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(dpa) An alliance of 25 environmental initiatives on four continents is putting pressure on the insurance industry to move forward with climate protection despite the Corona crisis. In a joint letter to insurance associations around the world, the climate alliance Unfriend Coal is calling on the industry to put its heavy financial weight on the scale for a climate-friendly revitalization of the economy after the Corona crisis.
Environmental initiatives also call on the insurance industry to “find their own home to deal with the climate crisis,” as the letter published in London on Thursday said. Insurance companies should exit fossil energy investments and no longer offer insurance protection for the oil and gas industry.
Groups from Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States are involved in the environmental alliance, for example, the Urgewald initiative in Germany. “While Covid-19 has the world under control, the insurance industry must not lose sight of the greatest threat to our planet: the danger of uncontrollable climate collapse,” says the letter. The gigantic aid programs from governments and central banks to deal with the crisis in the crown are a “historic opportunity for a fair and green restructuring of the economy.”
The logo of the Allianz insurer in Hamburg (September 2017).
Therefore, the Climate Alliance is targeting requests for help from the energy sector, automakers and aviation companies. In the opinion of environmentalists, climate-damaging industries should not be supported with aid programs. Environmentalists have been pressuring climate protection insurance companies for several years because they have two main levers: In addition to the actual insurance business, the industry’s capital investments are of great importance to the global economy.
Allianz, the largest European insurer, had about $ 2 trillion before the Corona crisis began. € foreign and own money invested. The Dax Group, along with other insurers and institutional investors, launched the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, an association of companies that want their portfolios to be climate neutral by 2050. Along with several dozen other companies, the Munich called for climate-friendly crown stimulus programs on Monday.
(dpa) American electric car maker Tesla surprisingly closed the first quarter of 2020 in black despite the crown crisis. The end result was a profit of $ 16 million (CHF 15.5 million), as reported by billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday after the US market closed in Palo Alto.
It is already the third quarter with a consecutive surplus. In the same period last year, Tesla had suffered a loss of $ 702 million. The company increased sales by 32% to just under $ 6 billion. Quarterly figures were significantly better than analysts expected. Shares initially rose more than 6% after the exchange.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the launch of the China-made Model 3 in Shanghai on January 7, 2020.
With a stock price increase of more than 90%, Tesla is one of the few winners on the stock market this year. The crown pandemic is also causing problems for the electric car pioneer. Tesla first had to temporarily suspend production in China and then close its main US plant in Fremont.
Despite these pressures, Tesla delivered more cars than expected. In the three months to the end of March, almost 88,500 units were delivered to customers, 40% more than the previous year. 102,672 vehicles were produced. Most were in Model 3, with which Tesla wants to establish itself in the mass market. Production of the Model Y compact SUV will accelerate in the current quarter.
Provocation in the conference call
Musk blew out the fuses at the quarterly conference. The Crown measures “would lock people in their homes and violate their rights under the Constitution,” Musk said Thursday night.
He restricted that whoever wanted to stay home should not be forced to leave. “But telling people that they cannot leave their homes, that they will be arrested, that is fascism, that is not democratic,” Musk continued with a distorted report of the California measures. At the end of his tirade, the Tesla boss asked people to “give back their damn freedom.” The conference was canceled and only continued a few minutes later.
When the initial restrictions were introduced, Musk initially attempted to obtain an exception for the continued operation of the Tesla plant in Fremont, near San Francisco, but failed due to authorities.
A few hours before Musk was scared, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg had voiced his concern on the contrary in the conference call over the quarterly online network figures that the restrictions could loosen too quickly and that this would lead to an increase in infections.
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(Reuters) The Japanese group Softbank suffered a loss of around $ 6.6 billion (CHF 6.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2020 due to its stake in office equipment provider WeWork. The company’s net loss increased to about $ 8.4 billion, the company said.
The tech conglomerate pulled out of a $ 3 billion deal with WeWork after its failed IPO. Softbank had invested more than $ 13.5 billion in WeWork. The Japanese tech giant maintains its forecast of a record annual loss of 1.26 trillion. $ fixed.
(Reuters) In the fight for state aid for Lufthansa’s subsidiary Austrian Airlines (AUA), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz insists on protection. A stake in parent company Lufthansa is also a possible scenario, Kurz said Wednesday night.
“Help without benefits for Austria, without a stake in Lufthansa, just like that, there will be none,” said the chancellor after a first meeting with Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr at night in Vienna. After all, Lufthansa is a German company and should therefore be considered as State aid.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, followed by Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, before a press conference on the Corona crisis on April 29 in Vienna.
Kurz again noted in an interview with the ORF television station that the Austrian government wanted to take full advantage of Austria as a place in negotiations with Lufthansa and protect jobs at Austrian Airlines.
“We will see which way can be the right one,” said the conservative politician. According to Kurz, if Lufthansa’s offer is not good, the government will prepare for different scenarios.
The AUA wants aid in Austria of more than € 767 million, and a large part of the sum consists of repayable loans. The other part are grants that still need to be negotiated, the airline said. According to media reports, Spohr is against political influence.
(dpa) Online trading platform Ebay expects growth despite the crown crisis and the risks of recession. In the current quarter, sales are expected to be between $ 2.38 billion and $ 2.48 billion, the group said on Wednesday after the US exchange closed in Palo Alto. That is significantly more than analysts expect.
Last quarter, eBay revenue decreased 2% year-over-year to $ 2.37 billion (€ 2.18 billion). Continuing business profits decreased 6% to $ 485 million. Although the results clearly exceeded expectations, the stock initially posted price losses after the trade.
(afp) According to EU economic commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, the planned reconstruction fund for the European economy after the Corona crisis will reach around 1.5 trillion. € (1,575 billion). “We need a fund that is worth around 10% of our gross national product, that would be 1.5 trillion. € », said Gentiloni in an interview with the newspaper” Les Echos “on Wednesday.
EU heads of state and government cleared the way for a reconstruction fund last week, to be coupled with the next EU multi-annual budget.
EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni at a press conference on Covid-19 in Brussels on March 2.
However, there was no agreement on the equipment of the large fund and the modalities of disbursement of the funds. Instead, the EU Commission should first analyze the need and present a proposal in May. Among other things, the question of whether the payment of funds should be subject to conditions is controversial.
Gentiloni says he expects difficult negotiations on the modalities of the reconstruction fund. “The demon is in the details and one can say that there will probably be many demons,” said Gentiloni. It could be the quantity, the time frame or the structure of the fund.
Despite the disagreements, Gentiloni called for quick decision-making and suggested starting the program in the second half of the year. “As long as there is no vaccine, as in the war, there will never be a time when it can be said to be over,” the Italian emphasized.
The reconstruction phase in Europe will begin within the “next few weeks,” said Gentiloni. “And in this phase we have to implement our strategy for the economic rebound. It is impossible to wait a year with that ».
