In today’s edition:

💰 Polluting hits record cost in EU

🐳 Protecting whales with AI

🌳 Tree health-checks by drones

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💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

Record cost for polluting as EU carbon price hits €100+ for the first time 

The price of carbon credits in the EU (with each credit entitling an organisation to emit 1 tonne of CO2) is a core part of the bloc’s strategy to cut emissions. The EU’s carbon prices hitting a high of $101 is an important psychological threshold to incentivise investment in emerging clean technologies, such as carbon capture or hydrogen production, as it becomes cheaper for companies to invest in tech rather than continue paying the pollution bill.

Devil is in the detail: EU carbon credits drove a 4% reduction in European emissions between 2008-2016, per the National Academy of Sciences. But, progress is mainly being made in the power sector with generators switching from fossil fuels to renewables. Tech for “hard to abate” sectors — like cement and steel — is still more expensive and in its infancy.

U.S. EPA unveils $550mn in environmental justice grants

Joe Biden's administration announced on Thursday it will select 11 organisations across the United States to administer $550 million in grants to disadvantaged communities to reduce legacy pollution and gain access to clean energy. Organisations could include large non-profit groups, tribal nations, and universities to run community-led projects. The money is part of $3 billion included for environmental justice block grants authorised by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration's signature legislation that will drive investment of nearly $369 billion in clean energy and climate priorities.

Elsewhere: This month, the EPA outlined how states and non-profit groups can apply for up to $27 billion from "green banks" that will offer low-cost financing for clean energy and emission-reducing projects.

AI protects whales from wind farms

An offshore windfarm boom off the East Coast of the US, resulting in a jump in vessels plying through already crowded waters, may increase fatal collisions between whales and ships. In recent years, these collisions have decimated the North Atlantic right whale population as climate change alters migration patterns, with only 100 breeding females left. To help protect right whales, offshore wind farm company, Vineyard Wind, is testing an AI computer vision system on vessels ferrying materials to offshore construction sites, which identifies whales and alerts ship captains to slow down to avoid striking the animals.

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

🛵 Kita, a Worcester, UK-based carbon insurance company, raised £4M in Seed funding. Kita is a carbon insurance specialist, helping reduce risk in carbon credit transactions with insurance products that safeguard the quality and performance of carbon purchases.

🍎 Edmonton will be the site of the world’s first production facility for recombinant protein derived from fruit flies after Future Fields secured US$11.2 million in funding from investors and the federal government.

🚗 Agricultural technology start-up BioBuu, based in Tanzania, has raised $200 000 in seed funding from the GIIG Africa Fund. The startup uses black soldier flies to process and recycle organic waste from restaurants and households into high-protein chicken, fish feed, and organic compost.

☀️ Wood Space raised seed funding for its technology that optimises and automates construction through modular design. The aim is to make the construction industry more resource-efficient.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “Investments to limit climate change are increasing but are still well below what is needed to meet Europe’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.” — European Investment Bank

Stat: The fossil fuel industry emissions of methane increased to a near-record in 2022, with the industry responsible for 135mn tonnes of methane released last year, only slightly below the record high in 2019 — International Energy Agency

Watch: Drones performing health check-ups on trees.

🗞 In other news…

• Vodafone signs its second solar power purchase agreement in the UK, meaning renewable electricity from five solar farms covers over 40% of UK energy requirements.

• Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has announced plans to increase procurement of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), in the same week that Heathrow Airport and Boeing signalled their plans to increase uptake in alternative fuel solutions.

• HSBC has added greenwashing to a list of risks it foresees in its future ability – and the future ability of other banks – to access capital markets.

• Victoria’s Secret & Co. has debuted a bra with elements that will be recycled into new bras, a step forward in solving the textile waste problem for undergarments that are most frequently tossed in the trash at the end of their useful life.

Written by Colin and Ollie - Drop us a message!