[en] BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently announced in his annual letter to clients that the asset manager would seek to align its portfolio with a net zero economy. Policy announcements also included a promise to hold portfolio companies accountable for setting net zero plans and a commitment to increase oversight of companies with 'significant climate-related risk' and support more shareholder climate resolutions. These new measures imply huge changes for BlackRock as they require its investments to quickly become compatible with a 1.5 deg. C world, which is far from being the case. Unfortunately, BlackRock has yet to clearly define what net zero means, or to establish short and medium term benchmarks that would reduce overall emissions in line with climate science. Furthermore, the new measures still provide a way out to major polluters, as BlackRock has still not taken any steps to exclude climate laggards in the short term. There is not enough time left regarding our climate goals for engagement strategies directed at companies in the fossil fuel sector that have no viable net zero transition pathway, such as companies actively expanding fossil fuel exploration and production. Over the next few years, concrete steps will need to be taken by BlackRock as it is highly unlikely that continuing to shrug off responsibilities will really lead to the 'tectonic shift' in investing required in the short term. Embarking on a net zero pathway has immediate implications for BlackRock, as fossil fuel production needs to quickly wind down. The 2020 Production Gap Report, published with the UNEP, shows that, alarmingly, major fossil fuel producing countries are still planning for an average annual fossil fuel production increase of 2%. By 2030, this would result in more than double the fossil fuel production than would be consistent with the 1.5 deg. C limit. It is therefore highly inconsistent for financial actors which have committed to become net zero by 2050 to continue to invest in major fossil fuel developers in 2021, and especially companies involved in unconventional oil and gas development. As outlined by recent research by HSBC, 'it will be difficult for net zero committed institutions to justify holding oil and gas issuers in net-zero portfolios'. It is well past time for BlackRock to exit any company planning to develop new fossil fuel reserves and infrastructure and not complying with a robust fossil fuel phase out plan. The tar sands sector is a key example of a sector that is clearly inconsistent with keeping global warming below 1.5 deg. C, as tar sands reserves are a ticking time bomb regarding climate objectives. Our research reveals that BlackRock is a massive supporter of the tar sands industry, with $75 billion of current holdings in 30 major tar sands production companies planning on developing new reserves. To be consistent with its net zero commitment, BlackRock will need to step up its ambition and stop fueling the tar sands sector and exacerbating the huge negative impacts on climate and human rights linked to its development.

[en] A new report from Reclaim Finance and seven partner NGOs reveals that the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) has failed to trigger a wide coal exit movement. The analysis of the progress of the 111 PPCA members shows that many of them are failing to phase out coal support. Among these members, financial institutions stand out since the vast majority continue to finance coal. Created in 2017, the PPCA has grown rapidly, bringing together states, local governments, financial institutions, and companies. However, while some of its members are planning to shut down their power plants in line with the Paris Agreement - i.e. by 2030 in the EU and OECD and 2040 worldwide - others have put this ambition on hold. In fact, only 2 out of the 23 financial institutions in the alliance have adopted a policy that would allow them to exit coal within these time frames. In contrast, 18 - including Aviva, L and G, CalPERS and Swiss Re - do not restrict funding to companies developing new projects and 8 - including Schroders - have no minimum criteria limiting their support to the sector. The PPCA's financial members are found to have $38 billion invested in companies significantly involved in the coal sector. Moreover, the report points out that the foundation of the alliance - the PPCA declaration and Finance Principles - itself contained major loopholes that allow its members to satisfy its criteria while remaining important players in the coal sector. The limits of the initiative also stem from the behavior of certain member states, including its co-chairs Canada and the United Kingdom. Indeed, while Canada will close all its power plants by 2030, it is increasing its coal exports and plans to open 13 new mines in Alberta and British Columbia, two regions that are also individual members of the Alliance. On the other side, the United Kingdom is considering the development of a new coal mine. Similarly, Mexico is planning to open new coal-fired power plants, Germany will continue to use them until 2038 and Senegal did not adopt any phase-out date. The report presents recommendations for the PPCA to achieve its objective of becoming a vehicle for a global exit from coal. The PPCA must demand that its members exit the entire coal sector - including mines and infrastructure - to consider the specificities of financial actors. Its members need to align with a coal exit timetable compatible with the Paris Agreement, which means for financial institutions adopting coal exit policies following the Coal Policy Tool criteria.

[en] Significant motion of a particle suspended in a fluid in a magnetic field requires steep gradients and hence short migration distances. Recognizing this constraint a magnetic particle separator was designed to classify particles on the basis of magnetophoretic mobility. Multiple short migration paths were achieved by using a multistage extractor, which draws particles out of a feed cuvette using an increasing magnetic driving force at each stage

[en] With the Covid-19 crisis and its health, social and economic consequences, 2020 has demonstrated the urgent need to act to support the development of more just, united and sustainable societies. Unfortunately, the long-awaited leap has yet to come. As the world will need to decrease fossil fuel production by roughly 6% per year between 2020 and 2030 to follow a 1.5 deg. C consistent pathway, it is crucial that financial players put an end to their support to fossil fuel companies. They should both stop any support to coal and act with zero tolerance towards the companies expanding the most climate-damaging sectors, such as shale oil and gas. One year ago, on January 14, Larry Fink announced BlackRock was finally on its way to investing sustainably. The largest investor in the world, with $7.8 tn in assets under management, also published a coal policy, aiming at 'exiting thermal coal producers' but only excluding mining companies with more than 25% of revenues from coal production. To this day, BlackRock still has no policy regarding its investments in other fossil fuels. Reclaim Finance has conducted research on BlackRock's holdings (as of October 2020) to verify the real-world consequences of these announcements and assess the investor's exposure to the coal sector. Unfortunately, results show that even with this new policy, BlackRock remains a massive investor in coal companies and even in companies planning new coal projects, despite research showing that such projects are incompatible with any serious climate commitment. BlackRock has a major problem with its passively managed investments, which make it widely exposed to coal assets likely to become stranded. They also massively expose it to other fossil fuels, as even the most polluting companies are not excluded from BlackRock's investments. BlackRock's half-hearted steps in 2020 to invest more sustainably have proven to be superficial. Our analysis shows that the action taken is utterly insufficient to truly curb investments in the sector most problematic when it comes to climate change: fossil fuels. 2021 is a critical year for climate action, with new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions expected by private and state actors ahead of COP 26 in Glasgow. As a first step towards the necessary phase-out of fossil fuels investments, BlackRock must immediately step up the ambition of its global coal exclusion policy, by extending its scope to the entire coal value chain and to all its assets.

[en] In 2020, Total produced 447 units of fossil fuels for every 1 unit of renewable energy. Nonetheless, despite its desire to rename itself Total Energies, the major continues to invest heavily in the development of new fossil energy projects, such as the highly controversial EACOP oil project such as the highly controversial EACOP oil project in Uganda and Tanzania, or in the Arctic. 90% of its capital expenditure remains oriented towards fossil fuels and the trends in its hydrocarbon production could result in an increase of more than 50% between 2015 and 2030. Thus, the way French financial players are adapting their relationship with Total SE, in a context of climate emergency, is a good indicator of the sincerity of their commitments, and of the challenges related to their success. This briefing takes stock of Total SE's climate promises and of the way financial players have treated such a heavyweight in the energy sector until now. It also sketches out possible courses of action. The first follows a global approach that extends across the entirety of financial actors' portfolios and the companies they support. The second follows a sector-based approach aimed at finding immediate solutions for the most polluting sectors, which also turn out to involve the heaviest ESG and financial risks. For an oil and gas company, these are unconventional hydrocarbons - shale gas and oil, oil sands and drilling in the Arctic and deep waters. While acting on the first axis will only end up having an impact after several years, targeting the most polluting sectors makes it possible to meet the scientific imperative of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6% every year until 20301. The actions to be taken on both axes must of course be based on science, which stipulates that oil production must be reduced by 4% and gas production by 3% per year by 2030 in order to meet the 1.5 deg. C objective.

[en] Exposure to inorganic arsenic in utero in C3H mice produces hepatocellular carcinoma in male offspring when they reach adulthood. To help define the molecular events associated with the fetal onset of arsenic hepatocarcinogenesis, pregnant C3H mice were given drinking water containing 0 (control) or 85 ppm arsenic from day 8 to 18 of gestation. At the end of the arsenic exposure period, male fetal livers were removed and RNA isolated for microarray analysis using 22K oligo chips. Arsenic exposure in utero produced significant (p < 0.001) alterations in expression of 187 genes, with approximately 25% of aberrantly expressed genes related to either estrogen signaling or steroid metabolism. Real-time RT-PCR on selected genes confirmed these changes. Various genes controlled by estrogen, including X-inactive-specific transcript, anterior gradient-2, trefoil factor-1, CRP-ductin, ghrelin, and small proline-rich protein-2A, were dramatically over-expressed. Estrogen-regulated genes including cytokeratin 1-19 and Cyp2a4 were over-expressed, although Cyp3a25 was suppressed. Several genes involved with steroid metabolism also showed remarkable expression changes, including increased expression of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-7 (HSD17β7; involved in estradiol production) and decreased expression of HSD17β5 (involved in testosterone production). The expression of key genes important in methionine metabolism, such as methionine adenosyltransferase-1a, betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase and thioether S-methyltransferase, were suppressed. Thus, exposure of mouse fetus to inorganic arsenic during a critical period in development significantly alters the expression of various genes encoding estrogen signaling and steroid or methionine metabolism. These alterations could disrupt genetic programming at the very early life stage, which could impact tumor formation much later in adulthood

[en] Theta-shaped specimens were additively manufactured out of Inconel 718 powders using an electron beam melting technique, as a model complex load bearing structure. Two different build strategies were employed; producing two sets of specimens. Microstructural and micro-mechanical characterizations were performed using electron back-scatter, synchrotron x-ray and in-situ neutron diffraction techniques. In particular, the cross-members of the specimens were the focus of the synchrotron x-ray and in-situ neutron diffraction measurements. The build strategies employed resulted in the formation of distinct microstructures and crystallographic textures, signifying the importance of build-parameter manipulation for microstructural optimization. Large strain anisotropy of the different lattice planes was observed during in-situ loading. Texture was concluded to have a distinct effect upon both the axial and transverse strain responses of the cross-members. In particular, the (200), (220) and (420) transverse lattice strains all showed unexpected overlapping trends in both builds. This was related to the strong {200} textures along the build/loading direction, providing agreement between the experimental and calculated results.