Lula urged a global transition away from fossil fuels, the main drivers of climate change

International News via Reuters:

Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations addressed the shared challenges of global warming on Monday, the final day of their summit in Rio de Janeiro, demanding that wealthy nations fund mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in poorer nations.

In his opening remarks, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will host the United Nations climate summit in November, also blasted denialism of the climate emergency, indirectly criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“Today, denialism and unilateralism are eroding past achievements and harming our future,” he said. “The Global South is in a position to lead a new development paradigm without repeating the mistakes of the past.”

Trump took issue on Sunday with veiled criticism from the BRICS group, accusing the bloc of having “anti-American policies” and threatening them with extra 10% tariffs. BRICS members brushed off his accusation and reaffirmed their commitment to a multilateral world.

In his comments to leaders at the Rio summit, Lula urged a global transition away from fossil fuels, the main drivers of climate change.

But a joint statement from BRICS leaders released on Sunday argued that petroleum will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, particularly in developing economies – in another sign that the increasingly heterogeneous BRICS group faces challenges finding a unified position on major issues.

“We live in a moment of many contradictions in the whole world. The important thing is that we are willing to overcome these contradictions,” Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva said on the sidelines of the summit, when asked about the plans to extract oil off the coast of the Amazon rainforest. 

In their joint statement, BRICS leaders also underscored that providing climate finance “is a responsibility of developed countries towards developing countries,” which is the standard position for emerging economies in global negotiations. 

But their declaration also mentioned the group’s support for a fund that Brazil proposed to protect endangered forests – the Tropical Forests Forever Facility – as a way for developing economies to fund climate change mitigation beyond the mandatory requirements imposed on wealthy nations by the Paris Agreement. 

China and the UAE signaled in meetings with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Rio that they plan to invest in the fund, two sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters last week. 

The joint statement from BRICS leaders also blasted policies such as carbon border taxes and anti-deforestation laws, which Europe has recently adopted, for imposing what they called “discriminatory protectionist measures” under the pretext of environmental concerns.

Reporting by Manuela Andreoni and Lisandra Paraguassu; Additional reporting from Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Editing by Will Dunham, Brad Haynes and Rod Nickel

The company said the shutdowns will remove higher-cost, energy-intensive portions of Dow’s portfolio in Europe

International News via Reuters:

Dow will shut down three upstream plants in Europe and cut around 800 jobs in response to structural challenges in the region, the chemicals company said on Monday, sending its shares down 2.5% in morning trade.

The company said the shutdowns will remove higher-cost, energy-intensive portions of Dow’s portfolio in Europe.

Global chemical companies are feeling the pressure to reassess strategies, with the European Union’s increasing production costs, lackluster demand and stringent environmental regulations.

Last year, Dow had said that it had started a review of some of its European assets.

An Ethylene cracker in Böhlen, Germany, Chlor-alkali & vinyl assets in Schkopau, Germany and a Basics siloxanes plant in Barry, UK will be shut in the next two years, the chemicals company said on Monday.

The Midland, Michigan-based company said the 800 impacted jobs is in addition to the reduction of about 1,500 Dow roles globally, announced in January as part of a $1 billion cost savings plan.

The company had nearly 36,000 employees as of September 2024.

“While this decision is costly and will take some time to play out, we see this as positive for Dow given the run-rate EBITDA and free cash flow improvement,” said TPH Energy Research analyst Matthew Blair.

Such actions should improve the balance between supply and demand in the commodity chemical market, Blair added.

Dow will record charges ranging from $630 million to $790 million, for items including disposal of assets and severance.

The shutdown is expected to begin in mid-2026 and is estimated to be complete by the end of 2027, with potential decommissioning and demolition to stretch into 2029 as needed, the company added.

In April, Dow had said it expects extended pressure on earnings due to uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policies.

Reporting by Pooja Menon and Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed

The French government has yet to pass legislation approving the construction of new reactors

International News via Reuters:

French engineering firm Fives Nordon has received an order from state-owned power utility EDF to build 300 pieces of boilermaking equipment for the country’s six new nuclear reactors, it said on Monday.

After 18 months of engineering studies, parts construction will begin in 2027, with deliveries continuing through 2038, according to the statement. Fives Nordon did not disclose the value of the contract.

President Emmanuel Macron has made expanding France’s nuclear production capability a flagship project, both by extending the lifetimes of existing sites and building at least six new reactors with a capacity of about 10 Gigawatts in the coming decades.

Earlier this year the French government agreed to issue EDF a subsidized loan covering at least half of the construction costs of six new reactors, which were estimated to be around 52 billion euros in 2022. An updated budget is expected by year-end.

The French government has yet to pass legislation approving the construction of new reactors, which is required under France’s multi-annual energy planning law.  

Faced with a divided parliament seeking to slash 40 billion euros($46.90 billion) from the budget, the government has said it intends to pass the required decree before autumn.

($1 = 0.8530 euros)

Reporting by America Hernandez in ParisEditing by Bernadette Baum and Joe Bavier

Oil had also come under pressure as U.S. officials flagged a delay on when tariffs would begin

International News via Reuters:

Oil on Monday shrugged off the impact of OPEC+ hiking output more than expected for August as well as concern about the potential impact of U.S. tariffs, with prices reversing early losses as a tight physical market lent support.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Saturday to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, more than the 411,000 bpd hikes they made for the earlier three months.

Brent crude futures fell as low as $67.22 a barrel but by 1018 GMT were up 40 cents, or 0.6%, to $68.70. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.04, up 4 cents, and up from an earlier low of $65.40.

“For now, the oil market remains tight, suggesting it can absorb additional barrels,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

The OPEC+ decision will bring nearly 80% of the 2.2 million bpd voluntary cuts from eight OPEC producers back into the market, RBC Capital analysts, led by Helima Croft, said in a note.

However, the actual output increase has been smaller than planned so far and most of the supply has been from Saudi Arabia, they added.

In a show of confidence about oil demand, Saudi Arabia on Sunday raised the August price for its flagship Arab Light crude to a four-month high for Asia.

Goldman analysts expect OPEC+ to announce a final 550,000 bpd increase for September at the next meeting on August 3.

Oil had also come under pressure as U.S. officials flagged a delay on when tariffs would begin but failed to provide details on changes to the rates that will be imposed. Investors are worried higher tariffs could slow economic activity and oil demand.

“Concerns over Trump’s tariffs continue to be the broad theme in the second half of 2025, with dollar weakness the only support for oil for now,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

Additional reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Jane Merriman

Rescue officials said the death toll had reached 27 and dozens of people were being housed in makeshift shelters

International News via Reuters:

Survivors of a building collapse that killed 27 people in the Pakistani city of Karachi were trying on Monday to come to terms with the loss of loved ones and their homes.

The five-storey building collapsed on Friday in the overcrowded inner-city Lyari district where many working-class and poor families live in ageing apartment blocks. The site is now a tangle of twisted metal, shattered concrete and scattered belongings, schoolbooks, shoes and sewing machines.

On Monday, rescue officials said the death toll had reached 27 and dozens of people were being housed in makeshift shelters following the building’s collapse and the evacuation of nearby buildings over structural fears.

“I grew up in that building. I knew everyone who lived there,” said Imdad Hussain, 28, a fisherman who lost neighbours, childhood friends and seven members of his extended family.

He is now sheltering with relatives, and family members are in mourning as they try to figure out what the future holds.

“We’ve lost our home, our people. I don’t know how we’ll start again,” he said.

Officials in Karachi, the capital of the southeastern province of Sindh, said the building had received multiple evacuation notices since 2023, including a final one in late June.

Saeed Ghani, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Local Governments, said the Karachi commissioner – who oversees the city administration – had been tasked with inspecting 51 buildings identified as “extremely dangerous” to prevent similar collapses.

BUILDING SHOOK VIOLENTLY

Residents said the building in Lyari, which has been home to generations of working-class families from minority and migrant backgrounds, shook violently on Friday before collapsing in a cloud of dust.

Rescue workers had been digging through the debris since Friday but declared the search over late on Sunday.

They said about 100 residents from 12 families had been living in the building, and nearly 50 more families had been displaced after three neighbouring buildings were declared unsafe and evacuated.

Lakshmi, a school janitor who lived next door to the collapsed building, said her sister had lived in the building that came down and called moments before it fell to say it was shaking.

Her sister survived, but Lakshmi feared losing the gold she had left with her for safekeeping before her daughter’s wedding.

“We got out with our lives, but everything else is gone, with no certainty about what is to come,” Lakshmi said.

Reporting by Akhtar Soomro and Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Writing by Ariba Shahid, Editing by Timothy Heritage