxes assets   10,744   9,134
    Right-of-use asset, net   210,941   121,348
    Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss   69,216   53,466
    Other financial assets   59,812   79,426
    Total non-current assets   4,826,389   3,969,276
             
    Total assets   5,546,885   4,633,921
    Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of (Cont.)         
        December 31   December 31
        2024   2023
        USD in   USD in
        Thousands   Thousands
    Liabilities and equity    
             
    Current liabilities      
    Credit and current maturities of loans from        
    banks and other financial institutions   212,246   324,666
    Trade payables 161,991   105,574
    Other payables 107,825   103,622
    Current maturities of debentures   44,962   26,233
    Current maturities of lease liability   10,240   8,113
    Financial liabilities through profit or loss     13,860
    Other financial liabilities   8,141   1,224
    Liabilities of disposal groups classified as held for sale   46,635  
    Total current liabilities   592,040   583,292
             
    Non-current liabilities    
    Debentures 433,994   293,751
    Other financial liabilities   107,865   62,020
    Convertible debentures   133,056   130,566
    Loans from banks and other financial institutions   1,996,137   1,702,925
    Loans from non-controlling interests   75,598   92,750
    Financial liabilities through profit or loss   25,844   34,524
    Deferred taxes liabilities   41,792   44,941
    Employee benefits 1,215   4,784
    Lease liability 211,941   119,484
    Deferred income related to tax equity   403,384   60,880
    Asset retirement obligation   83,085   68,047
    Total non-current liabilities   3,513,911   2,614,672
             
    Total liabilities 4,105,951   3,197,964
             
    Equity        
    Ordinary share capital   3,308   3,293
    Share premium 1,028,532   1,028,532
    Capital reserves 25,273   57,730
    Proceeds on account of convertible options   15,494   15,494
    Accumulated profit 107,919   63,710
    Equity attributable to shareholders of the Company   1,180,526   1,168,759
    Non-controlling interests   260,408   267,198
    Total equity 1,440,934   1,435,957
    Total liabilities and equity   5,546,885   4,633,921
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows    
         
      For the year ended at
    December 31
      2024 2023
      USD in USD in
      Thousands Thousands
         
    Cash flows for operating activities    
    Profit for the period 66,505 98,041
         
    Income and expenses not associated with cash flows:    
    Depreciation and amortization 108,889 65,796
    Finance expenses, net 83,560 28,805
    Share-based compensation 8,360 4,970
    Taxes on income 18,275 28,428
    Tax benefits (20,860) (5,438)
    Other income, net (4,963) (46,991)
    Company’s share in losses of investee partnerships 3,350 330
      196,611 75,900
         
    Changes in assets and liabilities items:    
    Change in other receivables 12,261 (3,241)
    Change in trade receivables (9,892) (2,841)
    Change in other payables 294 6,382
    Change in trade payables 746 15,474
      3,409 15,774
         
    Interest receipts 12,684 12,490
    Interest paid (74,891) (54,469)
    Income Tax paid (11,246) (12,236)
    Repayment of contract assets 14,120
         
    Net cash from operating activities 193,072 149,620
         
    Cash flows for investing activities    
    Sale (Acquisition) of consolidated entities, net 1,871 (6,975)
    Changes in restricted cash and bank deposits, net 29,959 (53,131)
    Purchase, development, and construction in respect of projects (899,257) (730,976)
    Loans provided and Investment in investees (26,444) (28,174)
    Payments on account of acquisition of consolidated entity (32,777) (5,728)
    Proceeds from sale (purchase) of financial assets measured at fair value     
    through profit or loss, net (14,719) 26,919
    Net cash used in investing activities (941,367) (798,065)
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Cont.)   
      For the year ended at
    December 31
      2024  2023 
      USD in USD in
      Thousands Thousands
         
    Cash flows from financing activities    
    Receipt of loans from banks and other financial institutions 939,627 623,927
    Repayment of loans from banks and other financial institutions (699,586) (203,499)
    Issuance of debentures 177,914 83,038
    Repayment of debentures (26,016) (14,735)
    Dividends and distributions by subsidiaries to non-controlling interests (25,534) (13,328)
    Proceeds from investments by tax-equity investors 410,845 198,758
    Repayment of tax equity investment (839) (82,721)
    Deferred borrowing costs (21,637) (1,984)
    Receipt of loans from non-controlling interests 274
    Repayment of loans from non-controlling interests (2,960) (1,485)
    Increase in holding rights of consolidated entity (169)
    Issuance of shares 266,451
    Exercise of share options 15 9
    Repayment of lease liability (5,852) (4,848)
    Proceeds from investment in entities by non-controlling interest 179 5,448
         
    Net cash from financing activities 745,987 855,305
         
    Increase (Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (2,308) 206,860
         
    Balance of cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 403,805 193,869
         
    Changes in cash of disposal groups classified as held for sale (5,753)
         
    Effect of exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents (8,317) 3,076
         
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 387,427 403,805

    Information related to Segmental Reporting

      For the year ended December 31, 2024
      MENA(**)   Europe(**)   USA   Total reportable segments   Others   Total
      USD in thousands
    Revenues 155,693   197,143   15,748   368,584   9,351   377,935
    Tax benefits     20,860   20,860     20,860
    Total revenues and income 155,693   197,143   36,608   389,444   9,351   377,935
                           
    Segment adjusted EBITDA 123,724   165,385   33,539   322,648   4,141   326,789
       
    Reconciliations of unallocated amounts:  
    Headquarter costs (*) (37,774)
    Intersegment profit 100
    Depreciation and amortization and share-based compensation (117,249)
    Other incomes not attributed to segments 3,669
    Operating profit 175,535
    Finance income 20,439
    Finance expenses (107,844)
    Share in the losses of equity accounted investees (3,350)
    Profit before income taxes 84,780
     

    (*) Including general and administrative and development expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization and share based compensation).

    (**) Due to the Company’s organizational restructuring, the Chief Operation Decision Maker (CODM) now reviews the group’s results by segmenting them into four business units: MENA (Middle East and North Africa), Europe, the US, and Management and Construction. Consequently, the Central/Eastern Europe and Western Europe segments have been consolidated into the “Europe” segment, and the Israel segment has been incorporated into the MENA segment. The comparative figures for the year ended December 31, 2023, have been updated accordingly.

    Information related to Segmental Reporting

      For the year ended December 31, 2023
      MENA   Europe   USA   Total reportable segments   Others   Total
      USD in thousands
    Revenues 67,687   177,471   2,274   247,432   8,270   255,702
    Tax benefits     5,438   5,438     5,438
    Total revenues and income 67,687   177,471   7,712   252,870   8,270   261,140
                           
    Segment adjusted EBITDA 71,350   150,677   12,133   234,160   3,035   237,195
       
    Reconciliations of unallocated amounts:  
    Headquarter costs (*) (30,434)
    Intersegment profit 1,587
    Repayment of contract asset under concession arrangements (14,120)
    Depreciation and amortization and share-based compensation (70,766)
    Other incomes not attributed to segments 34,681
    Operating profit 158,143
    Finance income 36,799
    Finance expenses (68,143)
    Share in the losses of equity accounted investees (330)
    Profit before income taxes 126,469
     

    (*) Including general and administrative and development expenses (excluding depreciation and amortization and share based compensation).

    Appendix 2 – Reconciliations between Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA

    ($ thousands)   For the year ended   For the three months
        December 31   ended December 31
        2024   2023   2024   2023
    Net Income (loss)   66,505   98,041   8,372   16,202
    Depreciation and amortization   108,889   65,796   30,912   21,611
    Share based compensation   8,360   4,970   2,333   970
    Finance income   (20,439)   (36,799)   (2,140)   7,581
    Finance expenses   107,844   68,143   22,008   16,344
    Non-recurring other income (*)   (3,669)   (34,681)     (15,718)
    Share of losses of equity accounted investees   3,350   330   1,613   (137)
    Taxes on income   18,275   28,428   2,121   2,934
    Adjusted EBITDA   289,115   194,228   65,219   49,787
                     
    * For the purposes of calculating Adjusted EBITDA, compensation for inadequate performance of goods and services procured by the Company are included in other income, net.
       

    The Company has changed its presentation of its Income Statement, which includes the presentation of specified items that have been previously included within other income (i.e. tax equity). The Company believes that such presentation provides a more relevant information and better reflects the measurement of its financial performance. The Company applied such change retrospectively.

    Appendix 3 – Debentures Covenants

    Debentures Covenants

    As of December 31, 2024, the Company was in compliance with all of its financial covenants under the indenture for the Series C-F Debentures, based on having achieved the following in its consolidated financial results:

    Minimum equity
    The company’s equity shall be maintained at no less than NIS 200 million so long as debentures E remain outstanding, no less than NIS 375 million so long as debentures F remain outstanding, and NIS 1,250 million so long as debentures C and D remain outstanding.

    As of December 31, 2024, the company’s equity amounted to NIS 5,255 million.

    Net financial debt to net CAP
    The ratio of standalone net financial debt to net CAP shall not exceed 70% for two consecutive financial periods so long as debentures E and F remain outstanding, and shall not exceed 65% for two consecutive financial periods so long as debentures C and D remain outstanding.

    As of December 31, 2024, the net financial debt to net CAP ratio, as defined above, stands at 37%.

    Net financial debt to EBITDA
    So long as debentures E and F remain outstanding, standalone financial debt shall not exceed NIS 10 million, and the consolidated financial debt to EBITDA ratio shall not exceed 18 for more than two consecutive financial periods.

    For as long as debentures C and D remain outstanding, the consolidated financial debt to EBITDA ratio shall not exceed 15 for more than two consecutive financial periods.

    As of December 31, 2024, the net financial debt to EBITDA ratio, as defined above, stands at 9.

    Equity to balance sheet
    The standalone equity to total balance sheet ratio shall be maintained at no less than 20% and 25%, respectively, for two consecutive financial periods for as long as debentures E and F, and debentures C and D remain outstanding.

    As of December 31, 2024, the equity to balance sheet ratio, as defined above, stands at 55%.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/16dfdaab-3b06-4494-a529-7e4b98cd6ad8

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a4d568ee-77b0-4eab-b7ef-c865a4a26d0e

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae07b0d5-09c7-404f-a71d-70494b2b64ca

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Plantings replace storm-affected trees

    Source: Scotland – City of Dundee

    Dundee City Council is undertaking a widespread programme to plant trees in city greenspaces replacing those affected by recent storms.

    This year, 6500 whips are to be planted at mostly storm-damaged areas including Templeton Woods and Camperdown Park, following the impact of Storm Éowyn and other recent weather-related events.

    The native species trees have been acquired through funding from charity Trees for Cities and, so far this year, over 2000 have been planted with the help of over one hundred volunteers.

    Climate, Environment & Biodiversity Convener Cllr Heather Anderson said: “Trees are so special and it’s always distressing when we lose trees to storms. However, this is a great initiative involving the whole community and hopefully these new plantings will thrive, and everyone involved will check on their growth over the coming years.”

    An event also took place recently at the city’s Baxter Park which saw the re-planting of same species trees through funding support from Trees for Cities. This initiative will see twenty trees planted at Baxter Park this year, with plans for a further twenty-three in 2026.

    Cllr Heather Anderson added: “Sadly, Baxter Park lost several of its grand trees in the storms of the last few years. Some of these were part of the original planting when the park was first created and gifted to the people of Dundee by the Baxter family away back in 1863.

    “With support from Trees for Cities, the Council’s Countryside Ranger Service have worked with the Forestry Section to support the community to undertake this planting to regenerate the tree coverage in this much-loved park.

    “Scouts and parents from 7th Scout Group Dundee planted the first tree, with support from Stobswell Forum and the Friends of Baxter Park. It’s been a truly collaborative effort.”

    More tree planting events will be taking place throughout 2025 with some open to volunteers from the public to take part. The details of upcoming plantings can be found on the Dundee Countryside Ranger Service’s Facebook page.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI China: Researchers develop new frost-resistant sand-control agent

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    A Chinese research team has developed a chemical sand-fixation material suitable for use in cold desert regions, which is expected to serve as a new tool for sand control and desertification prevention in such areas.
    The application of chemical materials to stabilize shifting sands is one of the primary methods of desertification control. This approach involves the use of adhesive chemical substances to bind loose sand particles together, thereby mitigating encroachment by wind-blown sand.
    However, conventional chemical sand-fixation materials have been mainly designed for hot and arid regions. In colder, high-altitude or high-latitude desert regions, such as the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau, which are located in northwest, southwest and north China, cooler temperatures often render traditional methods of sand control ineffective.
    Researchers from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, modified cellulose acetate-based waterborne polyurethane sand-fixing agents by incorporating glycerol triglycidyl ether and glycerin to enhance frost resistance.
    Notably, cellulose acetate can be produced from the cellulose extracted from crop straw.
    Experiments have demonstrated that this novel frost-resistant sand-fixation agent exhibits excellent degradability, with the primary volatile substances released during thermal degradation being water vapor, ammonia and carbon dioxide — ensuring no environmental pollution.
    In addition, under low-temperature conditions of minus 20 degrees Celsius, the consolidation strength of this sand-fixation agent remains stable, a critical feature necessary for high-altitude and high-latitude desert regions.
    Field applications in Gonghe County, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, have proven that this agent not only effectively stabilizes shifting sands but also promotes plant growth, thus providing robust support for ecological restoration in desert areas.
    “The environmental conditions in cold desert regions are extremely harsh. Sand-fixation materials must not only possess strong low-temperature resistance but also exhibit excellent oxygen permeability and hydrophilic antifreeze properties — all without hindering the germination of plant seeds,” said Liu Benli, a researcher from the NIEER.
    Industrialization of this scientific research achievement will also promote the development of the environmentally friendly sand-fixation materials industry, Liu added.

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-OSI Security: IAEA Director General Joins International Experts for Seawater Sampling Near Fukushima

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi joined scientists from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland, along with IAEA experts, as they collected seawater samples near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. (Dean Calma/IAEA)

    International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi joined scientists from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland, along with IAEA experts, as they collected seawater samples near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (FDNPS) today.

    The activity is part of the additional measures established after China and Japan agreed to extend the sampling and testing of ALPS treated water which TEPCO – operator of the FDNPS – started to discharge in August 2023.

    The IAEA agreed with Japan in September to implement additional measures to facilitate the broader participation from other stakeholder countries in the monitoring of ALPS-treated water.

    “By welcoming countries to engage directly in sampling and analysis under the additional measures, Japan is increasing transparency, understanding, and trust, particularly in the region.” said Director General Grossi. “Through these efforts, third parties can independently verify that water discharge levels are, and will continue to be, in strict compliance and consistent with international safety standards.”

    During the sampling today, scientists from the Third Institute of Oceanography in China, the Korean Institute for Nuclear Safety in Republic of Korea and the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland collected seawater samples from a boat in the vicinity of the FDNPS.

    Director General Grossi collected seawater samples from a boat in the vicinity of the FDNPS.

    The samples will be analysed by the IAEA laboratories in Monaco, by laboratories in Japan and in the participating laboratories from China, Korea and Switzerland, each members of the IAEA’s Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity (ALMERA) network, chosen to ensure a high level of proficiency and expert data.

    “Additional measures focus on expanding international participation and transparency, allowing hands-on independent measurements of the concentration level of the water,” said Director General Grossi. “This work is conducted within agreed parameters set by the IAEA in its role as an independent, impartial and technical organisation.”

    Additionally, IAEA experts stationed at the Agency’s office at FDNPS conduct regular independent on-site analyses of the batches of treated water. The Agency has confirmed that the tritium level in the ten batches of ALPS treated water already released was far below Japan’s operational limit.

    The IAEA initiated the first practical steps of the additional measures in October last year when Agency staff carried out marine sampling with international experts from China, Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Flamingo Land accused of “distortion and disinformation” in mega-resort appeal

    Source: Scottish Greens

    Loch Lomond does not need a garish mega-resort

    Flamingo Land has been accused of “shifting the goalposts and using “distortion and disinformation” in its desperate bid to build a garish and widely opposed mega-resort on the shores of Loch Lomond.

    The application for a sprawling tourist resort on the southern shore of Loch Lomond at Balloch was unanimously rejected by the National Park’s board.

    This came after 155,000 people lodged their objections through a long-running campaign led by Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer. Objections also came in from the Woodland Trust, Ramblers Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland and environmental watchdog SEPA.

    The appeal has been slammed as “desperate” by Mr Greer, who has submitted a detailed response accusing the developer of distorting facts, shifting goalposts and making false assertions.

    Mr Greer said:

    “Flamingo Land’s appeal is based on distortion and disinformation. They are trying to shift the goalposts, bend the truth and misrepresent their own proposals. It is a desperate attempt to overturn the unanimous decision by the Park board to reject their application.

    “Our campaign to save Loch Lomond from Flamingo Land’s destructive proposals secured a record 155,000 objections. The National Park’s own expert planning officers even opposed it, as did Scotland’s national environment watchdog, SEPA and the Community Council.

    “The fact that Flamingo Land have come back with this outright nonsense shows the contempt they have for Balloch and Loch Lomond.

    “They have spent a decade trying to exhaust the community into submission, but they have lost at every step. I urge the Scottish Government to reject these catastrophic plans and end this sorry saga.”

    As Mr Greer documents in his objection, Flamingo Land’s appeal includes a number of errors and distortions:

    • Flamingo Land claims the National Park could have insisted the overall scale of the application be reduced. It is their responsibility as the applicant to reduce the size of their application, if that is what they think is necessary. Over the course of almost a decade they haven’t done this, they have just moved the pieces around the map. At no point during the planning hearing did they suggest a reduction in scale. Under planning law the Scottish Government must make a decision based on what Flamingo Land actually submitted, not a theoretical smaller application which they didn’t submit but seem to be suggesting now.
    • They are trying to use National Planning Framework policies on housing to argue in their favour, but this isn’t a housing development, it’s a tourist resort. Ross Greer’s submission states that this claim is outright misleading.
    • They claim the National Park’s assessment of the resort’s economic impact was ‘neutral’ when the Park report actually said ‘The scale of the development proposed with the identified risk of flooding, and reduction in the extent of woodland, is not compatable [sic] development in view of the National Park’s environment and economy.’ 
    • They are trying to claim an exemption from the flooding concerns which were fundamental to the National Park board’s rejection of their application, but still haven’t done the “further flood risk work” which SEPA say is required
    • They failed to update their Environmental Impact Assessment to reflect the (inadequate) flood mitigation proposals already included in the application. These mitigations would require groundwork in areas where their own testing found contamination close to the surface, creating a new risk.

    Flamingo Land’s plans included two hotels, a waterpark, over 100 woodland lodges, 370 parking spaces, a monorail, shops, restaurants and more on the proposed site at Balloch. Their own assessment shows that this would result in over 250 additional car journeys per hour on local roads at peak times.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto, Rosen Express Concern, Demand Transparency Regarding Termination of Forest Service and Department of the Interior Employees

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) sent two letters to the Trump administration regarding his recent decision to terminate several thousand employees at the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The senators expressed deep concerns about the risks that these mass firings could have on the millions of acres of public lands in Nevada and demanded transparency about the projects the terminated employees had been responsible for.

    “The Trump administration has made the chaotic decision to fire thousands of hard-working federal employees who keep Nevadans safe from wildfires and protect their access to clean water,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “The federal government is responsible for managing over 80% of the land in Nevada, and our families deserve answers about how this decision will impact their communities.”

    “President Trump’s reckless firing of thousands of employees at the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service raises serious concerns about the impacts this could have on Nevada’s public lands,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m joining Senator Cortez Masto in pushing back and requesting more information from the Trump Administration to understand how this will impact ongoing projects across our state.”

    Nevada has the highest percentage of land managed by DOI – more than any other state. Specifically, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages over 60 percent (approximately 48 million acres) of Nevada’s land. Nevada is also home to prominent lands managed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Additionally, the USFS manages approximately 5.9 million acres of land in Nevada, including some of our most cherished landscapes such as the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Ruby Mountains within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area outside of Las Vegas. Many Nevadans rely on the services provided by Forest Service staff.

    The Senators asked that the following information about the terminated employees be made public:

    • The number of employees terminated.
    • A description of the position and responsibilities of each terminated employee.
    • A list and description of the projects to which each terminated employee was assigned.
    • A description of what information the terminated employees were provided.

    The letter to the USFS can be found here and the letter to the DOI can be found here.

    Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen are champions for Nevada’s great outdoor spaces and public lands. They passed critical legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects public lands in Nevada and across the U.S. They passed bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, and they delivered critical funding to protect Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Cortez Masto has introduced legislation to ban oil and gas development in Nevada’s beautiful and pristine Ruby Mountains.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Environment Minister must thoroughly assess impacts of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    PERTH, Wednesday 19 February 2025 — In response to the news that federal assessment of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project will be delayed, the following statement can be attributed to Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s WA Campaign Lead Geoff Bice: 

    “Greenpeace welcomes Federal Environment Minister Plibersek’s decision to take more time to thoroughly assess Woodside’s North West Shelf extension project, given its enormous scale, proposed duration and impact on our climate.

    “Woodside’s proposal to extend the life of one of the dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel facilities in the country by 50 years runs counter to climate science, and to the accelerating extreme weather disasters Australians are experiencing every day. Right now, the iconic Ningaloo Reef is undergoing another mass coral bleaching driven by soaring ocean temperatures.

    “The WA State assessment was lacklustre at best, and we remain concerned the WA Government is siding with fossil fuel companies rather than protecting the environment we love. WA Environment Minister Whitby changing policy on emissions on the fly is just one example.

    “Minister Plibersek must step up to the plate to ensure this massive fossil fuel project and its climate impacts are thoroughly assessed at a federal level. We urge Minister Plibersek to make an informed decision about the North West Shelf extension, and stop Woodside’s destructive Burrup Hub plans for good.”

    —ENDS—

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Kate O’Callaghan on [email protected] on 0406 231 892

    MIL OSI NGO

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rosen, Cortez Masto Join Nevada Colleagues’ Effort to Preserve National Monuments

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) joined Nevada’s Congressional Democratic Delegation in urging the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, to not roll back designations of national monuments in Nevada. The Nevada lawmakers raised concerns about a recent order by Secretary Burgum initiating a 15-day review of possible impediments, including national monuments, to accessing natural resources, including oil and gas. 
    “We urge the administration to refrain from attempts to unilaterally alter lands with existing national monument designations, as we’ve seen previously at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante,” the Delegation said in the letter.
    “Decisions to protect these treasured lands were not made on a whim,” they continued. “They were the result of intense engagements with tribes, community leaders, and local businesses. While Congress reserves the authority to revoke or adjust national monuments, any future action by your department should be a result of the same level of outreach and public engagement.”
    The letter is supported by the following organizations: Conservation Lands Foundation; Friends of Avi Kwa Ame; Friends of Basin and Range National Monument; Friends of Gold Butte; Friends of Nevada Wilderness; Friends of Sloan Canyon; Native Voters Alliance Nevada; Nevada Conservation League; Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition; and Save Red Rock.
    In recent years, Basin & Range, Gold Butte, and Avi Kwa Ame have been designated as national monuments in Nevada and have been a boom to the state’s $8 billion outdoor recreation economy. The letter came in response to Secretarial Order 3418, specifically Section 4c which initiated a 15-day review of national monuments and mineral withdrawals.
    Senators Rosen and Cortez Masto are champions for Nevada’s great outdoor spaces and public lands. They passed critical legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects public lands in Nevada and across the U.S. They passed bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, and they delivered critical funding to protect Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Last year, the Senators announced over $375 million for recreation and conservation projects across Nevada.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI China: With less noise, Chinese cities getting quieter

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Chinese cities are growing noticeably quieter as the past five years have seen the country make impressive strides in curbing sources of urban noise pollution, reducing aural annoyances from bustling industrial complexes to lively square dancers, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has said.
    The data released by the ministry showed that both daytime and nighttime noise compliance rates are rising steadily across cities in China, reported the Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday.
    From 2020 to 2024, the share of urban areas meeting national daytime noise standards increased from 94.6 percent to 95.8 percent, while nighttime compliance jumped sharply from 80.1 percent to 88.2 percent, the MEE said.
    The improvements follow China’s years of targeted efforts to address public grievances over noise from industrial and construction sites, traffic, and public activities — common issues in the country’s densely populated cities.
    China has been striving to balance rapid urbanization with livability through stricter regulations, smart monitoring systems, and community-driven initiatives.
    According to the 2024 Report on Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution in China, noise is classified into four categories, namely industrial, construction, transportation and social, with tailored solutions applied to each, according to the report.
    To modernize oversight, China had installed 4,005 automated noise monitoring systems in 338 cities by the end of 2024, replacing manual checks, said an MEE official.
    In 2024 alone, the ministry’s special initiative to tackle noise pollution addressed over 1,500 noise complaints, benefiting roughly 500,000 residents.
    At the community level, there are currently 2,132 “quiet neighborhoods” nationwide, which enforce strict limits on nighttime activities.
    Industrial sites now face tighter scrutiny, too. The MEE is incorporating factories and other operators that emit industrial noise into the ministry’s pollutant discharge permit management system.
    So far, approximately 177,000 factories have integrated noise controls under their discharge permits, with full coverage expected by 2025.
    SHH, SQUARE DANCERS
    Public spaces are also being reimagined. To address noise disturbances in public areas, the country encourages managers of public venues to establish automatic noise monitoring displays and recommends the use of wireless headphones and directional sound equipment to reduce noise pollution.
    The 2024 Report on Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution in China indicates that in 2023, over 700 automatic noise monitoring devices and display screens were installed in public spaces across cities nationwide.
    To balance the interests of square dance fans and other members of the public, a notable change is that cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Jinhua, and Taizhou have introduced special square dancing zones, where dancers install directional sound systems to reduce noise disturbances.
    In the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, a pilot AI-powered program has slashed noise complaints linked to square dancing by 26.8 percent in the city’s Jiulongpo district.
    The system integrates noise testing sensors with existing police video surveillance to perform AI-based big data analysis and identification of noise types, issuing warnings via lights or alerts when noise exceeds set thresholds.
    If warnings are ignored, the system can automatically disrupt Bluetooth signals from onsite sound systems, effectively cutting off the noise source. 

    MIL OSI China News

  • MIL-Evening Report: Yes, Australia needs new homes – but they must be built to withstand disasters in a warmer world

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University

    Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years.

    Increasing housing supply is essential. However, the homes must be thoughtfully located and designed, to avoid or withstand natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.

    Recent severe weather, including floods in Queensland and severe storms in north-east Victoria, underscore the growing vulnerability of Australian homes. As climate change worsens, the risk becomes ever-greater.

    Our new research examined how disaster risk informs housing location and design in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. We spoke to planners, developers, insurers and housing providers, and found crucial problems that leave communities exposed.

    Getting to grips with disaster data

    Australia’s towns and cities are increasingly affected by natural disasters. The consequences extend beyond physical destruction to social, psychological and health effects. Disasters also harm the economy.

    Despite this, government housing policies and strategies often fail to adequately focus on natural disasters.

    Accurate, up-to-date information is crucial when seeking to protect new homes from natural disasters. Informed decisions typically require three types of data:

    • foundational: relating to vegetation, landscape features, weather, climate change and building characteristics such as height and materials

    • hazards: the risks of different disaster types such as historical flood data, maps of bushfire-prone areas and the recurrence of cyclones

    • vulnerability: the potential and actual impacts of natural disasters such as building damage, fatalities and injuries, displacement, psychological and health impacts and insurance losses.

    Our research, for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, examined how data could be better used and shared to plan and deliver new housing and protect Australians from disasters.

    What we did

    We started by identifying what data was available in Australia for bushfire, flood and cyclone risk.
    Then we examined who owned and managed the data and how it was, or wasn’t, shared.

    The next step was to explore how decision-makers use the data to assess disaster risks for new housing. This involves interviews, workshops and questionnaires with:

    • government planning agencies (both state and local government)

    • housing providers (public and not-for-profit/community housing)

    • housing and land developers (private and public)

    • banks and insurers.

    What we found

    Overall, we found data on disaster risk was fragmented and inconsistent across multiple agencies, and not regularly updated.

    Decision-makers in state and local planning agencies often cannot access accurate information about disaster risk. This means they lack the power to restrict housing in areas prone to bushfires, floods or other extreme events.

    Flood hazard data is particularly problematic. One planner from Queensland described it as “patchy, of variable quality and currency and not always open source” – the latter meaning it was hard to access.

    Many households only learn about their disaster risk when discovering their homes are uninsurable or premiums are prohibitively high. Others become aware of the problem when premiums rise with an existing insurer.

    A community housing provider told us:

    I think the way people are finding out about risk now is by their insurance policies going up. That’s the market reality. When they get an increase in their insurance policy next year, that will wake them up that they are actually in a high-risk area.

    Data held by emergency service agencies and insurers is mostly inaccessible to planners, developers and households due to privacy and commercial sensitivities.

    However, this information is crucial. Government agencies should establish protocols to enable data-sharing while protecting privacy and commercial interests.

    Lack of transparency for homebuyers

    A recent report suggested only 29% of Australian home buyers know the disaster risks associated with the homes they live in.

    Disclosure statements are required by the vendor (seller) when marketing their house or land for sale. These vary between states and territories and, in most cases, do not compel the owner to reveal all known risks.

    For example, in Victoria, a vendor is required to disclose whether the land is in a designated bushfire-prone area, but not whether it is exposed to flooding.

    What’s more, a vendor motivated to sell a house is probably not the best source to provide accurate, impartial information about its exposure to disaster. This is better left to an independent entity such as a local council.

    Thorough investigations into a home’s disaster risk is usually at the discretion of the buyer.

    Making this information readily available to prospective homebuyers prior to purchase would allow more informed consumer decisions. It would also pressure governments and housing suppliers to address disaster risks.

    Where to next?

    Australia urgently needs a national framework to ensure data on housing and disaster risk is comprehensive, current and embedded in housing development decisions.

    The federal government’s Digital Transformation Agency could establish and implement this system, with input from state and local governments.

    Technology known as “spatial digital twins” could also vastly improve how disaster risk is assessed and communicated. These tools enable users to pull together and arrange large amounts of data, to visualise it in the form of models.

    For example, a spatial digital twin could combine real time flood sensor data with historical flooding patterns to predict and visualise flood risks before they occur. Federal and state governments are already investing in such technology.

    Australia’s push to increase housing supply must be matched with a commitment from governments to ensure the homes are safe, resilient and sustainable in the face of our changing climate.

    Addressing the housing crisis isn’t just about numbers – it’s about making sure homes are built in the right places, with the right protections, for the long-term safety of communities.

    Francesca Perugia
    receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)

    Courtney Babb receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and is a member of the Greens (WA).

    Steven Rowley receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Australian Research Council. He is a member of the Housing Industry Forecasting Group in Western Australia

    ref. Yes, Australia needs new homes – but they must be built to withstand disasters in a warmer world – https://theconversation.com/yes-australia-needs-new-homes-but-they-must-be-built-to-withstand-disasters-in-a-warmer-world-249702

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kennedy champions bill to stop bureaucrats from crushing America’s chemical industry

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)

    WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the No Industrial Restrictions In Secret (No IRIS) Act to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) to make rules that punish America’s chemical manufacturing industry. 

    “For four years, the Biden administration weaponized the EPA’s IRIS program against America’s chemical industry. My bill would prevent this kind of abuse from happening again and safeguard American businesses from government overreach,” said Kennedy.

    The No IRIS Act would prohibit the federal government from using the IRIS to inform its rulemakings unless Congress explicitly authorizes the program.

    Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) is leading the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

    “Unelected bureaucrats have often disrupted the work of Wisconsin’s chemical manufacturers and inhibited the success of the industry through the abuse of the EPA’s IRIS program. Instead of grounding regulatory decisions in sound science, IRIS has demonstrated a poor track record by issuing assessments that conflict with the industry’s best available scientific expertise and methodologies. The No IRIS Act will protect American jobs, promote innovation, and hold the EPA accountable for acting against the best interest of the industry and our economy,” said Grothman.

    “American success relies on American chemistry. Computer chips, national defense, modern healthcare, housing, infrastructure, agriculture, and energy are all made possible by America’s chemical industry. Unfortunately, the EPA’s IRIS program puts many critical chemistries in jeopardy. The IRIS program has a troubling history of being out of step with the best available science and methods, lacking transparency, and being unresponsive to peer review and stakeholder recommendations. It’s time for Congress and EPA to take action and put sound science at the forefront of regulatory decision-making, and we applaud Senator Kennedy and Congressman Grothman for their leadership on this important issue,” said Chris Jahn, President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council.

    Background: 

    • The EPA established the IRIS program in 1985 to gather data on how chemicals impact human health. The EPA designed the system to spot health hazards—not make policy.
    • The IRIS program is not currently authorized in statute. As a result, unelected bureaucrats have abused the system to hurt chemical makers in Louisiana and across the country with virtually zero Congressional oversight.
    • President Joe Biden’s EPA used unscientific methods in the IRIS to justify rules that hurt businesses and cost Americans their jobs. 
    • As of 2023, Louisiana was the second-largest chemical-producing state in the country, with its chemical industry paying $3.49 billion in wages.

    The full bill text is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS: Capito Attends EPA Signing Event Approving West Virginia’s Class VI Well Authority

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today joined U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Congressman Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin signed a final rule approving West Virginia’s request to regulate the injection of carbon dioxide into deep rock formations. This action officially grants West Virginia the authority to oversee and administer the Class VI well program for deploying carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects. Video of today’s event is available here.
    “I’m thrilled that Administrator Zeldin has affirmed his support for West Virginia’s approval to permit Class VI wells for carbon capture, and that we are officially bringing this important authority to those who know our state best. West Virginia has proven ourselves as a leader in this field, and with this announcement, has become the fourth state to receive Class VI well primacy. Today’s signing marks an important step in the continuation of West Virginia’s proud tradition of being an energy state and our efforts to contribute to American energy dominance,”Chairman Capito said. 
    “To Power the Great American Comeback, we need to produce more energy right here in the United States, and that requires cooperative federalism and permitting reform. As one of my first acts as EPA Administrator, I am proud to sign this rule to allow West Virginia the independence it needs to permit and regulate itself, while also working to safeguard our environment and drinking water. Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue to advance conservation and foster economic growth for families across the country,” Administrator Zeldin said. 
    BACKGROUND: 
    Senator Capito has continuously advocated for West Virginia to be granted Class VI well primacy. In May 2023, Senator Capito introduced legislation to streamline state primacy applications for Class VI wells. In November 2023, Senator Capito urged the EPA to more quickly grant state primacy for Class VI storage wells and disburse funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which she fought to include for future CCUS projects in the state. Last November, Senator Capito applauded EPA’s proposal to grant West Virginia this authority, and sent a letter in support of approval to the Agency in December. Senator Capito applauded West Virginia’s final approval to permit Class VI wells last month.
    Photos from today’s event are included below:

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is introduced by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum at the signing event approving West Virginia’s Class VI well program primacy

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) provides remarks at the signing event approving West Virginia’s Class VI well program primacy

    U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) joins EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Congressman Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) for the signing event approving West Virginia’s Class VI well program primacy

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth Joins Durbin, Casten, Illinois Delegation Members’ Letter to Protect Regional EPA Workers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    February 18, 2025

    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Sean Casten (D-IL-06) and members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging him to reconsider reported plans to terminate more than 1,100 probationary EPA employees, including many based in Illinois.

    “We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts such terminations—done across the board without consideration for positional need or programmatic impact—would have on the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment in the state of Illinois and across the nation,” the lawmakers wrote.  “ The Trump Administration’s environmental policy agenda, led by EPA Director Zeldin, has already resulted in the termination of 388 probationary employees and 168 Environmental Justice (EJ) employees after the EPA dismantled its EJ office earlier this month. Though they are probationary, many of these employees are long-standing federal workers and subject matter experts with experience vital to running the EPA effectively and efficiently. They perform critical functions protecting Americans from dangers related to pesticides, waste management, chemical control, and ground and drinking water.”

    EPA Region V, which employs many EPA workers, is headquartered in Chicago.

    “The potential dismissal of employees based out of the EPA Region V Office in Chicago threatens the health and safety of communities across Illinois, as well as the rest of the states in Region V, and will undermine ongoing efforts to monitor and improve air and water quality, manage hazardous waste, and restore the ecosystem of the largest freshwater system in the world,” the lawmakers continued.

    “In light of these concerns, we request that you reconsider any plans to terminate probationary EPA employees. We urge you to consider the critical importance of these workers to the EPA’s mission and the potential adverse effects these terminations would have on the public health and environment of the American people,” the lawmakers urged Administrator Zeldin.

    In addition to Duckworth, Durbin and Casten, the letter is co-signed by U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) and Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17).

    The full text of the letter is available on Senator Duckworth’s website and below:

    Dear Administrator Zeldin,

    As members of the Illinois delegation, we write to express our profound concern about the potential immediate termination of over 1,100 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, many based in Illinois, as well as the impact this could have on public health and our environment.

    Reports indicate that EPA staff members have received emails informing them of possible immediate dismissal due to their probationary status. We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts such terminations—done across the board without consideration for positional need or programmatic impact—would have on the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment in the state of Illinois and across the nation.

    Though they are probationary, many of these employees are long-standing federal workers and subject matter experts with experience vital to running the EPA effectively and efficiently. They perform critical functions protecting Americans from dangers related to pesticides, waste management, chemical control, and ground and drinking water. They are essential to the EPA’s mission and to the well-being of our constituents.

    Illinois is home to industrial sites, precious natural resources, and unique environmental challenges that require diligent oversight, remediation, and ongoing enforcement. As just one example, the Chicago area has more lead pipes than any other American city, requiring EPA water technical assistance to help communities identify lead service lines, develop replacement plans, and apply for funding for lead pipe removal.

    The potential dismissal of approximately employees based out of the EPA Region V Office in Chicago threatens the health and safety of communities the state, as well as the rest of the states in Region V, and will undermine ongoing efforts to monitor and improve air and water quality, manage hazardous waste, and restore the ecosystem of the largest freshwater system in the world.

    In light of these concerns, we request that you reconsider any plans to terminate probationary EPA employees. We urge you to consider the critical importance of these workers to the EPA’s mission and the potential adverse effects these terminations would have on the public health and environment of the American people.

    Sincerely,

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Rural News – Farmer confidence jumps to 10-year high – Federated Farmers

    Source: Federated Farmers

    Farmer confidence has risen to its highest level in over a decade, rebounding from record lows in recent years.
    Federated Farmers’ latest Farm Confidence Survey shows falling interest rates, rising incomes and more favourable farming rules have all played a major role in that improvement.
    “I’ve definitely noticed a significant shift in the mood of rural New Zealand. Farmers are feeling a lot more positive,” Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says.
    “The last few years have been bloody tough for a lot of our farming families, with falling incomes, rising interest rates and unpaid bills starting to pile up on the kitchen bench.
    “At the same time, we’ve also been struggling with an incredibly challenging regulatory environment and farming rules that haven’t always been practical, affordable or fair.
    “These survey results paint a clear picture of a sector finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as some of that weight is lifted.”
    The January survey shows farmers’ confidence in current general economic conditions has surged from a deeply negative -66% in July 2024 to a net positive score of 2%.
    This marks the largest one-off improvement since the question was introduced in 2016.
    Meanwhile, a net 23% of farmers now expect better economic conditions over the next year – the highest confidence level since January 2014.
    There has also been a sharp lift in profitability, with 54% of farmers now reporting making a profit – double the number in the last survey six months ago.
    Langford says it’s important to note that, despite confidence being at its highest point in more than a decade, it’s still only just in the positive.
    “It’s been a remarkable recovery in farmer confidence over a short period of time, but I’m very conscious that we were coming off an extremely low base.
    “We’ve come a long way, but there’s a long way to go yet. Federated Farmers will keep pushing hard to cut costs out of farmers’ businesses and reduce some of that regulatory burden.”
    The survey results show regulation and compliance costs remains the greatest concern for farmers, followed by interest rates and banks, and input costs.
    “When it comes to farmer confidence, a lot of it comes down to what’s coming into our bank account, and what’s going out the other side. It’s a simple equation,” Langford says.
    “A lot of that is market driven, and farmers are used to riding those highs and lows, but Government rules and regulations have a significant impact on farmers’ costs.
    “Those compliance costs really can make or break your season and have a significant impact on a farmer’s confidence to keep investing in their business.
    “The Government have made a great start cutting through red tape for farmers and repealing a lot of the most unworkable rules, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
    Interest rates and banking issues have consistently been a top concern for farmers, which is why Federated Farmers fought so hard for a banking inquiry, Langford says.
    “Interest payments are a huge cost for most farming businesses and farmers have been under massive pressure from their banks in recent years.
    “We want to see the Government take a much closer look at our banking system and whether farmers are getting a fair deal from their lenders.”
    The survey shows farmers’ highest priorities for the Government are the economy and business environment, fiscal policy, and reducing regulatory burdens.
    “If the Government are serious about their ambitious growth agenda and doubling exports over the next decade, this is where they need to be focusing their energy,” Langford says.
    “For farmers to have the confidence to invest in our businesses, employ more staff, and grow our economy, we need to have confidence in our direction of travel as a nation too.
    “As a country, we’re never going be able to regulate our way to prosperity, but with the right policy settings, we might just be able to farm our way there.”
    The report’s key findings include:
     General economic conditions (current): Farmer confidence has surged by 68 points since July 2024, rebounding from a deeply negative -66% to a net positive score of 2%. This marks the largest one-off improvement since the question was introduced in 2016.
     General economic conditions (expectations): Optimism is rising, with net expectations increasing by 29 points since January 2024. A net 23% of farmers now anticipate better conditions over the next year-the highest confidence level seen since January 2014.
     Farm profitability (current): The number of farmers making a profit has doubled since the last survey, with 54% of farmers now reporting a profit-up from just 27%. The net profitability score has surged by 60 points, the strongest turnaround since July 2022.
     Farm profitability (expectations): Confidence in future profitability continues to climb, with a net 31% of farmers expecting improvement over the next 12 months-a 41-point increase since July 2024. This is the highest forward-looking profitability score since July 2017.
     Farm production (expectations): A net 16% of farmers expect production to increase in the next year, extending a positive trend. This marks the first time since 2016/17 that there have been three consecutive periods of predicted growth.
     Farm spending (expectations): Spending intentions have strengthened, with a net 23% of farmers planning to increase spending over the next 12 months-up 26 points from July 2024. This is the strongest expected rise since January 2023.
     Farm debt (expectations): 41% of farmers plan to reduce their debt in the next year, up from 23% in July 2024. Lower interest rates, improved confidence, and stronger production forecasts are driving this shift.
     Ability to recruit (experienced): Hiring challenges persist, with a net 16% of respondents reporting difficulty recruiting skilled staff in the past six months, largely unchanged from July 2024. However, this is the least difficult period for recruitment since July 2012.
     Greatest concerns (current): The top concerns for farmers remain Regulation & Compliance Costs, Debt, Interest & Banks, and Input Costs.
     Highest government priorities: Farmers want the Government to prioritise the Economy & Business Environment, Fiscal Policy, and reducing Regulatory Burdens. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News

  • MIL-OSI: Gibson Energy Reports 2024 Fourth Quarter and Record Full Year Results Driven by All-Time High Volumes at the Gateway and Edmonton Terminals, Alongside a 5% Dividend Increase

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted

    CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gibson Energy Inc. (TSX:GEI) (“Gibson” or the “Company”) announced today its financial and operating results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024.

    “We are pleased to announce record Infrastructure results for 2024, driven by a full year of contribution from Gateway,” said Curtis Philippon, President & Chief Executive Officer. “Exiting the year, the quality and stability of our Infrastructure cash flows improved due to successful re-contracting efforts and record throughput at both Gateway and Edmonton. We also announced exciting growth capital projects at Gateway. I am pleased with the progress we are making on setting up the Gibson team, increasing our focus on the business, strengthening our growth pipeline and building a high-performance culture.”

    Financial Highlights:

    • Revenue of $11,780 million for the full year, including $2,358 million in the fourth quarter, relatively consistent year over year primarily due to higher sales volumes within the Marketing segment and the revenue contribution from the Gateway Terminal
    • Infrastructure Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $601 million for the full year, including $147 million in the fourth quarter, a $107 million or 22% increase over full year 2023 primarily due to the full year contribution from the Gateway Terminal and an Edmonton tank, which were only partially offset by a reduction from the Hardisty Unit Train Facility and the impact of certain one-time items
    • Marketing Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $63 million for the full year, including a $5 million loss in the fourth quarter, an $82 million or 57% decrease over full year 2023 principally due to significantly tighter crude oil differentials and crack spreads, and increased demand for Canadian heavy oil triggering steep backwardation and limited volatility, impacting storage, quality and time-based opportunities
    • Adjusted EBITDA(1) on a consolidated basis of $610 million for the full year, including $130 million in the fourth quarter, a $20 million or 3% increase over full year 2023, due to the impact of unrealized gains and losses on financial instruments recorded in both periods and the factors noted above, partially offset by the add back of certain one-time items, and an increase in general and administrative expenses, net of executive transition and restructuring costs
    • Net income of $152 million for the full year 2024, including a $6 million loss in the fourth quarter, a $62 million or 29% decrease over full year 2023 due to the impact of items noted above, higher general and administrative costs primarily due to executive transition and restructuring costs, the impact of the Gateway acquisition that resulted in higher finance costs, depreciation and amortization expenses, and an environmental remediation provision, partially offset by acquisition and integration costs in the prior year and a lower income tax expense
    • Distributable Cash Flow(1) of $375 million for the full year, including $71 million in the fourth quarter, an $11 million or 3% decrease over full year 2023, primarily due to higher finance costs, partially offset by higher Adjusted EBITDA and lower lease payments
    • Dividend Payout ratio(2) on a trailing twelve-month basis of 71%, which is at the low end of the 70% – 80% target range
    • Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio(2) of 3.5x for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, which is at the high end of the 3.0x – 3.5x target range, compared to 3.7x for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023

    Strategic Developments and Highlights:

    • Appointed Curtis Philippon as the President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 29, 2024
    • Announced the extension of a long-term contract with an investment grade global E&P company at the Gateway Terminal and the sanction of a connection to the Cactus II Pipeline in July
    • Refinanced $350 million 5.80% senior unsecured notes due 2026 with $350 million of 4.45% senior unsecured notes due in November 2031, resulting in annual cost savings of approximately $5 million
    • Announced the extension of a long-term contract and the sanctioning of the dredging project at the Gateway Terminal in December which, along with the earlier announcements, will allow the Company to achieve its Gateway targets
    • Placed in-service two new 435,000 barrel tanks under a long-term take-or-pay agreement with an investment grade customer at the Edmonton Terminal in December
    • Achieved a new milestone, recording 8.8 million hours without a lost time injury for our employee and contract workforce
    • Subsequent to the quarter, appointed Riley Hicks as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective February 4, 2025
    • Subsequent to the quarter, Gibson’s Board of Directors also approved a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per common share, an increase of $0.02 per common share or 5%, beginning with the dividend payable in April
    (1) Adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. See the “Specified Financial Measures” section of this release.
    (2) Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio and dividend payout ratio are non-GAAP financial ratios. See the “Specified Financial Measures” section of this release.


    Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Financial Statements
    The 2024 fourth quarter Management’s Discussion and Analysis and audited Consolidated Financial Statements provide a detailed explanation of Gibson’s financial and operating results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the three months and year ended December 31, 2023. These documents are available at www.gibsonenergy.com and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

    Earnings Conference Call & Webcast Details
    A conference call and webcast will be held to discuss the 2024 fourth quarter and year-end financial and operating results at 7:00am Mountain Time (9:00am Eastern Time) on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

    To register for the call, view dial-in numbers, and obtain a dial-in PIN, please access the following URL:

    Registration at least five minutes prior to the conference call is recommended.

    This call will also be broadcast live on the Internet and may be accessed directly at the following URL:

    The webcast will remain accessible for a 12-month period at the above URL.

    Supplementary Information
    Gibson has also made available certain supplementary information regarding the 2024 fourth quarter and full year financial and operating results, available at www.gibsonenergy.com.

    About Gibson
    Gibson is a leading liquids infrastructure company with its principal businesses consisting of the storage, optimization, processing, and gathering of liquids and refined products, as well as waterborne vessel loading. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the Company’s operations are located across North America, with core terminal assets in Hardisty and Edmonton, Alberta, Ingleside and Wink, Texas, and a facility in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

    Gibson shares trade under the symbol GEI and are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.gibsonenergy.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information and statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) including, but not limited to, the Company’s plans and targets, including its focus on delivering shareholder returns and progressing its cost focus campaign, and dividend payment dates and amounts thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words “will,” “anticipate”, “continue”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “should”, “could”, “believe”, “further” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by securities law. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of numerous risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Annual Information Form and Management’s Discussion and Analysis, each dated February 18, 2025, as filed on SEDAR+ and available on the Gibson website at www.gibsonenergy.com.

    For further information, please contact:

    Investor Relations:
    (403) 776-3077
    investor.relations@gibsonenergy.com

    Media Relations:
    (403) 476-6334
    communications@gibsonenergy.com

    Specified Financial Measures

    This press release refers to certain financial measures that are not determined in accordance with GAAP, including non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP financial ratios. Readers are cautioned that non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP financial ratios do not have standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. Management considers these to be important supplemental measures of the Company’s performance and believes these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in industries with similar capital structures.

    For further details on these specified financial measures, including relevant reconciliations, see the “Specified Financial Measures” section of the Company’s MD&A for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, which is incorporated by reference herein and is available on Gibson’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and Gibson’s website at www.gibsonenergy.com.

    a)   Adjusted EBITDA

    Noted below is the reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures of the Company’s segmented and consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the three months and years ended December 31, 2024, and 2023:

    Three months ended December 31, Infrastructure Marketing Corporate and
    Adjustments
    Total
    ($ thousands) 2024 2023   2024   2023 2024   2023   2024   2023  
                     
    Segment profit 127,444 157,968   (16,435 ) 24,474     111,009   182,442  
    Unrealized loss (gain) on derivative financial instruments 6,359 (5,377 ) 11,662   3,388     18,021   (1,989 )
    General and administrative     (18,065 ) (10,893 ) (18,065 ) (10,893 )
    Adjustments to share of profit from equity accounted investees 1,169 155         1,169   155  
    Executive transition and restructuring costs     6,304     6,304    
    Environmental remediation provision (1) 9,287         9,287    
    Post-close purchase price adjustment (1) 2,670         2,670    
    Renewable power purchase agreement     (713 )   (713 )  
    Other       (34 )   (34 )
    Adjusted EBITDA 146,929 152,746   (4,773 ) 27,862 (12,474 ) (10,927 ) 129,682   169,681  
    Years ended December 31, Infrastructure Marketing Corporate and
    Adjustments
    Total
    ($ thousands) 2024 2023   2024 2023   2024   2023   2024   2023  
                     
    Segment profit 574,010 494,451   52,956 148,436       626,966   642,887  
    Unrealized loss (gain) on derivative financial instruments 10,105 (4,637 ) 9,778 (3,484 )     19,883   (8,121 )
    General and administrative     (69,985 ) (49,570 ) (69,985 ) (49,570 )
    Adjustments to share of profit from equity accounted investees 5,240 4,448         5,240   4,448  
    Executive transition and restructuring costs     16,969     16,969    
    Environmental remediation provision (1) 9,287         9,287    
    Post-close purchase price adjustment (1) 2,670         2,670    
    Renewable power purchase agreement     (888 )   (888 )  
    Other       184     184  
    Adjusted EBITDA 601,312 494,262   62,734 144,952   (53,904 ) (49,386 ) 610,142   589,828  

    (1) added back in the calculation of adjusted EBITDA as these charges are not reflective of the ongoing earning capacity of the business, as described in the discussion of Infrastructure segment results in the MD&A.

      Three months ended December 31,
     
    ($ thousands) 2024   2023  
         
    Net (Loss) Income (5,563 ) 53,301  
         
    Income tax expense 7,575   20,259  
    Depreciation, amortization, and impairment charges 55,217   47,690  
    Finance costs, net 34,033   35,919  
    Unrealized loss (gain) on derivative financial instruments 18,021   (1,989 )
    Unrealized (gain) loss on renewable power purchase agreement (4,375 ) 866  
    Share-based compensation 6,882   5,600  
    Acquisition and integration costs   2,083  
    Adjustments to share of profit from equity accounted investees 1,169   155  
    Corporate foreign exchange (gain) loss and other (1,538 ) 5,797  
    Environmental remediation provision (1) 9,287    
    Post-close purchase price adjustment (1) 2,670    
    Executive transition and restructuring costs 6,304    
    Adjusted EBITDA 129,682   169,681  
      Years ended December 31,
     
    ($ thousands) 2024   2023  
         
    Net Income 152,174   214,211  
         
    Income tax expense 53,780   71,123  
    Depreciation, amortization, and impairment charges 186,669   142,478  
    Finance costs, net 138,318   116,276  
    Unrealized loss (gain) on derivative financial instruments 19,883   (8,121 )
    Corporate unrealized loss on derivative financial instruments 2,332   1,296  
    Share-based compensation 22,040   20,944  
    Acquisition and integration costs 1,371   22,042  
    Adjustments to share of profit from equity accounted investees 5,240   4,448  
    Corporate foreign exchange (gain) loss and other (591 ) 5,131  
    Environmental remediation provision (1) 9,287    
    Post-close purchase price adjustment (1) 2,670    
    Executive transition and restructuring costs 16,969    
    Adjusted EBITDA 610,142   589,828  

    (1) added back in the calculation of adjusted EBITDA as these charges are not reflective of the ongoing earning capacity of the business, as described in the discussion of Infrastructure segment results in the MD&A.

    b)   Distributable Cash Flow

    The following is a reconciliation of distributable cash flow from operations to its most directly comparable GAAP measure, cash flow from operating activities:

    Three months ended December 31,
      Years ended December 31,
     
    ($ thousands) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
             
    Cash flow from operating activities 67,276   155,602   598,454   574,856  
    Adjustments:        
    Changes in non-cash working capital and taxes paid 53,978   7,487   (10,642 ) (7,434 )
    Replacement capital (11,727 ) (10,226 ) (35,987 ) (35,928 )
    Cash interest expense, including capitalized interest (31,931 ) (34,456 ) (134,336 ) (100,133 )
    Acquisition and integration costs (1)   2,083   1,371   22,042  
    Executive transition and restructuring costs (1) 6,304     16,969    
    Lease payments (6,063 ) (9,628 ) (30,241 ) (35,896 )
    Current income tax (6,685 ) (7,917 ) (30,318 ) (31,717 )
    Distributable cash flow 71,152   102,945   375,270   385,790  

    (1) Costs adjusted on an incurred basis.

    c)   Dividend Payout Ratio

      Years ended December 31,  
      2024   2023  
    Distributable cash flow 375,270   385,790  
    Dividends declared 266,858   236,907  
    Dividend payout ratio 71 % 61 %


    d)   
    Net Debt To Adjusted EBITDA Ratio

      Years ended December 31,
     
      2024   2023  
         
    Current and long-term debt 2,598,635   2,711,543  
    Lease liabilities 48,180   62,005  
    Less: unsecured hybrid debt (450,000 ) (450,000 )
    Less: cash and cash equivalents (57,069 ) (143,758 )
         
    Net debt 2,139,746   2,179,790  
    Adjusted EBITDA 610,142   589,828  
    Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio 3.5   3.7  

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Trade instructed to suspend importing and selling of Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC in Ireland

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Trade instructed to suspend importing and selling of Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC in Ireland
    Trade instructed to suspend importing and selling of Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC in Ireland
    ******************************************************************************************

         ​The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (February 18) instructed the trade to suspend the import of Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC. The trade should also stop using or selling the product concerned immediately should they possess it.     A spokesman for the CFS said, “The CFS was notified by the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health of few food poisoning cases which involved consumption of raw oysters at a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. The CFS conducted investigations at the restaurant concerned and found that the restaurant had sold Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC. For the sake of prudence, the CFS has immediately instructed the trade to suspend the import into and sale within Hong Kong of all Ireland Dooriel Creek raw oysters from production area code MO-AN-DC.”     The CFS has also instructed the supplier and restaurants concerned to stop supplying and selling the affected raw oysters immediately, and is tracing the distribution of the affected product. The trade should also stop using or selling the product concerned immediately should they possess it.     The spokesman pointed out that as oysters feed by filtering a large volume of seawater, pathogens can accumulate in them if they are grown in or harvested from contaminated water. Raw or partially cooked oysters are high-risk foods. Susceptible groups, such as pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems or liver diseases, should avoid eating raw oysters.     The CFS will inform the Irish authorities and will also notify the local trade. It will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health. An investigation is ongoing.

     
    Ends/Tuesday, February 18, 2025Issued at HKT 21:06

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Bharat Tex 2025

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Bharat Tex 2025

    Revolutionizing Fashion, Sustainability, and Innovation

    Posted On: 18 FEB 2025 6:18PM by PIB Delhi

    World is adopting the vision of Fashion for Environment and Empowerment, and India can lead the way in this regard.
     –
    Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

     

    Bharat Tex 2025, India’s largest global textile event, was successfully organized from February 14 to 17, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The event spanned 2.2 million square feet and featured over 5,000 exhibitors, providing a comprehensive showcase of India’s textile ecosystem. More than 1,20,000 trade visitors, from 120+ countries including global CEOs, policymakers, and industry leaders, attended the event.

    Bharat Tex 2025 served as a platform to accelerate the government’s “Farm to Fibre, Fabric, Fashion, and Foreign Markets” vision. India’s textile exports have already reached ₹3 lakh crore, and the goal is to triple this to ₹9 lakh crore by 2030 by strengthening domestic manufacturing and expanding global reach. The event demonstrated India’s leadership in the textile sector and its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration.

    Defining Achievements of Bharat Tex 2025

     

    India’s Textile Industry: A Key Driver of Economic Growth

    India is the sixth-largest exporter of textiles globally, contributing 8.21% to the country’s total exports in 2023-24. The sector holds a 4.5% share in global trade, with the United States and European Union accounting for 47% of India’s textile and apparel exports.

    From an employment perspective, the textile industry provides direct employment to over 45 million people and supports the livelihoods of over 100 million individuals indirectly, including a large proportion of women and rural workers. It aligns with key government initiatives such as Make in India, Skill India, Women Empowerment, and Rural Youth Employment, reinforcing its role in inclusive economic development.

    The government’s focus on increasing textile manufacturing, modernizing infrastructure, fostering innovation, and upgrading technology has strengthened India’s position as a global textile hub. Bharat Tex 2025 provided a platform to showcase these advancements while promoting sustainable and high-value textile production.

    Supportive Policy Framework

    Vested by forward-thinking government initiatives, the Indian textile sector is set to spin a remarkable tale of innovation, fortitude, and economic flourishing in the years to come. With the support of proactive policies, the industry is primed to unleash creative potential, demonstrate resilience, drive economic growth etc.

    1. Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme
    Creating an Integrated Textiles Value Chain
    7 mega textile parks with an expected investment of USD 10 Bn are being set up with world class infrastructure, plug and play facilities and an integrated ecosystem.

    2. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
    Boosting manufacturing of MMF fabrics, Apparel & Technical Textiles
    Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme with approved incentives of INR 10,683 crore (~USD 1 Bn) to promote production of MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics and Products of Technical Textiles

    3. Samarth
    Building Capacity, addressing skill gaps in the textile value chain
    The scheme is a demand-driven and placement-oriented program across the textile value chain. In addition, various States have their own skilling/training support schemes.

    4. National Technical Education, Training
    Promoting Technical Textiles – towards USD 300 Bn by 2047
    National Mission to support and promote Research, Innovation and Development, Education Training, Skill development and Market Development in Technical Textiles

    5. Liberal State Policies
    Generous support & incentives by State Governments / Union Territories – Capital support, wage and skilling incentives, power and water support

    To boost the textile industry, the Ministry of Textiles, in the 10th Empowered Programme Committee (EPC) meeting, approved four Start-Ups under the ‘Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)’ scheme, granting each INR 50 Lakhs for innovations in Medical, Industrial, and Protective Textiles. Additionally, three educational institutes, including IIT Indore and NIT Patna, received INR 6.5 Crores to introduce specialized courses in Geotextiles, Geosynthetics, and Sports Textiles, aiming to strengthen technical expertise in the sector. Further, 12 Skill Development Courses in Medical, Protective, Mobile, and Agriculture Textiles, developed by SITRA, NITRA, and SASMIRA, were approved to provide industry-focused training across the textile value chain.

    Global Textiles redefined from India to the World

    Bharat Tex 2025 is where India’s rich textile heritage meets modern innovation, setting the stage for global textile leadership. As the world’s youngest and largest global textile show, it’s a platform for forging partnerships and driving economic growth.

    It serves as a premier platform for industry leaders, manufacturers, exporters, and innovators, bringing together key stakeholders from across the textile sector. The event facilitates collaboration among manufacturers, exporters, and importers, providing them with an opportunity to showcase their expertise, cutting-edge innovations, and latest collections to a global audience.

     

    Focused Zones for Focused Business

    Intelligent Manufacturing

    Intelligent manufacturing is revolutionizing the textile industry by integrating advanced technologies and data-driven approaches to improve efficiency, quality, and innovation. This transformation leverages automation, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics to modernize traditional textile production processes.

    Technical Textile

    Technical textiles are revolutionizing the textile industry in India by offering innovative solutions across various sectors. These specialized fabrics are designed for specific performance attributes and applications, ranging from automotive and aerospace to healthcare and construction. With a growing emphasis on technology and research, India is positioning itself as a global leader in this field, leveraging its strong textile heritage and advanced manufacturing capabilities.

    Home Textile

    India’s home textile sector is known for its rich traditions and craftsmanship, with various regions specializing in unique textile techniques and patterns. Gujarat is renowned for its vibrant and intricate embroidery, while Kashmir is famous for its luxurious woollen shawls and rugs. This diversity reflects India’s extensive heritage and expertise in textile production.
     

       

    Fabrics

    India is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of fabrics, catering to both domestic and international markets. The sector is characterized by a mix of large-scale industrial manufacturing and small-scale artisanal production, reflecting a vibrant tapestry of innovation and tradition. Major fabric hubs in the country include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and West Bengal, each known for its unique textile specialties.

     

    Apparel & Fashion

    In India, the apparel and fashion industry is a major economic driver, contributing significantly to GDP and employment. The country is renowned for its rich heritage in textiles and traditional craftsmanship, including intricate handloom fabrics, embroidery, and dyeing techniques. India’s apparel sector is characterized by a vibrant blend of traditional and contemporary styles, catering to diverse consumer preferences both domestically and internationally.

    Handloom

    India’s handloom sector is renowned for its variety of textiles, including intricate saris, shawls, scarves, and other woven items. Each region of India boasts distinct handloom traditions and techniques. For example, the Banarasi silk from Varanasi, the Kanjeevaram silk from Tamil Nadu, and the Jamdani from West Bengal are highly esteemed for their quality and craftsmanship. These textiles often feature elaborate patterns, vibrant colors, and traditional motifs, making them highly sought after both domestically and internationally.

    Handicrafts & Carpets

    The handicraft and carpets sector in India is a vibrant and culturally significant component of the country’s artisan economy, renowned for its rich heritage and exceptional craftsmanship. This sector encompasses a wide range of products, from intricate handcrafted textiles and decorative artifacts to exquisite hand-knotted carpets. Each region in India contributes its unique traditions and techniques, resulting in a diverse array of products that reflect the country’s artistic diversity.

    A key attraction of the event was “Indie Haat,” held from February 12 to 18, 2025, at the National Crafts Museum and Hastkala Academy, New Delhi. It showcased over 80 different types of handcrafted and handwoven products, created by 85 artisans and weavers from various states. Indie Haat underscored India’s vast handloom and handicraft traditions, aligning with the government’s vision of promoting rural artisans.

    Breathing Threads: Fashion Show at Bharat Tex 2025

    The office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India organized a fashion event titled “Breathing Threads” to feel the pulse of craftsmanship, honour a living legacy, and witness the timeless elegance of Indian handlooms in modern silhouettes.

    The beauty of handloom and the brand’s mission align with sustainability and a zero-waste strategy, reflecting the living habits of Indian villages. The event attracted international buyers and key stakeholders, reinforcing India’s potential in sustainable fashion and craftsmanship.

     

     

    Bharat Tex 2024: A Landmark Event

    Bharat Tex 2024 set the stage for India’s emergence as a global textile powerhouse, bringing together 3,500+ exhibitors, 3,000+ overseas buyers, and over 1,00,000 visitors from across the world. Covering an expansive 2 lakh sq. meters, Bharat Tex 2024 featured 50+ knowledge sessions, fostering discussions on global trade, innovation, and industry transformation.

    The event played a pivotal role in reinforcing India’s position as a key player in the global textile supply chain. Its success laid a strong foundation for Bharat Tex 2025, which scaled new heights in exhibitor participation, international collaboration, and industry impact.

    Weaving Tomorrow: India’s Textile Revolution

    Embodied in a vibrant tapestry of timeless craftsmanship and pioneering innovation, the Indian textile industry stands at the threshold of a resplendent future. With each passing year, it continues to evolve—leveraging cutting-edge technology, embracing sustainability, and setting global trends.

    As it forges ahead, the industry is not only preserving its rich heritage but also redefining excellence through research-driven advancements and digital integration. With a strong commitment to sustainability and a vision for global leadership, India’s textile sector is poised to shape the future of fashion, technical textiles, and intelligent manufacturing, reinforcing its position as a key driver of economic growth and innovation on the world stage.

    References

     

    Click here to see PDF:

    Santosh Kumar/Sarla Meena/ Anchal Patiyal

    (Release ID: 2104423) Visitor Counter : 26

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri C R Patil inaugurates the 2nd State Water Ministers’ Conference on Water Security with a traditional Jal Kalash Ceremony

    Source: Government of India

    Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri C R Patil inaugurates the 2nd State Water Ministers’ Conference on Water Security with a traditional Jal Kalash Ceremony

    “Water security is a critical pillar in addressing the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047”: MoJS Shri C R Patil

    “Under Swachh Bharat Mission nearly 12 crore toilets constructed thus transforming habits of 60 crore people and approximately ₹8 lakh crore saved in healthcare costs”: Shri CR Patil

    “1 million artificial rainwater harvesting structures being developed across India under Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari – A Community-Driven Water Conservation Effort”: Union Minister

    Chief Minister of Rajastan, Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma graced the inaugural function with his presence

    Posted On: 18 FEB 2025 5:38PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri C R Patil inaugurated the 2nd State Water Ministers’ Conference on Water Security in the presence of Chief Minister of Rajastan, Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma with a traditional Jal Kalash Ceremony. In the inaugural speech Union Minister Shri C R Patil emphasized India’s vision for the Viksit Bharat @ 2047, with water security being a critical pillar in achieving this goal and under the leadership of Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi, India is working towards ensuring water security by 2047 he added.

    Union Minister stated that the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has been a major milestone, with 12 crore toilets constructed, transforming habits of 60 crore people, saving 3 lakh lives through improved sanitation and ₹8 lakh crore saved in healthcare costs.

    Shri C R Patil highlighted the community-driven water conservation effort, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari, which has led to the development of 1 million artificial rainwater harvesting structures across India. Furthermore, 6 lakh+ water conservation works have been completed under community participation, adopting the “Khet ka paani khet me” approach. Through this community driven effort 60000, 1 lakh, and 2.29 lakh artificial recharge structures have been created in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively. Shri Patil also spoke about the Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain initiative, which has completed more than 1.67 crore water conservation works through convergence, focusing on reviving traditional water bodies and efficient water use.

    Union minister also added that river linking projects, such as the Ken-Betwa Link (MP-UP) and the Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal ERCP (MP-Rajasthan), are transforming India’s water landscape. The Ken-Betwa Link project will provide irrigation to 10.62 lakh hectares and drinking water to 62 lakh people, while the Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal ERCP will irrigate 10 lakh hectares and provide drinking water to 50 lakh people. Union minister also mentioned shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision for water security, saying that substantial progress has been made in river linking projects.

    In conclusion, Shri C R Patil emphasized that “Jal hai to kal hai” – water security ensures a strong future. Wealth accumulation is important, but water conservation is critical. With time on our side and PM Modi’s leadership, India is on the right path to securing its water future, he added.

    The Chief Ministers of Odisha and Tripura, and the deputy chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Karnataka graced the inaugural function of the conference with their presence.

    The All-India State Water Ministers’ Conference is being held in Udaipur during 18-19 February 2024 to further strengthen efforts toward achieving water security and Viksit Bharat by 2047. This prestigious conference graced by 30 Ministers and over 300 delegates from Central and State Governments during these two days. The conference will feature approximately 35 presentations across six themes, 5 e-launches, and 15 video showcases highlighting key interventions.

    Click here to see Explainer

    ***

    Dhanya Sanal K

    (Release ID: 2104398) Visitor Counter : 60

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Import of poultry meat and products from Cheshire West and Chester District of Cheshire County in UK suspended

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Import of poultry meat and products from Cheshire West and Chester District of Cheshire County in UK suspended
    Import of poultry meat and products from Cheshire West and Chester District of Cheshire County in UK suspended
    ******************************************************************************************

         The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (February 18) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the Cheshire West and Chester District of Cheshire County in the United Kingdom (UK), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 910 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat, and about 1.34 million poultry eggs from the UK last year.     “The CFS has contacted the British authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

     
    Ends/Tuesday, February 18, 2025Issued at HKT 19:34

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News

  • MIL-OSI Economics: WTO chairpersons for 2025

    Source: World Trade Organization

    General Council

    H.E. Mr. Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

    Dispute Settlement Body

    H.E. Ms. Clare Kelly (New Zealand)

    Trade Policy Review Body

    H.E. Mr. Asset Irgaliyev (Kazakhstan)

    Council for Trade in Goods

    H.E. Mr. Gustavo Nerio Lunazzi (Argentina)

    Council for Trade in Services

    H.E. Mr. Ram Prasad Subedi (Nepal)

    Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

    Mme. Emmanuelle Ivanov-Durand (France)

    Committee on Trade and Development

    H.E. Dr. Mzukisi Qobo (South Africa)

    Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions

    H.E. Dr. José R. Sánchez-Fung             (Dominican Republic)

    Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration

    H.E. Mrs. Carmen Heidecke (Germany)

    Committee on Trade and Environment

    H.E. Mr. Erwin Bollinger (Switzerland)

    Committee on Regional Trade Agreements

    H.E. Mr. José Valencia (Ecuador)

    Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance

    H.E. Mr. Suon Prasith (Cambodia)

    Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology

    H.E. Mr. Salomon Eheth (Cameroon)

    Council for Trade in Services in Special Session

    H.E. Dr. Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid (Nigeria)

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-Evening Report: More than half of Australia’s homes were built before fire standards came in. Here are 5 ways to retrofit them

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia

    Carl Oberg/Shutterstock

    Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate.

    The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed almost 2,800 homes. This summer, houses and buildings have been lost in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

    As temperatures inch upwards, bushfires will become more severe and more frequent, posing risks to more homes. But fires don’t affect homes equally. Older homes built before fire resilience standards became mandatory are at higher risk of going up in flames.

    In the aftermath of the devastating LA fires, there are signs that newer homes have fared better than older ones. Previous fires in California and Australia have shown newer homes built with fire-resilient features are more likely to survive than older homes.

    The problem is, more than half (55%) of Australia’s homes were built 30 or more years ago – before national standards for fire resilience were introduced.

    The good news: you can take action to make older homes more resilient.

    Why are new homes better able to survive bushfires?

    Location, vegetation and luck play a role in determining which houses survive fires. But there is also evidence newer homes with heat- and ember-resistant features survive better.

    Construction standards in both Australia and the United States require the use of materials and designs which reduce fire risk.

    In Australia, the national construction standards have been in place since the early 1990s. Over time, the standards have expanded to include more fire-resistant features, such as fire-resistant external walls.

    By contrast, older homes are more likely to be built of flammable materials such as wood and untreated timber. Older homes are also more likely to have mature trees and shrubs closer to the house, which can increase fire risk. But as the CSIRO Bushfire Best Practice Guide points out, “trees can also be used to shield against wind, absorb radiant heat, and to filter embers […] when located at a safe distance from the house”.

    More exacting construction standards apply for homes built in areas considered at risk of bushfire. State and territory governments have interactive maps of these areas.

    Unfortunately, climate change is expanding these areas at risk. As the LA wildfires show, warmer climates mean fire can attack suburbs and cities thought to be safe from bushfire.

    Climate change is also making home ownership more expensive, as insurance premiums rise in the wake of more expensive disasters. Analysts predict banks may begin rejecting mortgage applications for properties in areas at high risk from fire.

    Older homes are more likely to burn if a bushfire comes through.
    Ekaterina Kamenetsky/Shutterstock

    How can we make older homes more resilient?

    Older homes remain highly sought after, especially in cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

    But for these homes to be brought up to modern standards of bushfire resistance, they often require significant retrofitting. These retrofits can drastically reduce the risk of ignition.

    How do houses actually ignite? Wind-blown embers are a common cause in starting house fires. If a few houses in a town start burning, the fire can spread house to house.

    Here are 5 ways to protect your older house:

    1. Upgrade external vents. Traditional external vents are designed to ventilate rooms and roofs. But they also permit embers to gain access to attics and crawl spaces and spark a fire. Upgrading to ember-resistant vents can directly improve your home’s resilience.

    2. Install ember gutter guards. Ember-resistant gutter guards are made of metal and have finer mesh than normal gutter guards. These help to prevent the build-up of dry leaves and twigs and stop small embers from landing.

    3. Upgrade windows and walls. You can cut your risk further by installing bushfire-resistant shutters for windows, using fire-resistant material for wall insulation and replacing combustible material with better alternatives such as metal roofing, fibre cement siding for walls and tempered glass windows.

    4. Check your deck and verandah. Wooden decks and verandahs are risky in high-risk areas. If they need to be rebuilt, choose fire-resistant materials.

    5. Make space around your home. In fire-prone areas, removing trees and shrubs within 20 metres of the house can reduce risk. A well-managed area of pavers and low-density plants and shrubs close to the home acts as a fire break.

    Ahead of fire season, making and updating an evacuation plan is equally vital. Homeowners should prepare emergency kits with essential documents, medications, and protective gear. If a fire starts in your area, applying fire-retardant gels to surfaces at risk can provide temporary protection.

    In high risk areas, ensuring clear space between vegetation and the house can cut fire risk. Pictured: a house in Balmoral, New South Wales, after fire passed through in 2020.
    Daria Nipot/Shutterstock

    Homeowners can use the National Emergency Management Authority’s bushfire resilience rating app to assess their home’s bushfire risk and to see which retrofits are highest priority.

    State or territory governments offer advice on making your house more resistant to fire attack: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory.

    Protecting our homes takes time – and money

    Australia’s housing crisis has been front page news for months. As we head towards the federal election, it will remain a hot-button issue. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet heard discussion of the risk posed to our housing stock from bushfires made worse by climate change.

    While planning controls and building standards can raise the standards of future homes, better support and incentives are needed to retrofit existing homes – especially for those built before fire safety standards became the norm.

    Retrofitting is crucial. But it’s not cheap. Costs can range from A$8,500 to $47,000 per property.

    These expenses can be prohibitive for many homeowners. Initiatives such as the Bushfire Resilience Rating Home Self-Assessment app can result in insurers offering premium discounts to homeowners using it to introduce recommended measures.

    In some areas, local governments offer financial assistance for retrofitting, such as the Bushfire Wise Rebate by Ku-ring-gai Council in NSW.

    Without greater financial support or government incentives, a significant portion of Australia’s housing stock will remain vulnerable, increasing risks as climate change expands fire-prone areas.

    Subha Parida receives receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)

    Lyrian Daniel receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

    Michaela Lang receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

    ref. More than half of Australia’s homes were built before fire standards came in. Here are 5 ways to retrofit them – https://theconversation.com/more-than-half-of-australias-homes-were-built-before-fire-standards-came-in-here-are-5-ways-to-retrofit-them-249490

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI Video: Debris Removal

    Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)

    Crews are out in LA County clearing debris and ash from properties that were burned by the recent wildfires. The Environmental Protection Agency continues to clear hazardous household materials from impacted properties, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is coming right behind them to remove concrete, metal, trees, and ash from the properties. This service is free, but you must submit a Right of Entry form to participate. You can do that online at recovery.lacounty.gov or by calling 844-347-3332. The deadline to opt in is March 31, 2025.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy5l92RhjxA

    MIL OSI Video

  • MIL-Evening Report: Loss of forests brought new birds to NZ during the last Ice Age – we’re witnessing a similar process now

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago

    Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand and began to turn the land to their needs, they set in motion great changes.

    The landscape of today bears little resemblance to that of a mere thousand years ago. More than 70% of forest cover has been lost since human arrival. Native bush has been replaced by tussocks, scrublands and, most of all, open agricultural land.

    These changes affected our birdlife dramatically. Some species, like the moa, were simply hunted to extinction. Others fell directly to mammalian predators. Many species were victims of severe habitat destruction. The loss of suitable habitat remains a key conservation challenge to this day.

    However, a changing distribution of plants is not a uniquely modern feature. New Zealand has seen equally radical shifts in habitat before – during the Ice Age, which lasted 2.6 million years and ended about 12,000 years ago.


    This reconstruction shows the extend of glaciers during the height of the last Ice Age some 20,000 years ago.
    Shulmeister et al, 2019, CC BY-SA

    At its height, parts of the country were up to 6°C colder than today, and glacial ice sheets spread wide fingers across the Southern Alps. The dry, cold climate resulted in widespread grass and scrubland. Forest cover became patchy everywhere except for the northern North Island.

    Our new research tracks how bird life responded to these changes – in particular how exotic species took advantage of the shifting landscapes to make New Zealand home.

    Ice Age invaders

    Native birds responded to the Ice Age in a variety of ways. Kiwi populations became so isolated in forest patches they split into new lineages. Several moa species moved across the landscape, following their shifting habitat.

    Some groups adapted, spreading into novel environments. Kea split off from their relatives the kākā, becoming more generalised. This is known as in situ adaptation; an existing group changing its habits or character to deal with new environments.

    But where new ecological opportunities arise, species from elsewhere will also come to take advantage of them. Our research uncovers a pulse of colonisation by exotic bird species that coincides with the reduction of forest cover and the expansion of grasslands at the start of the Ice Age some 2.6 million years ago.

    Many endemic New Zealand birds belong to young lineages that date back to landscape changes during the last Ice Age.
    Wikimedia Commons, Te Papa by Paul Martinson, CC BY-SA

    These species were primarily generalists, able to take advantage of a variety of habitats. But there was also an influx of birds pre-adapted to more open conditions, such as the ancestors of Haast’s eagle, pūtangitangi (paradise shelduck) and pīhoihoi (pipit).

    Where did these “invaders” come from? Principally, from Australia. For millions of years, they have ridden the winds across the Tasman Sea and, occasionally, established breeding colonies on our shores.

    Over a long enough time, those new populations evolved to become distinct, endemic New Zealand species found nowhere else on earth. Pīwakawaka (fantail), ruru (morepork), weweia (dabchick) and kakī (black stilt), to name a few, are all descended from Ice Age Australian ancestors.

    They arrived in a New Zealand characterised by scrub, tussock and grass during cold glacial periods, followed by slowly expanding forests during warmer interglacials.

    History repeats itself

    Today, open vistas once again dominate the landscape. This time they were sculpted by humans rather than a cooling climate. The changing environment means new ecological opportunities – and vacancies – have been left by the great number of species that have gone extinct.


    The open landscapes of today mirror the impacts of the Ice Age. Forest cover is reduced, grass and scrub cover the North and South islands.
    Lubbe et al, 2025, CC BY-SA

    Correspondingly, many new species have naturalised on our shores. Welcome swallows, royal spoonbills, Australian coots, spur winged plovers and white-faced herons started making their home here during the 1930s to 50s.

    Silvereyes have been here longer, first reported during the 1850s, while glossy ibis and barn owl only started breeding here this century. All likely flew across the Tasman to settle here.

    Some arrivals seem to serve as ecological replacements of a kind. The kāhu (swamp harrier) is a stand-in for the now-extinct Eyles’ harrier and Haast’s eagle. The poaka (pied stilt) is a common sight where kakī once dominated. And Australian coots proliferate where New Zealand coots once waded.

    Native habitats for native birds

    These birds are following ancient patterns and processes. Where new opportunities appear, new organisms will rise to fill them. Our highly modified ecosystems are responding in the only way open to them, with exotic species expanding their range to take advantage of empty ecological niches – job vacancies in the ecosystem.

    Indeed, these invasions are likely to become more frequent as species distributions shift in a warming climate. As our native species decline under threats of habitat loss and predation by mammalian pests, they will be ecologically replaced by other species.

    Left to their own devices, Aotearoa’s plants and animals will look different in the future. The unique species that have called these islands home for millions of years will increasingly be replaced by more generalist species from elsewhere.

    The good news is that in predator-free native bush, endemic birds can outcompete introduced species.

    The route to protecting our native species in a fast changing world remains as clear as ever – protect and restore native habitat and eradicate mammalian predators.

    Pascale Lubbe currently receives funding from the Marsden Fund.

    Michael Knapp has received funding from The Royal Society of New Zealand (Rutherford Discovery Fellowship).

    Nic Rawlence receives funding from the Marsden Fund.

    ref. Loss of forests brought new birds to NZ during the last Ice Age – we’re witnessing a similar process now – https://theconversation.com/loss-of-forests-brought-new-birds-to-nz-during-the-last-ice-age-were-witnessing-a-similar-process-now-248523

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI USA: Barr, Artificial Intelligence: Hypothetical Scenarios for the Future

    Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

    Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have accelerated rapidly over the past few years.1 It is now commonplace to see autonomous vehicles navigating city streets, and generative AI tools are available on phones and other devices wherever we go. AI innovations make headlines and play a big role in financial markets, and generative AI has the potential to change how we think about productivity, labor markets and the macroeconomy.2 Today, I will address that question by outlining two hypothetical scenarios for AI’s impact and the implications for businesses, regulators, and society. I will focus my comments on Generative AI, or GenAI, a subset of AI that has seen significant growth and integration into economic activity in just a few short years.
    GenAI and Its AdoptionCompared to earlier iterations of AI, GenAI is able to generate content, which allows it to significantly enhance productivity across a range of knowledge-based activities and be used by people without coding skills. GenAI will likely become a “general purpose technology,” with widespread adoption, continuous improvement, and productivity enhancements to a wide range of sectors across the economy. We are already seeing GenAI improve the productivity of its own R&D.3 There is widespread enthusiasm for GenAI, and survey evidence shows much faster rates of consumer adoption of GenAI already than were seen for the personal computer or the internet.4 While actual deployment of GenAI is limited to some business functions, and there have been pitfalls along the way, businesses in almost every sector are experimenting with or considering how to make use of the technology.5
    Firms are also exploring Agentic AI—Gen AI systems that not only produce new content, but are also able to proactively pursue goals by generating innovative solutions and acting upon them at speed and scale.6 Imagining Agentic AI’s ultimate application, some speculate that we could experience a “country of geniuses in a data center”—a collective intelligence that surpasses human capabilities in problem-solving and collaboration.7 Some believe Agentic AI has the potential to connect ideas in disparate domains, potentially transforming research and development and society more broadly.8
    Hypothetical Scenarios Considering How GenAI Could EvolveToday, I will outline two hypothetical scenarios for considering how GenAI could evolve.9 In one, we see only incremental adoption that primarily augments what humans do today, but still leads to widespread productivity gains. In the other, we see transformative change where we extend human capabilities with far-reaching consequences. For each scenario, I consider the potential implications for the economy and financial sector.
    Thinking through hypothetical scenarios can help widen our lens to a range of possible outcomes and provide a framework for assessing the balance between benefits and risks. Scenarios are not predictions of the future, but provide a framework for analyzing the factors that could lead to different outcomes. Reality is complex. GenAI adoption rates will vary across industries, leading to diverse impacts on market structures. Elements of both scenarios will likely come to pass, and play out at different rates, which will influence the effects on the economy and society. In the short term, GenAI may be overhyped, while in the long run, it may be underappreciated. And, of course, things might turn out differently from these hypotheticals.
    Hypothetical 1: Incremental Progress with Widespread Productivity GainsFirst, let me begin with the incremental scenario, where GenAI primarily augments work in existing processes and leads to steady and widespread productivity gains, but does not fundamentally unlock new capabilities or transform the economy.
    In this state of the world, GenAI tools enhance efficiency and enable more personalized solutions across industries, in ways that have incremental—but still meaningful—effects on people’s lives. For instance, in customer service, professional writing—but not this speech—and software engineering, GenAI-powered tools are already supporting workers, improving accuracy and speed, and these effects could spread to other sectors.10 In this world, health care sees significant improvements as GenAI reduces administrative burdens, assists with diagnostics, and personalizes treatment plans based on real-time patient data. Medicines and other treatments are developed at a faster pace.11 Education is similarly affected, as GenAI alleviates administrative tasks for teachers, allows lessons to be tailored to individual students, and permits students to learn by doing.12 In manufacturing, GenAI-optimized supply chains anticipate and adjust more quickly to disruptions, and current manufacturing processes are refined through virtual iteration.13 In materials science, GenAI-driven experimentation accelerates the discovery of new materials, leading to advances in everything from construction to electronics.14 Turning to the financial sector, we could see similar productivity gains. Community banks leverage GenAI-powered chatbots to provide customized financial advice rooted in local knowledge, while institutions of all sizes continue to advance use of GenAI for compliance monitoring, fraud detection, risk management, and document analysis.15
    The impact to society would be incrementally positive in this state of the world. Humans would use GenAI as a tool to deliver goods and services that we currently produce in a more efficient way. Productivity would go up. The economy would grow at a faster pace.16
    What does this mean for the labor force? The impact will depend on the industry and the nature of the job. GenAI experiments suggest the technology holds the promise of levelling up skills and bringing productivity of lower-performing workers into line with higher performing workers.17 In other cases, it could augment the highest performers, leaving them more time for creativity or strategic aspects of their roles. Increasing automation for certain tasks may displace some workers, where certain skills can be replicated by GenAI. Historically, as technology has replaced some jobs, it has augmented existing roles or created new ones.18 However, this is not to downplay the individual cost for workers who need to retrain, find other employment, or change careers in response to major changes in labor demand. Society will need to account for these possible effects of AI.
    What does this mean for the economy? As I noted before, the economy should grow, if the incremental productivity gains are widespread. However, in this scenario, it is possible that the expected value creation from GenAI was overhyped, anticipating transformative breakthroughs rather than incremental productivity gains. This could trigger market corrections for the firms that have heavily invested in this technology if reality doesn’t measure up to expectations. While the U.S. economy experienced a surge of productivity growth during the dot.com boom in the late 1990s, it was followed by a wave of bankruptcies, capital overhang, and a cautious business investment climate.19 The effects of the ensuing recession were widespread.
    What does this mean for financial stability and other financial risks? In this incremental scenario, GenAI may magnify both the vulnerabilities and sources of resilience that already exist in the system. Attractive trades become more crowded, but risk managers gain new insights.20 Malicious actors gain new tools, but cyber defenders become better armed. So long as financial regulators, enterprise risk managers, and others charged with managing downside risks prioritize efforts to keep pace with the evolving financial ecosystem, there’s nothing to suggest a wholesale transformation of the balance of risks. Of course, keeping pace will pose challenges, and it’s important that we all focus on the need to meet these risks.
    Hypothetical Scenario 2: Transformative ChangeNow, let’s consider a more dramatic hypothetical scenario, in which GenAI adoption extends beyond improving on what we currently do, and provides new expertise and capabilities that have transformative effects on the economy and society. In this scenario, humans deploy their imagination and creativity—combined with robust investment in research and development—to deploy intelligent GenAI systems to make rapid breakthroughs in, for example, biotechnology, robotics, and energy, fundamentally reshaping existing industries and creating new ones. In this instance, to focus the mind, we can think of GenAI as no longer only a tool for scientists to analyze data—in a sense, it becomes the scientist, directing the research.21
    For instance, let’s say that GenAI applications in health care do not simply improve how we currently deliver care, but also enable therapies that target genetic mutations and cure diseases previously considered incurable.22 Similarly, manufacturing evolves to create GenAI-driven robotic factories, with goods produced with new materials and atomic precision.23 Materials science is transformed through the discovery of programmable materials and self-healing substances, all of which reshape construction, technology, and consumer goods.24 Meanwhile, GenAI optimizes fusion energy research, expediting the shift to sustainable energy sources.25 And GenAI helps to create the next generation of quantum computing.26 In that way, GenAI improves its own energy sources and computing capabilities, enabling it to become a more powerful creative tool.27
    Finance also looks radically different than it does today. Individuals with access to hyper-personalized financial planning and businesses with innovative products and services seamlessly connect with one another through near-frictionless or novel forms of financial intermediation.28 Trading strategies and risk-management practices are boosted by greater GenAI-based analytic tools that have dynamic real-time access to an enormous knowledge base in both the public and private domains.29
    Although this transformative scenario is more speculative and is accompanied by a far greater degree of uncertainty than the first, it is important to consider given the extraordinary opportunities for human advancement and welfare that could arise, even if just one of its transformative components were to come to fruition. We would need to fundamentally reimagine how the economy is structured.
    What are the impacts on the labor force, in a world where GenAI’s capabilities extend beyond what humans can accomplish today? Humans may have a role to manage multi-agent GenAI frameworks, or fill gaps where GenAI solutions remain expensive or inefficient for some applications. But this is a world where some workers may see their current jobs disappearing. It is also a world in which they may see their own work transformed and have many more choices about the work they do. The nature of labor would radically change, and this will require us to have broader conversations about how to organize the economy. These conversations should wrestle with how to navigate major economic shifts in a way that recognizes the impact on the human condition, and the extent to which people derive their communities, friendships, personal sense of meaning and dignity from their work.
    What about the competitive landscape? There is probably a greater likelihood that rewards for businesses would be distributed more unevenly at first, as significant breakthroughs with far-reaching ramifications may benefit a subset of firms and industries and concentrate economic power in firms that control GenAI breakthroughs. If only a handful of firms have the ability to accomplish the incredible things I’ve mentioned above, they may dominate markets and crowd out competitors. To the extent that GenAI becomes broadly effective, widely available, and cheap, these market advantages could lessen over time if the right regulatory environment supports competitive market dynamics.30 But history suggests caution in this regard; a handful of players may dominate.31
    And finally, for finance, we should anticipate fundamental changes in this scenario. When it’s working well, the financial system helps move money and risk through time and space.32 To the extent there are fundamental changes to how the economy is organized, we could need a new set of institutions, markets, and products to facilitate transactions among households, businesses, and GenAI agents.
    What Should We Do?Among the many ways in which we can help to harness the potential benefits of GenAI and minimize its risks, I will highlight only a couple today.
    Financial institutions, and the Federal Reserve System, should consider investing sufficient resources in understanding GenAI technology, incorporating it into their workflows where appropriate, and training staff on how to use the technology responsibly and effectively.33 Meanwhile, the financial regulatory community should approach the changing landscape with agility and flexibility. And beyond the financial sector, collaboration between governments, private industry, and research institutions will be critical to ensure that GenAI systems are not weaponized in catastrophic ways. We should continue to focus on responsible AI research and development and implement safeguards against misuse, including monitoring systems, standards for secure AI system development, and agreement on red lines for acceptable use cases.34 We should be attuned to the impact of GenAI on our economic and political institutions. There’s a risk that it concentrates economic and political power in the hands of the very few and could lead to the gains being realized only by a small group, while the rest are left behind.
    Another thing I want to emphasize is AI governance. I think most would agree that the goal of the technology is to improve the human condition, and to do that, we need to be intentional in advancing that goal. We should make sure that we think about GenAI as enhancing, not replacing, humans, and set up best practices and cultural norms to that end. Every financial institution should recognize the limitations of the technology, explore where and when GenAI belongs in any process, and identify how humans can be best positioned to be in the loop. We should also focus on data quality, and make sure that uses of GenAI do not perpetuate or amplify biases inherent in the data used to train the system or make incorrect inferences to the extent the data is incomplete or nonrepresentative.35 In the realm of regulation, frameworks for understanding model risk may need to be updated to address the complexity and challenges of explaining AI methods and the difficulty of assessing data quality.
    We need to be attuned to the risk in finance. The very attributes that make GenAI attractive—the speed, automaticity, and ability to optimize financial strategies—also present risk.36 When the technology becomes ubiquitous, use of GenAI could lead to herding behavior and the concentration of risk, potentially amplifying market volatility. As GenAI agents will be directed to maximize profit, they may converge on strategies to maximize returns through coordinated market manipulation, potentially fueling asset bubbles and crashes. Speed, automaticity, and ubiquity could generate new risks at wide scale.37
    We also should monitor how introduction of this technology changes the banking landscape. Nonbanks may be more nimble and risk-forward in incorporating GenAI into their operations, which may push intermediation to less-regulated, less transparent corners of the financial sector. In addition, this competitive pressure may push all institutions, including regulated institutions, to take a more aggressive approach to GenAI adoption, heightening the governance, alignment, and financial risks I mentioned before.
    In conclusion, while AI’s impact will vary across industries and the reality is evolving, the scenarios I have outlined today provide a framework to begin thinking about how we should respond to developments in GenAI. However, as I mentioned above, elements of both scenarios will likely be present in the future, and play out at different rates, which will influence the effects on the economy and society. Rapid advances in this technology, such as Agentic AI and advancements in open-source models, underscore just how new this technology is and the importance of understanding what it means for individuals, businesses, and markets. Thank you.

    1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board. Return to text
    2. See, for instance, Lisa D. Cook, “Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and the Path Ahead for Productivity,” (speech at Technology-Enabled Disruption: Implications of AI, Big Data, and Remote Work Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1, 2024). Return to text
    3. See Gaurav Sett, “How AI Can Automate AI Research and Development,” RAND Commentary, October 24, 2024. Return to text
    4. See Cory Breaux and Emin Dinlersoz, “How Many U.S. Businesses Use Artificial Intelligence?” (Washington: U.S. Census Bureau, November 28, 2023); Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, and David J. Deming, “The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI,” NBER Working Paper No. 32966 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2024, revised February 2025); and Leland Crane, Michael Green, and Paul Soto, “Measuring AI Uptake in the Workplace,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 5, 2025). Return to text
    5. There’s evidence of firms experimenting with these tools and then abandoning them—due to a multitude of reasons. See Kathryn Bonney, Cory Breaux, Cathy Buffington, Emin Dinlersoz, Lucia S. Foster, Nathan Goldschlag, John C. Haltiwanger, Zachary Kroff, and Keith Savage, “Tracking Firm Use of AI in Real Time: A Snapshot from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey,” NBER Working Paper No. 32319 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2024). Return to text
    6. For more on Agentic AI’s uses, advantages, and risks, see Mark Purdy, “What Is Agentic AI, and How Will It Change Work?” Harvard Business Review (December 12, 2024). Return to text
    7. See Dario Amodei, “Machines of Loving Grace,” October 2024, https://darioamodei.com/machines-of-loving-grace. Return to text
    8. For biology and drug discovery, see Jean-Philippe Vert, “Unlocking the Mysteries of Complex Biological Systems with Agentic AI,” MIT Technology Review (November 13, 2024), https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/13/1106750/unlocking-the-mysteries-of-complex-biological-systems-with-agentic-ai; and “Owkin Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase I AI-Optimized Clinical Trial of OKN4395, a First-in-Class EP2/EP4/DP1 Triple Inhibitor for Patients with Solid Tumors,” Business Wire, January 30, 2025, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250130436779/en/Owkin-Announces-First-Patient-Dosed-in-Phase-I-AI-optimized-Clinical-Trial-of-OKN4395-a-First-in-Class-EP2EP4DP1-Triple-Inhibitor-for-Patients-with-Solid-Tumors. Return to text
    9. Others have used other types of scenarios. See Anton Korinek, “The Economics of Transformative AI,” The Reporter (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, December 31, 2024); Iñaki Aldasoro, Leonardo Gambacorta, Anton Korinek, Vatsala Shreeti, and Merlin Stein, “Intelligent Financial System: How AI Is Transforming Finance (PDF),” BIS Working Papers No. 1194 (Basel, Switzerland: Bank for International Settlements, June 2024); and Ethan Mollick, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2024). Return to text
    10. For worker productivity gains in customer service, see Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li, and Lindsey R. Raymond, “Generative AI at Work,” NBER Working Paper No. 31161 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2023, revised November 2023). For GenAI assisted writing gains, see Shakked Noy and Whitney Zhang, “Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence,” Science, vol. 381, no. 6654 (July 2023): 187–92; Jordan Usdan, Allison Connell Pensky, and Harley Chang, “Generative AI’s Impact on Graduate Student Writing Productivity and Quality,” SSRN (August 29, 2024), https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4941022. For software engineering, see Sida Peng, Eirini Kalliamvakou, Peter Cihon, and Mert Demirer, “The Impact of AI on Developer Productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot,” arXiv:2302.06590, February 13, 2023; Leonardo Gambacorta, Han Qiu, Shuo Shan, and Daniel M. Rees, “Generative AI and Labour Productivity: A Field Experiment on Coding (PDF),” BIS Working Papers No. 1208 (Basel, Switzerland: Bank for International Settlements, September 2024); Zheyuan (Kevin) Cui, Mert Demirer, Sonia Jaffe, Leon Musolff, Sida Peng, and Tobias Salz, “The Effects of Generative AI on High-Skilled Work: Evidence from Three Field Experiments with Software Developers,” SSRN (September 5, 2024, revised February 10, 2025), https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4945566. For worker gains in the consulting industry, see Fabrizio Dell’Acqua, Edward McFowland III, Ethan Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine C. Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, François Candelon, and Karim R. Lakhani, “Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality (PDF),” Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 24-013 (September 2023). Return to text
    11. See Ethan Goh, Robert Gallo, Jason Hom, et al., “Large Language Model Influence on Diagnostic Reasoning: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” JAMA Network Open (October 28, 2024), https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2825395; Nikhil Agarwal, Alex Moehring, Pranav Rajpurkar, and Tobias Salz, “Combining Human Expertise with Artificial Intelligence: Experimental Evidence from Radiology,” NBER Working Paper No. 31422 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2023, revised March 2024); Ashley Capoot, “Reid Hoffman Enters ‘Wondrous and Terrifying’ World of Health Care with Latest AI Startup,” CNBC, February 2, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/02/reid-hoffman-launches-manas-ai-a-new-drug-discovery-startup.html; Kang Zhang, Xin Yang, Yifei Wang, Yunfang Yu, Niu Huang, Gen Li, Xiaokun Li, Joseph C. Wu, and Shengyong Yang, “Artificial Intelligence in Drug Development,” Nature Medicine, vol. 31 (January 2025): 45–59, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03434-4; Qian Liao, Yu Zhang, Ying Chu, Yi Ding, Zhen Liu, Xianyi Zhao, Yizheng Wang, Jie Wan, Yijie Ding, Prayag Tiwari, Quan Zou, and Ke Han, “Application of Artificial Intelligence in Drug-Target Interactions Prediction: A Review,” NPJ Biomedical Innovations, vol. 2, no. 1 (January 2025), https://doi.org/10.1038/s44385-024-00003-9. Return to text
    12. For more on education, see Justin Wolfers, “An Econ Educators Guide to our AI-Powered Future,” Macmillan Learning, EconEd (presentation), September 26, 2024, https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/events/econed; and Anne J. Manning, “Professor Tailored AI Tutor to Physics Course. Engagement Doubled,” Harvard Gazette, September 5, 2024. Return to text
    13. See Maxime C. Cohen and Christopher S. Tang, “The Role of AI in Developing Resilient Supply Chains,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (February 5, 2024); and Remko Van Hoek and Mary Lacity, “How Global Companies Use AI to Prevent Supply Chain Disruptions,” Harvard Business Review, November 21, 2023. Return to text
    14. See Sheldon Fernandez, “How Generative AI Can Be Used in Electronics,” Forbes, April 26, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2023/04/26/how-generative-ai-can-be-used-in-electronics-manufacturing. Return to text
    15. For U.S. financial institutions, see Elizabeth Judd, “How to Balance Human and Machine While Using Chatbots,” Independent Banker, January 1, 2025; and U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services (PDF)” (Washington: U.S. Department of the Treasury, December 2024). For foreign financial institutions, see Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority, “Artificial Intelligence in UK Financial Services—2024” (London: Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority, November 21, 2024); and Bank of Japan, “Use and Risk Management of Generative AI by Japanese Financial Institutions,” Financial System Report Annex (Tokyo: Bank of Japan, October 29, 2024). For global financial institutions, see OECD, “FSB Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance (PDF),” Financial Stability Board, September 30, 2024. Return to text
    16. Lida R. Weinstock and Paul Tierno, “The Macroeconomic Effects of Artificial Intelligence (PDF),” Congressional Research Service, January 28, 2025. Return to text
    17. See Shakked Noy and Whitney Zhang, “Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence,” Science, vol. 381, no. 6654 (July 13, 2023): 187–92; Brynjolfsson et al., “Generative AI at Work” (see footnote 9); and “for software engineering” from footnote 9; Korinek (2024) from footnote 7. Return to text
    18. See David H. Autor, “Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 29, no. 3 (Summer 2015): 3–30.See Simona Abis and Laura Veldkamp. Return to text
    19. See Ben S. Bernanke, “Will Business Investment Bounce Back?” (speech at the Forecasters Club, New York, NY, April 24, 2003). Return to text
    20. See Financial Stability Board, The Financial Stability Implications of Artificial Intelligence (Basel, Switzerland: Financial Stability Board, November 14, 2024); and Jon Danielsson and Andreas Uthemann, “How AI Can Undermine Financial Stability,” VoxEU: CEPR, January 22, 2024. Return to text
    21. For some very early examples, see Davide Castelvecchi, “Researchers Built an ‘AI Scientist’—What Can It Do?” Nature, August 30, 2024, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02842-3; Daniil A. Boiko, Robert MacKnight, Ben Kline, and Gabe Gomes, “Autonomous Chemical Research with Large Language Models,” Nature, December 20, 2023, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06792-0; and Helena Kudiabor, “Virtual Lab Powered by ‘AI Scientists’ Super-Charges Biomedical Research,” Nature, December 4, 2024, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01684-3. Return to text
    22. For more on drug discovery and gene therapy, see Betty Zou, “Team Uses AI and Quantum Computing to Target ‘Undruggable’ Cancer Protein,” Phys Org, January 27, 2025; and Mohammad Ghazi Vakili et al., “Quantum-Computing-Enhanced Algorithm Unveils Potential KRAS Inhibitors,” Nature Biotechnology, January 22, 2025, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02526-3. Return to text
    23. See NASA Technology Transfer Program, “Robonaut 2: Hazardous Environments (MSC-TOPS-44)”. Return to text
    24. For more on material sciences innovation, see Andy Extance, “First GPT-4-Powered AI Lab Assistant Independently Directs Key Organic Reactions,” Chemistry World, January 8, 2024, https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/first-gpt-4-powered-ai-lab-assistant-independently-directs-key-organic-reactions/4018723.article; Chenyang Liu, Xi Zhang, Jiahui Chang, You Lyu, Jianan Zhao, and Song Qiu, “Programmable Mechanical Metamaterials: Basic Concepts, Types, Construction Strategies—A Review,” Frontiers, vol. 11 (March 19, 2024); Aidan Toner-Rodgers, “Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation,” MIT, November 27, 2024, https://aidantr.github.io/files/AI_innovation.pdf; and Thomas Hayes et al., “Simulating 500 Million Years of Evolution with a Language Model,” Science, January 16, 2025. Return to text
    25. See Tan Sui, “AI Could Help Overcome the Hurdles to Making Nuclear Fusion a Practical Energy Source,” The Conversation, January 29, 2025, https://theconversation.com/ai-could-help-overcome-the-hurdles-to-making-nuclear-fusion-a-practical-energy-source-247608; Jaemin Seo, SangKyeun Kim, Azarakhsh Jalalvand, Rory Conlin, Andrew Rothstein, Joseph Abbate, Keith Erickson, Josiah Wai, Ricardo Shousha, and Egemen Kolemen, “Avoiding Fusion Plasma Tearing Instability with Deep Reinforcement Learning,” Nature, vol. 626, February 21, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07024-9; and Massimiliano Lupo Pasini, German Samolyuk, Markus Eisenbach, Jong Youl Choi, Junqi Yin, and Ying Yang, “First-Principles Data for Solid Solution Niobium-Tantalum-Vanadium Alloys with Body-Centered-Cubic Structures,” Nature: Scientific Data, vol. 11, no. 907 (August 22, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03720-3. Return to text
    26. Nakia Melecio, “Exploring the Synergy: Quantum Computing and Generative AI at the Intersection of Innovation,” ScaleUp Lab Program, Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Tech. Return to text
    27. For an example on GenAI and quantum computers, see Rahul Rao, “Quantum Computers Can Now Run Powerful AI That Works like the Brain,” Scientific American, April 22, 2024, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-computers-can-run-powerful-ai-that-works-like-the-brain. For an example about AI and clean energy, see Office of Policy, “How AI Can Help Clean Energy Meet Growing Electricity Demand” (Washington: U.S. Department of Energy, August 16, 2024). For examples of how GenAI is augmenting creativity, see Tojin T. Eapen, Daniel J. Finkenstadt, Josh Folk, and Lokesh Venkataswamy, “How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity,” Harvard Business Review (July–August 2023); and Anil R. Doshi and Oliver P. Hauser, “Generative AI Enhances Individual Creativity but Reduces the Collective Diversity of Novel Content,” Science Advances, vol. 10, no. 28 (July 12, 2024). Return to text
    28. See Iñaki Aldasoro, Leonardo Gambacorta, Anton Korinek, Vatsala Shreeti, and Merlin Stein, “Intelligent Financial System: How AI Is Transforming Finance (PDF),” BIS Working Papers No. 1194 (Basel, Switzerland: Bank for International Settlements, June 2024); and Sarah Hammer, “From Turing to Trading: How AI Is Revolutionizing Finance,” Finance Centers at the Wharton School, July 10, 2024. Return to text
    29. Large language models may even allow for the creation of synthetic data that allows for enhancing macroeconomic nowcasting and forecasting through economic AI agents that can also help with analyzing macroeconomic trends and contribute to more informed financial decisionmaking. See Anne Lundgaard Hansen, John J. Horton, Sophia Kazinnik, Daniela Puzzello, and Ali Zarifhonarvar, “Simulating the Survey of Professional Forecasters,” SSRN (December 1, 2024), https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5066286. Return to text
    30. Kelly Ng, Brandon Drenon, Tom Gerken, and Marc Cieslak, “DeepSeek: The Chinese AI App That Has the World Talking,” BBC News, February 4, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv5976z9po. Return to text
    31. For example, see IBM Newsroom, “Data Suggests Growth in Enterprise Adoption of AI Is Due to Widespread Deployment by Early Adopters, But Barriers Keep 40% in the Exploration and Experimentation Phases,” IBM, January 10, 2024, https://newsroom.ibm.com/2024-01-10-Data-Suggests-Growth-in-Enterprise-Adoption-of-AI-is-Due-to-Widespread-Deployment-by-Early-Adopters; and Jefferies Editorial Team, “Can Startups Outsmart Big Tech in the AI Race?” Jefferies, September 17, 2024, https://www.jefferies.com/insights/boardroom-intelligence/can-startups-outsmart-big-tech-in-the-ai-race. Return to text
    32. If AI agents proliferate in financial transactions, we will also need to be careful about the potential for unintended consequences such as collusion among AI agents. See Winston Wei Dou, Itay Goldstein, and Yan Ji, “AI-Powered Trading, Algorithmic Collusion, and Price Efficiency,” Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Financial Research Paper, The Wharton School Research Paper, May 30, 2024, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4452704. Return to text
    33. See Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, 90 Fed. Reg. 9,088 (PDF) (February 6, 2025). Return to text
    34. See Heather Domin, “AI Governance Trends: How Regulation, Collaboration, and Skills Demand Are Shaping the Industry,” World Economic Forum, September 5, 2024. Return to text
    35. For more on bias introduced in models, see Moshe Glickman and Tali Sharot, “How Human–AI Feedback Loops Alter Human Perceptual, Emotional, and Social Judgements,” Nature Human Behavior, December 18, 2024, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02077-2; Saul Asiel Flores, “‘Bias in, Bias out’: Tackling Bias in Medical Artificial Intelligence,” Yale School of Medicine, November 18, 2024; and Adam Zewe, “Researchers Reduce Bias in AI Models While Preserving or Improving Accuracy,” MIT News, December 11, 2024. For governance in central banks, see Claudia Alvarez Toca and Alexandre Tombini, Governance of AI Adoption in Central Banks (PDF) (Basel, Switzerland: Bank for International Settlements, January 2025). Return to text
    36. See, e.g., Michael P. Wellman, “Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services (PDF)” (written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, September 20, 2023). Return to text
    37. See Jon Danielsson and Andreas Uthemann, “AI Financial Crises,” VoxEU: CEPR, July 26, 2024. For more on algorithm collusion, see Wei Dou et al., “AI-Powered Trading, Algorithmic Collusion, and Price Efficiency” (see footnote 33). Return to text

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Global: Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what it means for the climate

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kshitij Sabnis, Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, Queen Mary University of London

    The US aerospace company Boom Supersonic recently announced it has successfully tested its latest aircraft, the XB-1. The company is developing a larger plane and aims to begin passenger flights at supersonic (faster than sound) speed within the next five years, and claims it already has orders from a handful of airlines.

    However, with ever-increasing scrutiny on the environmental consequences of flying, it is important to consider how supersonic aviation may affect the industry’s ability to meet its ambitious net zero by 2050 target.

    The latest test flight represents an important stage in the development of supersonic aircraft that minimise their characteristic “sonic boom” – the considerable noise generated as the shock waves travelling along with a supersonic aircraft pass over people on the ground.

    Boom Supersonic has carefully designing the aircraft shape to reduce this noise pollution. It did this by exploiting a phenomenon known as “Mach cutoff”, where air temperatures in the atmosphere cause shock waves to reflect upwards rather than towards the ground.

    Supersonic aircraft won’t receive certification to fly over land if they are too noisy, and overland flights are essential for their commercial viability. Indeed, failing to receive such certification limited Concorde’s routes to London-New York and Paris-New York, ultimately contributing to its demise. These recent noise improvements pave the way for Boom Supersonic to progress its larger 80-seat supersonic airliner, Overture. If all goes to plan, Overture will cruise at 1.7 times the speed of sound and could fly from London to New York in just 3.5 hours.

    Other organisations working on supersonic flight are making similar progress. US firm Spike Aerospace is developing a smaller business jet, for instance, while Nasa and defence and aerospace firm Lockheed Martin plan to begin test flying their supersonic X-59 later this year. There is every indication that planes like these are on their way back, more than two decades after Concorde last took to the skies.

    Concorde’s maiden flight back in 1969. It flew commercially between 1976 and 2003.
    Andre Cros / wiki, CC BY-SA

    Shock waves increase aerodynamic drag

    The key to understanding the environmental effects of supersonic aircraft is that, whenever its speed exceeds the speed of sound, shock waves form around the aircraft. These shock waves significantly increase the aerodynamic drag, and so more fuel needs to be burned to compensate for the drag force. Indeed, it is estimated that up to ten times more fuel needs to be burned by a supersonic aircraft compared to the equivalent subsonic airplane for every passenger mile.

    At supersonic speeds, sound itself is a drag.
    Chabacano / wiki, CC BY-SA

    The cost of this extra fuel is why typical aircraft speeds have remained pretty constant at around 85% of the speed of sound for several decades. It also leads to greater greenhouse gas emissions – as much as five to seven times more than subsonic aircraft.

    In fact, the situation may be even more stark. Supersonic aircraft tend to fly at high altitudes (Concorde flew at 60,000ft (18km) rather than the 40,000ft (12km) typical for most passenger jets) to take advantage of lower turbulence levels. This means their emissions tend to remain in the atmosphere for longer.

    Supersonic and sustainable?

    There are considerable efforts to align supersonic aircraft development with the aviation industry’s environmental ambitions. For instance, the new engines designed by Boom Supersonic are powered entirely by “sustainable aviation fuels” (Saf) which are direct replacements for traditional jet fuels that are made from renewable raw materials, often used cooking oil or crop residues. Due to its exclusive use of Saf, the Overture is advertised as having a zero-carbon footprint.

    A concept image of the Overture, the plane Boom Supersonic ultimately wants to build.
    Boom Supersonic, CC BY-SA

    In reality, the situation is more complex. Saf is often produced from edible crops and has been linked to deforestation – the total land required to power all of commercial aviation in this way is impractically immense.

    To address this longer-term problem, it is necessary to look towards alternative fuel sources. While hydrogen or electric power is being developed for regular aircraft, for now they aren’t developed enough to ensure a plane reaches supersonic speeds. Instead, one possibility is e-kerosene, a synthetic fuel generated from hydrogen and carbon dioxide using renewable electricity.

    Despite all these technological advances, a supersonic aircraft still cannot beat physics. Shock waves, and their associated drag, will still exist. So, a single supersonic aircraft will still produce considerably more carbon emissions than its subsonic counterpart.

    Beyond carbon emissions, contrails also have an effect. These are thin clouds of water vapour produced by aircraft exhausts, which can trap heat in the atmosphere the same way as greenhouse gases. These contrails are thought to have twice the impact of carbon emissions, or perhaps even more, so it is essential to take their effects into account. For now, we simply don’t know enough about contrails, especially at much higher altitudes, to definitively say how supersonic aircraft will affect the environment.

    Given the costs involved, supersonic aircraft will account for only a very small percentage of aircraft worldwide. The overall impact on the environment, in comparison to the tens of thousands of subsonic aircraft currently in operation, will be moderate.

    There is perhaps one environmental upside. The research and development activity making supersonic aviation more environmentally friendly (such as developments in fuel and propulsion technology) will likely yield technologies that transfer to subsonic aircraft too. This should help to address the much broader problem of environmental damage caused by the aviation industry as a whole.


    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.


    Kshitij Sabnis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    ref. Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what it means for the climate – https://theconversation.com/supersonic-passenger-aircraft-may-be-returning-heres-what-it-means-for-the-climate-250116

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what that would mean for the climate

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kshitij Sabnis, Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, Queen Mary University of London

    The US aerospace company Boom Supersonic recently announced it has successfully tested its latest aircraft, the XB-1. The company is developing a larger plane and aims to begin passenger flights at supersonic (faster than sound) speed within the next five years, and claims it already has orders from a handful of airlines.

    However, with ever-increasing scrutiny on the environmental consequences of flying, it is important to consider how supersonic aviation may affect the industry’s ability to meet its ambitious net zero by 2050 target.

    The latest test flight represents an important stage in the development of supersonic aircraft that minimise their characteristic “sonic boom” – the considerable noise generated as the shock waves travelling along with a supersonic aircraft pass over people on the ground.

    Boom Supersonic has carefully designing the aircraft shape to reduce this noise pollution. It did this by exploiting a phenomenon known as “Mach cutoff”, where air temperatures in the atmosphere cause shock waves to reflect upwards rather than towards the ground.

    Supersonic aircraft won’t receive certification to fly over land if they are too noisy, and overland flights are essential for their commercial viability. Indeed, failing to receive such certification limited Concorde’s routes to London-New York and Paris-New York, ultimately contributing to its demise. These recent noise improvements pave the way for Boom Supersonic to progress its larger 80-seat supersonic airliner, Overture. If all goes to plan, Overture will cruise at 1.7 times the speed of sound and could fly from London to New York in just 3.5 hours.

    Other organisations working on supersonic flight are making similar progress. US firm Spike Aerospace is developing a smaller business jet, for instance, while Nasa and defence and aerospace firm Lockheed Martin plan to begin test flying their supersonic X-59 later this year. There is every indication that planes like these are on their way back, more than two decades after Concorde last took to the skies.

    Concorde’s maiden flight back in 1969. It flew commercially between 1976 and 2003.
    Andre Cros / wiki, CC BY-SA

    Shock waves increase aerodynamic drag

    The key to understanding the environmental effects of supersonic aircraft is that, whenever its speed exceeds the speed of sound, shock waves form around the aircraft. These shock waves significantly increase the aerodynamic drag, and so more fuel needs to be burned to compensate for the drag force. Indeed, it is estimated that up to ten times more fuel needs to be burned by a supersonic aircraft compared to the equivalent subsonic airplane for every passenger mile.

    At supersonic speeds, sound itself is a drag.
    Chabacano / wiki, CC BY-SA

    The cost of this extra fuel is why typical aircraft speeds have remained pretty constant at around 85% of the speed of sound for several decades. It also leads to greater greenhouse gas emissions – as much as five to seven times more than subsonic aircraft.

    In fact, the situation may be even more stark. Supersonic aircraft tend to fly at high altitudes (Concorde flew at 60,000ft (18km) rather than the 40,000ft (12km) typical for most passenger jets) to take advantage of lower turbulence levels. This means their emissions tend to remain in the atmosphere for longer.

    Supersonic and sustainable?

    There are considerable efforts to align supersonic aircraft development with the aviation industry’s environmental ambitions. For instance, the new engines designed by Boom Supersonic are powered entirely by “sustainable aviation fuels” (Saf) which are direct replacements for traditional jet fuels that are made from renewable raw materials, often used cooking oil or crop residues. Due to its exclusive use of Saf, the Overture is advertised as having a zero-carbon footprint.

    A concept image of the Overture, the plane Boom Supersonic ultimately wants to build.
    Boom Supersonic, CC BY-SA

    In reality, the situation is more complex. Saf is often produced from edible crops and has been linked to deforestation – the total land required to power all of commercial aviation in this way is impractically immense.

    To address this longer-term problem, it is necessary to look towards alternative fuel sources. While hydrogen or electric power is being developed for regular aircraft, for now they aren’t developed enough to ensure a plane reaches supersonic speeds. Instead, one possibility is e-kerosene, a synthetic fuel generated from hydrogen and carbon dioxide using renewable electricity.

    Despite all these technological advances, a supersonic aircraft still cannot beat physics. Shock waves, and their associated drag, will still exist. So, a single supersonic aircraft will still produce considerably more carbon emissions than its subsonic counterpart.

    Beyond carbon emissions, contrails also have an effect. These are thin clouds of water vapour produced by aircraft exhausts, which can trap heat in the atmosphere the same way as greenhouse gases. These contrails are thought to have twice the impact of carbon emissions, or perhaps even more, so it is essential to take their effects into account. For now, we simply don’t know enough about contrails, especially at much higher altitudes, to definitively say how supersonic aircraft will affect the environment.

    Given the costs involved, supersonic aircraft will account for only a very small percentage of aircraft worldwide. The overall impact on the environment, in comparison to the tens of thousands of subsonic aircraft currently in operation, will be moderate.

    There is perhaps one environmental upside. The research and development activity making supersonic aviation more environmentally friendly (such as developments in fuel and propulsion technology) will likely yield technologies that transfer to subsonic aircraft too. This should help to address the much broader problem of environmental damage caused by the aviation industry as a whole.


    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.


    Kshitij Sabnis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    ref. Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what that would mean for the climate – https://theconversation.com/supersonic-passenger-aircraft-may-be-returning-heres-what-that-would-mean-for-the-climate-250116

    MIL OSI – Global Reports