In the ever-evolving landscape of global economics and geopolitics, the concept of US-China decoupling emerges as a multifaceted phenomenon. It's a narrative painted with both challenges and opportunities for emerging markets. As we delve into this intricate tale, we find that amidst the tensions, there's a nuanced perspective to consider. Picture a vibrant night in Hangzhou, ...
The Rising Importance of Critical Minerals: Unveiling the Motive Behind Belgium's Federal Energy Minister's Presence at the Critical Minerals Conference
This week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) organized the world's inaugural conference on Critical Minerals and Clean Energy. Among the attendees were notable figures, including representatives from the Swiss mining giant Glencore and the Canadian Minister for Natural Resources. An unexpected participant at the conference was the Belgian Minister of Energy, given that crit ...
How limited space is adding complexity and creativity to Belgium’s climate transition
Each country works towards the climate transition with a set of assets, like Oman’s high potential for renewable energy or Belgium’s strong expertise in wind energy, and its own specific bottlenecks. One particularly interesting bottleneck Belgium faces is a relative shortage of space. Our country is small and densely populated, and ineffective spatial planning has let to ribbo ...
The Maritime Shipping Sector Vital component in addressing climate change
Addressing climate change has become an urgent global priority. As the global maritime shipping industry is transporting an impressive 11 billion tons of merchandise annually with the help of nearly 100,000 commercial vessels, this makes it not only a vital component of the global supply chain (scope 3 emissions), but also a vital component in addressing climate change. Today, ...
The Onboarding Process at Econopolis
The Handshake of Trust: Streamlining Client Onboarding in a Regulatory Landscape Client onboarding is one of the most important stages in the client lifecycle for Econopolis. It represents the initial point of contact between our wealth management service providers and prospective clients. First impressions can significantly influence the rest of the client relationship, makin ...
The Changing Landscape of Offshore Wind Energy: Analyzing LCOE Trends and Cost Structures
Recent developments in the wind energy sector have raised questions about the competitiveness of offshore wind power, with industry giants like Siemens Gamesa and Orsted Energy facing challenges, and the UK's largest offshore wind tender drawing no participants. In this blog post, we delve into the evolving landscape of offshore wind energy by analyzing the Levelised Cost of El ...
Boom, Bust, and Biotech: A Belgian Stock Market Rollercoaster
Real Estate, Biotech and Naked Swims! The Belgian stock market is reputed for its Real Estate and Biotech or Medtech companies. Real estate stocks had a glorious ride, sponsored by the ECB’s lenient policies. Ultralow and negative interest rates pushed valuation and earnings higher and so went those stocks. Until the day of reckoning. And it came with a vengeance. Real estate ...
Rising Tide of Solar Power: Exploring the Growth of PV and Floating PV Installations
The global transition to clean and renewable energy sources has significantly accelerated in recent years, with solar photovoltaic (PV) installations spearheading this movement. The statistics are nothing short of impressive: a staggering 1,047 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV systems have been installed worldwide, representing a remarkable twenty-six-fold growth since 2010. In 2022 ...
Opportunities in Bonds Arise After 2022, A Painful Year for Most But Not All Bond Investors
The past two years have provided bond investors with several lessons. The foremost lesson is that inflation hasn’t disappeared indefinitely. Consequently, the era of ultra-low interest rates isn’t everlasting either, especially as central banks have begun raising interest rates to fight inflation. This trend is illustrated in the graph below. Interest rates in both the US and E ...
Electric Vehicle Recycling: A Growing Market with Potential?
The presence of electric vehicles on our roads is becoming ever more pronounced. In the first quarter of 2023, fully electric cars accounted for 13.4% of all new car sales in Europe. Scandinavia has traditionally been at the vanguard of this movement. Norway leads the way with an impressive 84%, followed by Sweden at 36.2% and Finland at 31.4%. The Netherlands comes in a close ...