Australian banks say they will support low-carbon lending

The National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) logo is displayed atop the company's headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday, May 1, 2015.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

NOV 5, 20159:35 AM

[WELLINGTON] Two of Australia's major banks on Thursday announced initiatives to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, moves which could make it harder to finance the country's coal industry.

Top lender National Australia Bank will finance A$18 billion (S$18 billion) through to 2022 to renewable energy projects including low-carbon property and transport, it said in a statement.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the second biggest lender, said it would consider environment risks in loan and credit approvals and strengthen due diligence in "high-impact"sectors, without spelling out which areas could be affected.

"We need to be cognisant of the long-term impact our business has on the economies and communities in which we operate," CBA's chief executive officer Ian Narev said in a statement. "An important part of that is rigorously and consistently examining our lending and investment decisions to understand and assess environmental and social impacts."

Last month, ANZ Banking Group announced plans to lend at least A$10 billion over the next five years to projects that will cut greenhouse gases, ending backing for new coal-fired power plants that don't use advanced technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters on a per capita basis due to its reliance on coal-fired power plants and is the world's largest exporter of coal.

Green groups are increasingly fighting coal projects around Australia, calling on banks not to provide loans citing potential damage to the climate.

Australia's four largest banks alone have lent more than A$36 billion to fossil fuel projects in Australia since 2008, according to environmental group Market Forces.

REUTERS

    
 

Obama plans to visit Laos, a first for a US president

President Barack Obama plans to visit Laos next year to attend a regional economic summit, making him the first US president to visit that country, an advisor said Wednesday. 

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 5, 20157:52 AM

[WASHINGTON] President Barack Obama plans to visit Laos next year to attend a regional economic summit, making him the first US president to visit that country, an advisor said Wednesday.

Mr Obama will make history when he attends an Asean conference in the poor but economically growing country, which was massively bombed by the United States during the Vietnam War, National Security aide Ben Rhodes said.

Speaking at a Washington think tank, Mr Rhodes said his own recent visit to Laos had helped lay the groundwork for Vientiane's 2016 chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The US president will travel to Malaysia later this month to participate in this year's Asean summit. He has made a point of attending as his administration seeks both to boost the group's standing and underscore the seriousness of an announced US "pivot" toward Asia and the Pacific.

Touching on a bitter past between Laos and the United States, Mr Rhodes said Washington could do more to clear unexploded ordnance that has lain menacingly in the country's fields since the Vietnam War.

US warplanes dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos from 1964 to 1973 in some 580,000 bombing missions aimed at cutting North Vietnam supply lines through the neighboring country.

An estimated 30 per cent of the ordnance failed to detonate.

Laos and the United States have improved relations during Mr Obama's presidency; US ties to Vietnam and Burma have also been strengthened.

In 2012, Hillary Clinton, now a Democratic presidential hopeful, became the first US secretary of state to visit Laos in more than a half-century.

AFP

    
 

US government approves Italy's request to arm its drones

The US State Department has approved a longstanding request from Italy to arm its two MQ-9 Reaper drones with Hellfire missiles, laser-guided bombs and other munitions, the US Defense Department announced on Wednesday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 5, 20157:55 AM

[WASHINGTON] The US State Department has approved a longstanding request from Italy to arm its two MQ-9 Reaper drones with Hellfire missiles, laser-guided bombs and other munitions, the US Defense Department announced on Wednesday.

This would be the first effective sale of armed drones approved since the US government established a policy in February for exports of the new type of weapons that have played a key role in US military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.

Italy would be only the second country to be approved to buy armed drones after Britain, which has been using them since 2007, according to two US officials who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, notified US lawmakers late on Tuesday about the possible sale, which is valued at US$129.6 million. It said privately held General Atomics would serve as the prime contractor.

General Atomics declined comment since the arms sale is a government-to-government transaction.

Italy has been asking the United States since 2012 to add weapons to two unarmed MQ-9 Reapers, whose sale was first approved in 2009. Turkey has also requested to buy armed drones from the United States.

Initially US lawmakers had concerns, ultimately spurring an interagency review that produced the new drone export policy.

US lawmakers have 15 days to block the sale but such action is rare since deals are carefully vetted before Congress is formally notified.

The proposed sale includes 156 AGM-114R2 Hellfire II missiles built by Lockheed Martin Corp, 20 GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, 30 GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions and other armaments, according to the Pentagon agency.

One of the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said any exports of drones, armed or not, require a case-by-case assessment and close scrutiny, but the sale was ultimately approved because Italy was a key ally and partner of the United States. "It's not a decision we've taken lightly, and it's symbolic of our trust in Italy as a partner," the official said. "Italy is a responsible member of the international community and they have been with us in every significant recent NATO and US-led operation." Italy asked for the drones to support NATO and coalition operations, increase operational flexibility, and better protect deployed Italian forces.

The new US export policy maintains "a strong presumption of denial" of sales of the biggest drones like the MQ-9 - Category I aircraft. It allows exports on rare occasions, but buyers of military drones must agree to strict conditions, including a ban on using the drones for unlawful surveillance or to crack down on their domestic populations.

REUTERS