The largest cruise ship in the world sets sail, raising concerns about methane emissions

New York: The largest cruise ship in the world is scheduled to set sail for the first time on Saturday, but environmental organizations fear that the ship, which will be powered by liquefied natural gas, as well as future enormous cruise ships, will leak toxic methane into the atmosphere.Taking advantage of the rising popularity of cruises, Royal Caribbean International's Icon of the Seas, with a capacity of 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, sets sail from Miami.   Although LNG burns more cleanly than conventional marine fuel and carries a higher risk of methane emissions, the ship is designed to run on LNG. Because of its short-term negative effects, environmental groups claim that methane leakage from ship engines poses an intolerable risk to the climate.   "It's a step in the wrong direction," declared Bryan Comer, the head of the Marine Program at the environmental policy think tank, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)."We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil," he stated. Methane has warming effects that are 80 times worse over 20 years than those of carbon dioxide, so reducing emissions is essential to slowing the rise in global temperatures.   Industry experts claim that low-pressure, dual-fuel engines found in cruise ships such as Icon of the Seas cause "methane slip," or the release of methane into the atmosphere during combustion. Although they are too tall to fit in a cruise ship, two additional engines that are used on bulk carriers or container ships produce less methane.   According to Royal Caribbean, the new ship is 24% more carbon-efficient than what the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the global regulator of shipping, requires.   The majority of the world's shipping fleet runs on very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), which produces more greenhouse emissions than LNG, according to Steve Esau, chief operating officer of Sea-LNG, an industry advocacy group.   It is "important to make sure that all the natural gas is converted to energy," according to Juha Kytola, director of R&D and Engineering at Wartsila, the company that created the engines on cruise ships. Cruise engines use natural gas to generate power in a cylinder.   He added that Wartsila's natural gas engine technology emits 90% less methane than it did twenty to thirty years ago. What is not converted can escape during the combustion process and into the atmosphere, he said. According to research conducted in 2024 and supported by the ICCT and other partners, the average methane slip in cruise ship engines is estimated to be 6.4%. Methane slip is assumed by the IMO to be 3.5%.   "Methane is coming under more scrutiny," stated Anna Barford, a nonprofit organization's Canada shipping campaigner, pointing out that the IMO stated last summer that addressing methane emissions is part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   Sixty-three percent of the 54 ships scheduled for delivery between January 2024 and December 2028 are anticipated to run on LNG, as reported by the Cruise Line International Association. Approximately six percent of the 300 cruise ships in operation today run on LNG.   Modern cruise ships are being built to run on LNG, conventional marine gas oil, or bio-LNG, which is an alternative that makes up very little of the fuel used in the United States.   According to Nick Rose, vice president of environmental, social, and governance at Royal Caribbean, the company will switch up its fuel mix as the market changes.          

Entrepreneurship World Cup 2024 Malaysia Final Officially Announced

Kaula Lampur, Malaysia –  In a momentous announcement at the RCEP Tech Forum, the Steering Committee members of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) Malaysia unveiled the details for the highly anticipated EWC Malaysia 2024 Final. The announcement was made by the Management Committee members, Raffles Chan and Zentrix Chiu, who provided a brief introduction to the Global Entrepreneurship Network and the rich history of the Entrepreneurship World Cup global final. The Steering Committee members present at the event included Herman Syah Abdul Rahim, Chief Investment Officer, Kumpulan Modal Perdana Sdn Bhd (KMP), Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed, Chairman, mmob, and Melissa Chin representing Noor Amy Ismail, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysia Venture Capital Management (MAVCAP). The distinguished committee members discussed their crucial roles in EWC and highlighted the competition's significance for Malaysia. They emphasized how EWC contributes to fostering a robust economy, generating employment, and attracting innovation to the country. “EWC is not merely a contest, it is a catalyst for economic development, job creation and innovation. The innovations that will emerge from this competition have the potential to revolutionize industries, attract investments, and position our country as a leader in the respective sector.”, said Herman Syah Abdul Rahim“The EWC Malaysia provides a unique opportunity to profile Malaysian companies at an idea, early and growth stage to a global audience of potential clients and investors. The EWC Malaysia also fosters the growth of the Malaysian entrepreneurial eco-system and therefore also supports innovation and potential economic growth for the country.”, said Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed.“As the largest Venture Capital in the country, we’re responsible to continue enhancing and strengthening our VC ecosystem. Bringing EWC to Malaysia is one of our initiatives in charting our future VC ecosystem globally.”, said Noor Amy Ismail. Karunjit Kumar Dhir, a Partner at Kuber Ventures and another member of the Steering Committee, was unable to attend the event. However, he extended his best wishes to the team for the successful launch of the EWC Malaysia 2024 Final.The EWC 2024 Malaysia Final promises to be a showcase of entrepreneurial talent and innovation, providing a platform for startups to gain international recognition and support. The event aims to bolster Malaysia's position in the global startup landscape, fostering economic growth and establishing the country as a hub for entrepreneurial excellence.Swethal Kumar, CEO of Startupscale360, expressed enthusiasm about being the proud national organizer of the Malaysia edition. He stated, "We are fully committed to making the Malaysian ecosystem more vibrant with the support of key enablers of the startup ecosystem. Our goal is to create more employment opportunities, attract international startups to the Malaysian market, bring forth innovations, and expand the business of Malaysian startups to the global market through the Entrepreneurship World Cup. It's more than just a competition; it's a golden opportunity to showcase innovative ideas on a global stage."  

THIS WEEK IN ENTERPRENEURSHIP POLICY + RESEARCH

Welcome to ‘The Startup State’ - a weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship news, reports, commentary and features from around the world. The GEN Atlas is the world’s largest entrepreneurship policy compendium, featuring over 350 case studies from 70 countries. Our latest entry to be updated examines Germany’s Better Regulation Program - a wide-reaching initiative to reduce red tape, simplify regulations, and improve the overall quality of policymaking. Read the Atlas entryThe UNDP, the presidents of Rwanda and Ghana, and Nigeria’s digital economy minister Bosun Tijani used Davos to launch ‘Timbuktoo’, an ambitious pan-African development initiative with the aim to mobilize $1bn capital to create 10 million jobs and transform 100 million lives. It will include legislative reform, derisking investment, and ‘university innovation pods’, among other efforts to strengthen African entrepreneurship ecosystems (UNDP). Saudi Arabia has boosted its Aramco Ventures unit by $4bn, more than doubling the state oil company’s overall venture capital funds (Aramco).The United Kingdom’s technology secretary Michelle Donelan has announced a government “scaleup policy sprint” with the aim of matching US levels of VC investment as a share of GDP by 2030 - which would mean an additional £5bn ($6.3bn) per year into British startups (Sifted | Speech transcript).Nigeria’s minister of women affairs and social affairs Uju Kenedy-Ohaneye has launched a new unit in the SME Development Agency of Nigeria dedicated to supporting women and youth entrepreneurship (Blueprint) Publications and analysis This World Bank report examines ten years of data behind a public-private matching grant program to answer the question of whether public funding can help startups innovate and subsequently improve their performance. This Tony Blair Institute for Global Change report sets out how the UK can reset its historically aid-focused African engagement approach to embrace emerging economic opportunities and achieve mutual prosperity and cooperation. This World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship report is the first, comprehensive global dataset to estimate the size and scope of social enterprise worldwide. It finds 10 million social enterprises globally, with $2 trillion annual revenue and 200 million jobs.This World Economic Forum report introduces a multidimensional framework to assess the quality of growth across 107 countries globally. It characterizes nations’ economic growth across four dimensions: innovativeness; inclusiveness; sustainability; and resilience. This World Economic Forum and Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance report reveals new data on the rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem and the opportunities fintech activities are offering traditionally underserved consumers and businesses.   

These innovators are accelerating the aviation industrys transition to net-zero

Aviation accounts for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions and, with air travel projected to increase, these emissions are poised to escalate.The Sustainable Aviation Challenge on UpLink called for innovators who accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel and other propulsion solutions.16 Top Innovators were selected as winners and will gain visibility opportunities, special event invitations and curated introductions to industry partners and potential funders. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), aviation accounts for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions and with air travel projected to increase over this decade, these emissions are only poised to climb. The challenge is to reinvent flying and make it compatible with our global net-zero emissions targets. Decarbonizing aviation is one of the toughest challenges of the clean energy transition and one that will require many technological breakthroughs and a concerted effort by innovators, industry, governments, and finance providers.                                                                                                                                                                  To accelerate and support the transformation of aviation and expedite its journey to net-zero, UpLink and the First Movers Coalition have launched the Sustainable Aviation Innovation Challenge to identify and accelerate the most innovative and promising start-ups in this sector. With 130 high-quality submissions received from around the globe, 16 Top Innovators were selected by industry partners to join the UpLink Innovation Ecosystem. To this end, we’re excited to announce the cohort of Sustainable Aviation Top Innovators to accelerate the development and adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other propulsion solutions, with the broader vision of enhancing the viability of promising start-ups in this space. Innovation ignites the spark, but collaboration fuels progress. These 16 innovators are now plugged into World Economic Forum formal programming and a support ecosystem of industry partners and investors to scale up their ventures through business and technology collaborations.  

The impact of supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs.

UpLink, launched in 2020 by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Deloitte and Salesforce, is building an open innovation platform ecosystem fostering entrepreneurial solutions for global challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since its inception, it has grown into a vibrant community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs, investors, visionary organizations and experts. It has hosted 51 Innovation Challenges, bringing forth nearly 6,500 innovative solutions worldwide, recognizing 442 of these as 'Top Innovators' and 46 as 'Top Investors.' More than 250 ecosystem partners from across sectors have supported these innovators through catalytic funding, expertise, and other acceleration opportunities. UpLink aims to accelerate the growth and impact of early-stage entrepreneurs, build innovation ecosystems of diverse stakeholders, and shift perceptions of innovation's role in achieving the SDGs. These innovators, carefully selected for their impactful and sustainable solutions, are integrated into a dynamic ecosystem for growth, collaboration, and increased global visibility.Since early 2023, UpLink has started to implement a robust impact management and measurement strategy following industry best practices, to better support and showcase the positive transformation led by its Top Innovators. Here are the key impact highlights reported by UpLink Top Innovators in UpLink's 2023 Annual Impact Report:  

This chart shows how Tesla can keep cutting prices and stay ahead of the competition

Tesla keeps lowering the price of its cars.It's taken a margin hit, but its input costs are going down too.Tesla's price war sent shock waves through the industry, and the fallout is far from over.Still, Elon Musk's electric automaker is lapping the competition as old-guard automakers like Ford and General Motors switch to electric vehicles.That's in large part thanks to tremendous cost savings found in manufacturing.The average cost of building a Tesla in the fourth quarter fell once again, according to the company's earnings report released Wednesday. On average, Tesla spent just over $36,000 per vehicle it sold in the October to December period, down from over $37,000 per vehicle in the same quarter in 2023.At the same time, Tesla has been selling its vehicles for cheaper, showing Tesla's might over its competitors when it comes to EV pricing.Tesla has always had a lot of room to run on pricing, given its industry-leading profit margins. But Elon Musk's strategy to slash prices has chipped away at its once-40% gross margins, bringing them down to 17.6% in the fourth quarter.Still, that's far above the industry average of around 9%.While Tesla continues to play with prices, other automotive CEOs have warned against the practice. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said last week he was keen to stay out of any EV price wars, but stopped short of mentioning Tesla by name. "If you go and cut pricing disregarding the reality of your costs, you will have a bloodbath. I am trying to avoid a race to the bottom," he said.Last year, Ford CEO Jim Farley compared Musk's strategy to that of Henry Ford."I think what he's going to learn is product freshness means a lot," Farley said of Musk at the time. "The product gets commoditized and then you lose your pricing premium. That's a really dangerous thing."  

Netflixs password crackdown worked. It could have more tricks to lure subscribers.

Netflix added almost 30 million subscribers in 2023 after cracking down on password sharing in May.Customers balked at the idea, but in the end Netflix prevailed.AdvertisementWhen Netflix announced it was mulling a ban on password sharing a few years ago, subscribers immediately balked. Many threatened to ditch their subscriptions, screaming #CancelNetflix, while others followed through and decisively closed their accounts.Nobody liked the idea. I certainly didn't. But let's be honest: We knew this had to happen.For years, Netflix turned a blind eye to password sharing, even winkingly encouraging it on social media. But that was when Netflix was in an exponential growth phase that carried the company to its 2021 share price high of more than $690. In 2022, Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade — about 200,000 accounts in the first quarter of that year and close to 1 million in the second.Couple those losses with the fact that the streaming landscape had become much more crowded than it was in 2007 when Netflix first started offering its library online. Think Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, and others. So, say you're one of Netflix's co-CEOs: You see your company is bleeding subscribers, your competitors are circling you like vultures, and, at the end of the day, you're beholden to your shareholders.And wow, look, an internal analysis report drops on your desk. It reveals that there are about 100 million households around the world who are accessing Netflix without a paid account, including a cheap Business Insider reporter leeching off his ex.In the third quarter of 2023, Netflix reported that it added 8.8 million subscribers, vastly exceeding expectations. The fourth quarter numbers yielded even better results: 13.1 million global subscribers for a total of more than 260 million, Business Insider's Lucia Moses reported. That's a gain of nearly 30 million over 2022. Two moves likely helped Netflix boost those numbers, according to Jadrian Wooten, an economics professor at Virginia Tech who writes the newsletter Monday Morning Economist.While Netflix was preparing its password-sharing crackdown, it introduced an ad-based subscription at about $7 a month, which was $3 less than its cheapest ad-free offering at the time and slightly cheaper than a Hulu account. The company also provided an option for households to add users to their existing accounts for about $8 a month. "So that was sort of a move that was done both to geographically expand to other countries and offer a cheaper version, but it also introduces sort of this second tier for people who were sharing an account, and they could then bump down to that next part," Wooten told BI. "So the idea is they wouldn't pay for a full account on their own, but maybe if they lost access, they would drop down to that ad-tier part."  

TVS Motor Q3 net profit rises 59% to ₹479 crore

New Delhi, TVS Motor Company on Wednesday reported a 59 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 479 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2023, riding on the back of robust sales across markets. The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 301 crore in the October-December period of the last fiscal. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 10,114 crore in the December quarter as against Rs 8,066 crore in the year-ago period, TVS Motor Company said in a regulatory filing.On a standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 593 crore for the October-December quarter, a growth of 68 per cent as compared with Rs 353 crore in the third quarter of 2022-23 fiscal. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 8,245 crore in the third quarter as compared with Rs 6,545 crore in the same period of last fiscal.TVS said total two-wheeler sales rose to 10.63 lakh units in the third quarter as against 8.36 lakh units a year ago.Two-wheeler exports rose to 2.16 lakh units in the period under review from 2.07 lakh units in the year-ago period.  

In Jaipur, French President Macron to explore pink citys living past

French President Emmanuel Macron will kick-start his two-day trip to India on Thursday by visiting Jaipur's stunning hilltop fort of Amber, iconic Hawa Mahal and astronomical observation site of Jantar Mantar. Macron will be the chief guest at the 75th Republic Day celebrations on January 26 at Delhi's Kartavya Path that would make him the sixth leader from France to grace the prestigious annual extravaganza. In his nearly six-hour stay in Jaipur, Macron will also join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a road show before the two leaders hold wide-ranging talks at luxury hotel Taj Rambagh Palace on all key aspects of bilateral India-France ties and various geopolitical upheavals. In Jaipur, President Macron will visit Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal, besides participating in a road show, officials said, refusing to elaborate further. The French president's aircraft is scheduled to land at Jaipur airport at 2:30 PM on Thursday and he will depart for Delhi at around 8:50 pm, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.The road show is scheduled to start at Jantar Mantar area at 6 pm while Modi and Macron are set to begin their talks at 7:15 pm. Ways to boost bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, including digital domain, defence, trade, clean energy, youth exchanges, easing of visa norms for Indian students are set to be the focus of the talks, sources said.  

Indian investments key target of Western Australia’s minerals reforms

NEW DELHI : The state of Western Australia has implemented a series of reforms aimed at attracting investments in minerals and resources, including from India. In an interview with Mint, Western Australia deputy premier Rita Saffioti said there was much interest for greater investments and collaborations between Indian and Australian firms in the rare earths sector.  The approvals reforms are aimed at supporting projects that assist with decarbonization, she said. Western Australia has been in focus for its supply of key critical minerals including lithium, nickel and cobalt, as well as rare earth metals, which are used in smartphones, computers, batteries and electronics. Australia accounts for roughly half of the world’s lithium production and has a similarly important position in cobalt production. It is also the fourth-largest rare-earths producer. Western Australia has attracted investments from Indian state-owned firms including NMDC Ltd. Indian mines minister Prahlad Joshi visited the state in 2022, following which the Indian government announced that a bilateral critical minerals investment partnership between the two sides had identified two lithium projects and three cobalt projects. “Investments under the partnership will seek to build new supply chains underpinned by critical minerals processed in Australia, that will help India’s plans to lower emissions from its electricity network and become a global manufacturing hub, including for electric vehicles," India’s mines ministry had said in a statement. Saffioti said her visit to India was also aimed at promoting Western Australia as an investment destination for private Indian companies. “There are opportunities for Indian investment in Western Australia through offtake agreements for key battery minerals," Saffioti said.  

Amber, Titagarh Rail Systems in deal for train components business

Both TRSL and Amber group, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Sidwal Refrigeration Industries Pvt Ltd, will invest approximately ₹120 crore each to obtain around 50% each in the SPV.The SPV will set up a new facility in India to manufacture critical railway components and subsystems used in the manufacture of railway and metro coaches and will also make fresh equity investments into Titagarh Firema. Titagarh Firema SpA, Italy, is an associate company of the Titagarh group where govt of Italy is also an equity stake holder.   The new SPV will also invest in Titagarh Firema while government of Italy will invest in the entity for which it has already taken approval from Invitalia, the Italians government’s investment arm. Under the agreement, Firema will grant Sidwal, Titagarh Rail as well as the SPV a preferred supplier status and right of first refusal (ROFR) for all their products.Titagarh Rail is involved in the railway rolling stock space for both freight and passenger rolling stocks. Apart from being an established railway wagon and metro coach manufacturer, it is also currently executing the projects of Vande Bharat trains, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune metros as well as executing its first export order for passenger rail components received from Firema. Titagarh is targeting a capacity of almost 800-850 coaches per year in the coming years. The Amber group is a diversified B2B company having three business verticals: consumer durables, electronics and railway subsystems and mobility. Sidwal, an Amber group company, has emerged as a leader in the train air conditioner market and has also signed a technology licensing agreement with Ultimate group to manufacture passenger coach doors and gangways. Sidwal is also planning to enter the European market for its products portfolio, a company statement said.The strategic partnership in Firema will not only facilitate Sidwal’s entry into the European market, but will also give Sidwal a preferred access to Firema’s own demand, the statement added. Both companies are investing to grow capabilities and capacities for various products that can be exported to Europe such as train mechanical and electrical components by TRSL and HVAC, doors, gangways and pantry systems by Sidwal. Firema is one of the largest and reputed designers and manufacturers of passenger trains in Italy and has executed marquee projects in Italy and other parts of Europe. Firema has an order book of almost euro 1 billion for producing new coaches and has an existing capacity to produce upwards of 240 coaches per year and has plans to double this capacity.    

Vi Combines Its Vi Max Postpaid Plans With Swiggy One Subscription

In India, Vi (Vodafone Idea) has added new benefits to its Vi Max Postpaid plans. The telecom giant has introduced Swiggy One membership for Vi Max Individual and Vi Max Family Postpaid users at no additional cost. With this promotion, Swiggy is offering VI users unlimited free deliveries of food orders over Rs. 149 and groceries over Rs. 199. Additional savings will also be available for its restaurant partners. Customers of Vi with postpaid plans that exceed Rs. 501 are eligible to become members of Swiggy One. Swiggy One membership is free for Vi Max Postpaid users with plans priced at Rs. 501, Rs. 701, Rs. 1,101 for the REDX plan, and Rs. 1,001 and Rs. 1,151 for the Vi Max Family plans. These plans all come with 3,000 SMS messages, unlimited voice calls, and roaming benefits.   In addition to free, limitless deliveries, the Swiggy One membership offers savings on a range of Swiggy services. For three months, the plan currently costs Rs. 599. It provides unlimited free deliveries on food orders above Rs. 149 with up to 30 percent additional discount on over 30,000 restaurantsSwiggy One subscribers can get free delivery for as long as they want on Instamart on orders over Rs. 199. A maximum 40 percent discount on Dineout is also provided by the subscription, and users will receive two additional coupons each month worth Rs. 150. There will also be a 10% discount on all Swiggy Genie delivery costs. The Vi Max Postpaid individual and family plan offers access to a variety of streaming services in addition to Swiggy One, such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, and SunNXT. They will also receive services from EazyDiner, Norton 360 Mobile Security, and EaseMyTrip. Customers using a single postpaid recharge plan can use any two of the previously mentioned subscriptions. The postpaid plans come with free access to Vi Mobies and TV app, Hungama Music in the Vi app and Vi Games.