Development of Afghanistan, under any government, will require tens of millions of dollars of sand, cement, and gravel. But will this be a stimulus for Afghan industry or another missed opportunity? Sand and gravel are the under-appreciated basis of the modern urban environment. From the glass in the windows, the concrete of the walls, and the foundations themselves. Though often thought of as being common to the point of almost unlimited supply, the reality is that aggregate materials like sand and gravel are in the midst of a perfect storm of supply and demand....

With Uranium prices rising rapidly, will this be the first step towards utilWith Uranium prices rising rapidly, will this be the first step towards utilization of Afghanistan’s uranium wealth? Following invasion of Ukraine by Russia, uranium prices have jumped significantly, standing at almost $59/lb at time of writing. 2021 had already seen a significant upward trend in Uranium spot prices, driven by increased demand, supply disruption, and supply restrictions. The most notable impact was the decision by Kazatomprom, the national uranium mining company of Khazakstan, to reduce production across the country’s mines by almost 20% into 2022....

Are the brontosauruses of the corporate world – conglomerates – finally facing extinction? The news that General Electric is embarking on yet another restructuring, this time a wholesale breakup, has inevitably been reported as the final demise of that fossil of a bygone corporate epoch: the conglomerate. An exemplar of the golden age of corporate empire building in the second half of the 20th century, at its height the General Electric Company produced everything from oil pumps to TV shows....

At COP26, Green Capital’s spokesman-in-chief took to the world stage – and delivered a setback for its credibility. Having contributed a recent four-parter on carbon credits, scheduled to appear during COP26, there was a lurking fear that my content could be overtaken by events; it’s always embarrassing to be caught stridently demanding something a few days after it’s been delivered… With a growing buzz that Mark Carney would announce something spectacular, was the leader of the Taskforce for the Scaling of Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) about to declare a breakthrough?...

Part Four: What next after COP26? Whatever new promises emerge from COP26, major commitments have already been made on carbon. The exact cost of these is unknown, though huge, and debate still rages over how these ambitious goals can be achieved. Governments have various tools at their disposal, including prohibitions, taxes, and subsidies, but none are cost-free and any could be ruinous for the economy if applied too heavy-handedly. The political cost of restrictions on voters’ lifestyles may prove unbearable as a consequence....

Part Three – Diamonds are forever, pork bellies are for lunch, bitcoin is for the bros, but are carbon credits for the birds? The previous articles in this series opened a window into the opaque world of the carbon credit market. Some readers may feel scales lifted from their eyes; while others may feel more confused than ever. Those in the latter category are probably assessing the situation more accurately....

Part Two – Offset credits: welcome to Dodge City Alongside the regulated cap-and-trade market, there is a parallel market in offset carbon credits, currently smaller in terms of capitalisation, but faster-growing and encompassing a much wider variety of participants. This market has the potential to dwarf the cap-and-trade system in the future, though major structural hurdles exist. This is often referred to as the ‘voluntary’ CC market, but this description can be misleading....

Part One – Cap-and-trade – the regulated market While recent speculation that we are in the early stages of a ‘commodities super-cycle’ seems to have cooled, one commodity at least continues to heat up: carbon credits. To describe carbon credits (CCs) as a commodity at all may seem strange. They aren’t tangible, like gold or pork bellies, or fungible, with multiple distinct types available. In some ways, carbon credits appear to be closer to crypto than corn....

The consumer health market has had a bumper decade, combining elements of over-the-counter (OTC) medicine and a range of consumer products, while racing to become an industry with annual revenues of more than $200 billion globally. The sector is growing in breadth as well as volume as health & wellness continues to trend, and new entrants seek to capture a share of this market. A sector formerly composed largely of vitamins and aspirin is increasingly expanding into products in the personal care, cosmetics, and nutrition space – attaching science-backed claims of efficacy....