Tour de France: Cycling's showcase remains heavily sponsored by fossil fuels
At the end of June, the French oil giant TotalEnergies announced it had signed an official three-year partnership with the Tour de France, starting in 2026. The company is also the main sponsor of one of the participating teams, which bears its name.
Within the Tour's peloton, six other teams (out of 23) are directly or indirectly connected to the fossil fuel industry: UAE Team Emirates-XRG, backed by the United Arab Emirates, one of the world's leading oil producers; Ineos Grenadiers, named after the British petrochemical giant Ineos and an off-road vehicle, the Grenadier, made by its automotive division; Bahrain Victorious, backed by Bahrain, a country whose economy is heavily dependent on oil production; Jayco-AlUla, whose name refers to the Saudi city of Al-Ula that is at the heart of a major tourism initiative by one of the world's top oil producers; XDS-Astana, funded by a sovereign wealth fund supporting Kazakhstan's oil and gas company; and Uno-X Mobility, a chain of gas stations present in Norway and Denmark.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
Bean vs. cup: Where is the most expensive takeaway coffee in Europe?
For many of us, a cup of coffee — or maybe a few — is an essential ritual that powers us through the working day. In 2023-24, approximately 10.62 billion kilograms of coffee were consumed worldwide, a slight increase from about 10.38bn kg in the previous year, according to Statista. While for some, a cheap cup of instant coffee made in the work kitchenette will suffice, others have developed a taste for 'a posh coffee' — often made by a hipster in a work apron. But how much is a cup of this sweet nectar costing us, are we being ripped off, and how does pricing vary across Europe? How much coffee is Europe buying? Of the 27 EU countries and the UK, surveyed in Pressat's workplace coffee survey between January and March 2025, workers in the UK are buying the most takeaway coffees, at an average of 1.96 cups per day. This was closely followed by Belgium (1.79 cups), Poland (1.77 cups), France (1.76 cups) and Romania (1.68 cups). At the other end of the scale, the most frugal with their coffee buying are workers in Luxembourg, buying an average of 0.82 cups per day. Also controlling their takeaway coffee expenditure are workers in Hungary (0.83 cups), the Czech Republic (0.84 cups) and Sweden (0.9 cups). It then may be surprising to discover that as the fourth biggest buyer of takeaway coffees in Europe, France is paying the most per cup, at an average price of €3.42. Stereotypes usually lead us to believe that the French like their coffee short, dark and strong. However, of the workers surveyed, just 8.94% of them were buying an espresso to take away. In fact, the most popular takeaway coffee choice was a caffe latte (17.02%), followed by a caffe macchiato (16.17%). The second most expensive takeaway coffees can be found in Lithuania, where the average cup price is €3.39 and the most popular style of drink is split between a cappuccino and a cortado (both are preferred by 14.87% of respondents). The cheapest cup can be found, perhaps surprisingly, in Denmark, with an average price of €1.89. The Danes have a medium coffee addiction, with average workers buying 1.32 cups of takeaway coffee per day — and preferring to sip an Americano. In fact, Denmark was the only country where the average cup price was under €2, with their closest competitors being Slovakia (€2.08) and Cyprus (€2.09). Cappuccino index A slightly different picture emerges from data on the average price of a cappuccino in Europe's capital cities, collected by It turns out that the highest price in Europe for the milky coffee is paid in Copenhagen. In the Danish capital, a cappuccino costs an average of €5.81 — considerably higher than the average price of an unspecified type of coffee in Denmark. Only in two other countries does a cappuccino cost more than €5: that's Iceland, with a price of €5.33 per cup, and Switzerland with a price of €5.27. More than €4 per cappuccino is paid in Scandinavia, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Austria. At the other end of the scale are the countries of Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula and Italy. In its homeland, a cup of cappuccino costs only €1.53 — but the cheapest cup can be found in Kosovo (€1.27) and Ukraine (€1.36). Poles, who often complain about the high prices of coffee in cafes, are somewhere in the middle of the European scale, with a cup of cappuccino in Warsaw sold for €3.64. This does not mean, however, that Polish grievances are completely unjustified. Apart from Germany, all of Poland's neighbouring countries have lower coffee prices. 'A cappuccino in Warsaw costs 18 zlotys (€4.24), while in Bari it costs €1.50. We can see that Warsaw prices, which have spread across the country, are definitely higher than elsewhere. And it doesn't have to be that way at all,' Janusz Piechocinski, an economist and former Polish economy minister, told Euronews. 'Poland is the fifth largest producer and exporter of coffee in Europe. Polish companies import more than 200,000 tons of beans, roast and then export also in the modern e-commerce channel. So we have an efficient production chain created, and yet prices for the customer are high. Why? It may come from higher real estate prices and taxes than elsewhere, which raise the cost of maintaining restaurants and cafes.' Are we overpaying for our coffee? It takes around 7 to 9g of coffee to make a single espresso which equates to €0.00009 worth of coffee at current arabica bean trading prices (for a 9g serving). That seems like a huge markup, but of course, that would be a huge oversimplification. Coffee shops also need to factor in the cost of staffing, as well as, takeaway cups, energy to power the venue, and coffee additions like milks, syrups and chocolate. Though it's hard to compare exactly how much businesses are paying for their energy, the average cost of electricity for non-household, medium-sized consumers in the EU is €155.80/MWh. That's according to Eurostat data from 2024. The data showed that Ireland paid the most for electricity in the EU, at €254.30/MWh. Only three other countries tipped over the €200 mark: Croatia (€216.90), Hungary (€205.50) and Luxembourg (€204.10). Among the EU's big four economies, the prices varied dramatically: France (€163.90), Spain, (€121.70), Italy (€151.50) and Germany (€197.60). The cheapest energy in the EU could be found in Norway (€79.10) Do coffee prices in Europe align with incomes? If we take a look at takeaway coffee pricing versus salaries across the continent, who is getting the best value for money? France, which has the highest cup price, had an average take-home pay for a single person without children just above the EU average, with French singles taking home €32,354 per year, according to Eurostat 2024 data. This means the average coffee is about 0.0106% of take-home pay. Meanwhile in Denmark, where net pay is €43,913, coffee is proportionately even cheaper, at just 0.004% of a salary. And home to the second-most-expensive coffee in Europe, consumers in Lithuania are getting particularly bad value. Citizens' average net salary is €15,909, meaning a cup of coffee costs around 0.021% of their annual take-home pay. The higher-earning countries appear to be getting better value for money. Workers in Luxembourg on average take home €50,410 per year and pay around €3 per coffee. That's just 0.005% of their salary. Cappuccino index by salary Using the data on the average monthly salary after taxes in European cities, we can take a closer look at how many cups of cappuccino the residents can buy. In terms of cappuccino affordability, Italy ranked highest. In Rome, the average monthly salary can buy 1,399 cups of this type of coffee, while Switzerland's Bern (1378 cups) and Luxembourg (1347 cups) fared marginally worse. The cappuccino index also clearly divides the continent in half. In Western European countries (with the exception of Portugal), a salary is enough for at least 750 cups of cappuccino, while in Eastern Europe, takeaway coffee is more unaffordable.
Fashion Network
6 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Naf Naf considers takeover bids from Beaumanoir and Pimkie
Placed in receivership on May 30, just one year after its takeover by Turkish supplier Migiboy Tekstil, fashion retailer Naf Naf will know more about its future in the next few days. On Wednesday, the Bobigny Commercial Court will examine the takeover bids which have been submitted. There are four bids in total, two of which concern a single store. The two other bids are more substantial: they come from the Breton Beaumanoir group and the northern French chain Pimkie, both of which competed in June for Jennyfer, which is also in receivership. The owner of Cache Cache, Bonobo, and La Halle won the bid. In a press release, the Sud trade union revealed the contents of the Naf Naf offers. The Amoniss company, which oversees Pimkie, wants to keep the Naf Naf chain, taking over 165 jobs (out of 521), as well as 20 employees at the head office and 34 stores (out of 101 units). For its part, the Beaumanoir group is targeting 55 jobs and 12 outlets, which would be transferred to its own brands. The group confirmed that it would also be acquiring the brand name, with the aim of "injecting a new dynamic and ambitious repositioning into the emblematic Naf Naf brand." In addition, external reclassifications have been proposed. The Beaumanoir group says it is reserving 253 vacancies for a fortnight in its various store networks, within a 20-kilometer radius of the closing stores. Amoniss, for its part, is offering 26 outplacement positions within its own network. The court's decision is expected next week. The union pointed out that Beaumanoir has set aside 500,000 euros, and Amoniss 300,000 euros, to cover the cost of the deal. Sud, the company's minority union, has publicly come out in favour of Beaumanoir's offer. It is calling on the company not to "repeat the mistake made in 2020, which led to the rejection of Beaumanoir's offer and has since led to two additional receiverships, with New Naf Naf and Migi Naf Naf". Pimkie is still undergoing a two-year continuation plan following a safeguarding procedure. The brand, headed by Elodie Chelle, recently succeeded in attracting former Jennyfer associates to join it. Beaumanoir intends to expand its portfolio and continue its acquisitions drive, after acquiring 26 Jennyfer stores last month, and securing management of the Boardriders group's board sports brands in Europe in 2024. With all of its assets (Cache Cache, Morgan, Bréal, La Halle, Sarenza, Caroll...), the Saint- Malo -based gaint saw sales of 3 billion euros in 2024. This is almost double the figure four years ago. In France's turbulent mid-range ready-to-wear market, Naf Naf has been unable to bounce back in recent years. Between 2020 and 2023, the brand created by the Pariente brothers in 1973 was owned by the Franco-Turkish SY international group, which had taken over the brand during a previous receivership. Prior to this, the brand had evolved within the Vivarte group and was sold to the Chinese La Chapelle group in 2018. Migiboy Tekstil was thus the fourth owner of Naf Naf in less than a decade.
Local France
13 hours ago
- Local France
France's culture minister to be tried for corruption
Dati, a 59-year-old who holds ambitions to become Paris mayor next year, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the Renault-Nissan carmaking group while at the European Union institution. She denies the allegations. Dati is accused of accepting €900,000 in lawyer's fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, but not really working for them, while she was an MEP from 2009 to 2019. Investigations have sought to determine whether she was in fact lobbying in the European Parliament for the carmaker, an activity that is forbidden. Advertisement French investigating magistrates also ordered that Carlos Ghosn, the ex-tycoon of Renault-Nissan, be tried, the judicial source said. The 71-year-old, who has been living in Lebanon for years after escaping arrest in Japan, has also rejected the charges against him. A hearing on September 29th will decide on the date of the trial, the source said. According to another source following the case, the trial could be held after the Paris municipal elections, which will be held in March next year. Dati, a daughter of working-class North African immigrants, has repeatedly sought without success to have the charges against her quashed. She is a right-winger who served in Nicolas Sarkozy's government but has recently been brought back into government as culture minister under the centrist François Bayrou. Ghosn, the former chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct, before being sacked by Nissan's board in a unanimous decision. He jumped bail late the following year and made a dramatic escape from Japan hidden in an audio-equipment box, landing in Beirut, where he remains as an international fugitive. Both Japan and France have sought his arrest.
