Good morning, almost 1 million species of plants and animals are facing extinction due to human actions and thousands of these could be wiped out forever in the coming decades.
To prevent such a loss, scientists are working on a digital Noah’s Ark to preserve many of their DNA sequences.
- The Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) aims to collect the genetic information of every vertebrate species on Earth so that they could eventually bring back some of the extinct animals.
- Some folks are already working on the tech to make “de-extinction” a reality, like the team at Colossal, a biotech startup that recently raised $15 million to bring back the woolly mammoth. 🐘
Radical.
Let's Trade Carbon
Nestled between numerous announcements made at the COP26 climate summit that ended Saturday, was a deal to standardize an international carbon trading market.
Called the Article 6, this global carbon market had been introduced six years ago in the Paris agreement but after more than half a decade of haggling, a deal has finally been struck at COP26, clearly setting the rules for global trading in offsets.
How Does This Offset Work?
A carbon market allows countries and private firms to buy and sell emission credits as if they’re used cars.
For example, if you’re a country that’s already limiting emissions below your targets, you are free to sell credits to another country that’s unable to achieve its climate goals.
Similarly, companies also trade carbon credits when they aim to offset their emissions with carbon removal efforts, such as planting trees.
FYI, a carbon credit is a sort of token/permit representing 1 ton of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere.
Credits are born through projects that reduce or eliminate CO2 and other greenhouse gases from being belched out into the atmosphere.
Will It Help Us Go Greener?
While we are not the right authority to comment on its efficacy, there are two prominent lines of thought out there.
Believers in carbon markets feel they could unleash trillions of dollars in investments for renewable energy projects and environmental protection efforts.
A standardized and regulated carbon market should allow for the efficient deployment of capital due to improved trust.
Naysayers argue that unregulated carbon trading allows companies to “greenwash” their operations by using carbon offsets as a false front to cover up their messy business.
Now What?
Per Bloomberg, this COP26 decision creates unified and internationally-controlled standards, while including provisions to avoid a situation where the same carbon credits are claimed by multiple companies or countries.
We reckon this should put an end to negative speculation to a large extent.
In One Sip?
With the birth of a standardised and regulated global carbon market and a pledge by 450+ major financial firms to focus their investments around reducing carbon footprints, COP26 could have already done more for climate finance than any other summit before.
For Heaven's Sake
With everything the way it is, is this the right time to buy that home? We have been staying up at nights, thinking about an answer to that question.
And after many such sleepless nights, we do have an answer. Yes. Can we informalise that a bit? Hell Yes!
A Quickie On The Economy
Thanks to a global pandemic that just refuses to abate, the economy is bad and that should summarize the situation in a way.
Inflation levels are crazy. Credit is hard to come by and there is that general gloom in the air. People in service and business are equally affected and sentiments are pretty low.
In one sip? It's tough out there.
So, Is The Time Right?
We will tell you something that our mom and dad have told us since kindergarten - 'The easy way is almost always the wrong way. The right path is the tough one.'
Back in 2007 and 2008, real estate builders picked up a lot of money from people all over the world to build properties in India.
They got these funds with the promise that 5 years down the line, the investors would be walking away with double of what they had invested.
Sadly, that has not happened yet. We reckon it won't for some time to come either.
On the personal front, you were expecting some big business or a hefty raise in your salary but that has not materialized either. No sweat.
But It Won't Be Easy
Despite the facts, look around you closely and you would find that some great homes are selling at the 'right' prices.
And your mother will confirm that investing at the right price point is a sure fire way to make money.
It is the right time to buy that home today simply because that investment is not going to be an easy one. It will hurt you, it will give you sleepless nights and it will affect your spending power heavily.
And those are the reasons why, a property investment you make now, will pay you big dividends in the future.
Go ahead. Do your due diligence and send out that booking amount via RTGS.
Half A Cup Extra
- Because of rising fuel prices, analysts believe cement prices will see a hike in Q3, FY22.
- Third quarter points to a quick rebound: Housing Sales up 12%.
- Co working firm We Work reports a net loss of USD 844.3 million in Q3, 2021.
Superfast Delivery Dark Stores Are Space Hungry
Random internet searches sometimes lead to interesting blurbs. Like this one - we searched for 'super fast grocery delivery' and bam, right on top is Grofers offering delivery in 10 minutes.
Swiggy Instamart is a company owned service that does deliver groceries within 30 minutes on most days.
Okay, So Where's This Headed?
On closer retrospection, you will realise that faster deliveries only mean one thing - the warehouse and logistics hub belting out your grocery order is not too far away from you.
For big cities spread out over hundreds of square kilometres, this translates into many many warehouses/logistics hubs/fulfillment centres/banana storage - whatever you call it, it's primarily good quality warehouse space.
Urban Logistics Real Estate In Big Demand
Per Knight Frank, every £1 billion of online retail sales in the UK requires about 320,00 sq. ft. of urban logistics space, intensifying expected demand over the next five years.
With India's love for fast-and-affordable, and our urban density, we could probably be needing more than the UK average, meaning there's an upcoming need for millions of sq. ft. of bite-sized urban warehouses.
Is This Demand Sustainable?
Yes, feel experts. Delivering to customers within 10 or 15 minutes means service providers need to be in those locations that are close to their customer base in order to meet those time frames.
And, there's no option for them to go outside of that location and competition in those markets is driving strong growth for commercial real estate.
Also, naturally, this swelling demand for more warehousing space to operate dark stores** is leading to higher rents in cities.
**The term dark store or dark supermarket or dotcom centre refers to a distribution centre that caters exclusively to online shopping.
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Have a great day ahead.
More blurbs tomorrow. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai