Adnoc reaches final investment decision to build one of MENA’s largest CCUS projects

Good morning, friends. It’s the end of a very busy week for the regional climate industry and the weekend is mere hours away. We have another hefty issue, so let’s jump right in.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said it has reached a final investment decision to set up one of the MENA region’s largest carbon capture projects, which will have the capacity to capture and permanently store 1.5 mn tons per annum of CO2 within geological formations underground.

ALSO- Don’t miss our interview on the future of green methanol as a shipping fuel with CEO of OCI Global and Fertiglobe Ahmed El Hoshy.

^^ We have more on these stories and others in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY- The Annual Regional Sustainability and Development Forum is kicking off today and will conclude tomorrow in Cairo. The two-day forum brings together government officials, policymakers, the business community, NGO representatives, and others to discuss challenges to sustainable development in the region. It will also showcase the latest sustainable development technologies and practices, allowing businesses and organizations to present their related work and products.

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THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Africa calls on the West to upscale climate financing: African leaders have submitted a proposal for new carbon taxes as well as reforms to international finance institutions ahead of COP28 to mobilize more financing for continental climate adaptation efforts. The African countries submitted the Nairobi Declaration, a proposal laying out funding strategies to combat extreme weather, preserve natural resources, and support renewable energy installations in the global south, which will form the basis of the continent’s negotiating position in November. The declaration calls for the formation of a Global Climate Finance Charter by 2025. Over the three-day summit, Kenyan President William Ruto said private financiers committed USD 23 bn to fund green projects.

The details: The Nairobi Declaration emphasizes the need to establish levies on major carbon emitters and calls on global financial institutions and multilateral lenders to expand their climate-geared concessional loan disbursement capacity. The declaration urges world leaders to “rally behind the proposal for a global carbon taxation regime including a carbon tax on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport and aviation, that may also be augmented by a global financial transaction tax.”

The story got some ink in the international press: Reuters | Bloomberg | Deutsche Welle | Sky News

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COUNTDOWN- There are just 11 days until the Enterprise Finance Forum, taking place 18-19 September (Monday and Tuesday) at the St. Regis Hotel on the Nile Corniche. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only events, where CEOs, bankers, investors, founders, and corporate leaders will meet to discuss the trends shaping the future of banking, finance, NBFIs, and fintech — and of their clients.

You won’t want to miss this one: Join Karim Awad (CEO, EFG Holding), Hassan Allam (CEO, Hassan Allam Holding), Yasmine El Hini (country officer, IFC), Hazem Moussa (chairman, Contact Financial Holding), Tamer El Emary (group CEO, GB Capital), Hoda Kassem (Cairo global services center director, HSBC Egypt) and many others for talks on everything from investing in uncertain times, to whether NBFIs are a bubble. Stay tuned for the unveiling of our full list of speakers in the coming days.

Tap or click here to REGISTER or view the FULL AGENDA.

We are honored to count some of the region’s most important financial institutions as our partners for this special event. The Enterprise Finance Forum could not take place without the support of our partners including Banque Misr, Al Baraka Bank, FAB Misr, HSBC, Mashreq, CI Capital, Global Corp, Visa, Hassan Allam Utilities, and the IFC.

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WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Vale could be launching the Middle East’s iron ore “mega hubs” next year: Brazilian miner Vale said it expects construction of planned low-carbon iron ore “mega hubs” in the Middle East to begin next year, with the first plant set to be operational in 2027, Reuters reports, citing a presentation by the company. The company is set to build and operate iron ore concentration and briquetting facilities at the hubs, with local partners providing necessary logistics infrastructure, it said, without disclosing details on the planned investments or which facility would be built first. Vale signed three agreements last year to examine the feasibility of developing mega hubs in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman to supply low carbon products to the steelmaking industry both locally and internationally.

You can thank the Saudis for the push: KSA’s Manara — a recently established JV between Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and state-owned mining company Ma’aden — sealed an agreement in late July with Brazilian miner Vale to grab a 10% slice of its base metals unit as it eyes a pivotal role in the global energy transition supply chains.

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WATCH THIS SPACE #2- The UN is considering green sukuk issuances: The UN is looking into issuing green sukuks by next year to help raise funds for refugees and those internally displaced due to the aggravating impact of climate change, a senior official at the UNHCR told Al Monitor in an interview published yesterday. “Islamic bonds offer themselves easily and nicely to their response to climate change. And they might offer sizable resources for climate displacement,” senior adviser and representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries at the UNHCR Khaled Khalifa said. He said he expected the volume of issuance of the green instruments to be at least USD 200 mn, describing the figure as a minimum to achieve a substantial impact.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- World Bank reform likely on the table in G20: US President Joe Biden will turn his attention to reforming the World Bank while urging other multilateral development banks to shore up lending for climate change and infrastructure projects during the G20 leaders summit in India this month, Reuters reports, citing statement by the White House. The focus on reforms comes after the White House asked Congress in late August for USD 3.3 bn in additional funding under a supplemental budget request to “materially expand development and infrastructure financing” through the World Bank to provide countries with a “credible alternative to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) coercive and unsustainable lending and infrastructure projects.”

REMEMBER- World Bank reform has been a priority: World Bank President Ajay Banga revealed new plans to expand the bank’s balance sheet and help countries face the impacts of climate change and other challenges last July. “We are making quick progress … we are building a better bank, but eventually we will need a bigger bank,” Banja said, indicating the necessity of a capital increase to help achieve the plans.

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DATA POINT- Low-carbon e-fuel use could offset 400 mn tons of emissions by 2050, a report by Aramco and Dutch automaker Stellantis has found. The two companies partnered on a study which revealed low-carbon fuel — derived from a green hydrogen and CO2 mix similar to sustainable aviation fuels — is compatible with 28 mn European-made cars across 24 engine families in circulation since 2014, potentially mitigating some 400 mn tons of greenhouse gas emissions between 2025 and 2050 if motorists make the switch, the report notes.

No modifications needed: Testing undertaken by both companies on e-fuel usage has shown that car models currently on the market can consume the low-carbon source without any modifications to their powertrains. Aramco — which noted that synthetic fuel usage can push down combustion engine cars’ emission output by 70% on a lifecycle basis — has plans to develop low-carbon fuels as a drop-in replacement for conventional fuels. “Drop-in eFuels can have a massive and almost immediate impact on reducing the CO2 emissions of the existing vehicle fleet, offering our customers an easy and economically efficient option to reduce their carbon footprint — one as simple as choosing a different fuel pump at the station, with no additional modification to their vehicles,” Stellantis CEO Ned Curic said.

REMEMBER- The EU commission and Germany have been working on legislation allowing the sale and manufacture of combustion engine vehicles beyond the bloc’s previously agreed termination date of 2035 provided they run on e-fuels. The new law would, if passed, stipulate that cars manufactured beyond mid-2030 be powered by carbon neutral fuels. A sticking point in the draft legislation is the requirement that the new category of vehicles recognize e-fuels from regular CO2-emitting counterparts, forcing manufacturers to develop new engines catering to green fuels. Automakers have already proven that the transition won’t compromise net-zero targets.

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THE DANGER ZONE- Sand dredging is decimating the ocean floor: The global marine dredging industry removes an estimated six bn tons of sand from the ocean floor annually with irreversible effects on marine ecosystems, according to a report by the UN. Sand is the second most exploited resource on the planet after water. The South China Sea, the North Sea and the east coast of the United States are among the regions with the highest marine sand loss over the study’s timeframe, and China, the Netherlands, the United States, and Belgium are the most active nations in the dredging sector, sand industry and data analytics officer at the University of Geneva Arnaud Vander Velpen noted.

Efforts to right the ship: The UN passed a resolution last year in a bid to govern the extraction of the resource and reform the dredging industry’s unsustainable mining operations. The release of the UN report coincides with the launch of Marine Sand Watch, an organization funded by the Swiss government that tracks dredging activities using marine tracking and artificial intelligence.

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NON-CLIMATE REGIONAL HEADLINES:

• Egypt: Japan and Egypt will strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of politics, security, economy, and development assistance. (Statement)
• KSA: The IMF expects Saudi Arabia’s GDP growth to slow further than the current forecast of 1.9% amid the latest extension of oil production cuts. (Reuters)

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

India will host the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit from Saturday, 9 September to Sunday, 10 September in New Delhi. A G20 Leaders’ Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit, stating commitment towards priorities discussed and agreed upon during previous ministerial and working group meetings through the year, the organizers note. The last meeting of G20 energy ministers in July failed to reach consensus on a fossil fuel phasedown as several major producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, blocked the move. Among other expected announcements, the Global Biofuels Alliance is scheduled to be launched at the summit.

Egypt will host the Hydrogen Egypt Summit on Wednesday 13 September and Thursday 14 September in Cairo. The two-day event will bring together members of the local and global hydrogen industry to discuss optimizing hydrogen and green hydrogen development in MENA. The event will serve as a platform for the local industry to discuss potential investments with global investors, operators, and technology providers.

Morocco will host the World Power-to-X Summit from Tuesday 19 September to Thursday 21 September in Marrakech. The event brings together policymakers, industry leaders, and innovators in green hydrogen to showcase success stories in the carbon-free industry. It will also explore scaling-up projects throughout the Power-to-X value chain and hold discussions on harmonizing roadmaps of contiguous countries and adjacent regions.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said it has reached a final investment decision to set up one of the MENA region’s largest carbon capture projects, according to a statement. The pioneering Habshan carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project will have a capacity to capture and permanently store 1.5 mn tons per annum (mtpa) of CO2 within geological formations underground. No financial details or a timeline for the project were disclosed.

What we know: The project will triple Adnoc’s carbon capture capacity to 2.3 mtpa, which is equivalent to the removal of more than 500k gasoline-powered vehicles from the road annually. It will be built, operated, and maintained by Adnoc’s gas unit, Adnoc Gas, and will include carbon capture units at the Habshan gas processing plant, pipeline infrastructure, and a well network for CO2 injection. The CO2 will be permanently stored in reservoirs deep in the sub-surface through the deployment of closed-loop CO2 capture and reinjection technology at the well site.

REMEMBER- Adnoc recently revised its net zero plan, targeting net zero in 2045 instead of 2050. It also plans to achieve zero methane emissions by 2030. Earlier this year, it allocated USD 15 bn to advance and accelerate low-carbon solutions, new energy investments, and decarbonization technologies to help achieve its net zero goals.

Been there, done that: Adnoc opened in 2016 its first carbon capture, transportation, and storage facility at Abu Dhabi’s Al Reyadah, according to the statement. The project has the capacity to process up to 800k tons of CO2 per year captured at Emirates Steel Arkan. The facility can give room for an oil recovery enhancement of low carbon-intensity barrels and the production of low-carbon feedstocks such as hydrogen to help customers decarbonize their operations, the statement said.

It’s been an eventful couple of months: Adnoc signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Occidental Petroleum to explore potential investments in carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) hubs in the UAE and US last month. Under the agreement, Adnoc and Occidental will evaluate the development of direct air capture (DAC) facilities in the UAE — including what could be the first megaton DAC project outside of the US — to potentially absorb as much as 1 mn tons of carbon dioxide annually. The two parties will also evaluate the joint development of one or more carbon management hubs in the Gulf country.

And it isn’t just Adnoc: Emirati utility company Etihad Water and Electricity said earlier this week that it is joining efforts with the UAE’s state-owned renewables company Masdar to upscale its CCUS capabilities. State-owned Sharjah National Oil Corporation signed an initial agreement with Japanese trading and investment company Sumitomo Corporation in late July to establish a CCUS project in Sharjah. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Energy and Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina also signed an MoU in July to explore avenues in CCUS projects in Indonesia. Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco and Norway-based Aker Carbon Capture also signed an agreement in July to explore partnerships to employ CCUS and industrial modularization in the kingdom.

US battery firm ONE is getting Omani funds: The Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the sultanate's sovereign wealth fund, will make an undisclosed investment in Michigan-based energy storage company Our Next Energy (ONE), Oman News Agency reports, citing a statement by OIA.

What we know: OIA and ONE signed a strategic cooperation agreement aimed at identifying potential areas of cooperation in energy storage and battery manufacturing in Oman.

About ONE: Founded by Apple veteran Mujeeb Ijaz, ONE is a Michigan-born energy storage company focusing on battery technologies to advance the adoption of electric vehicles and expand energy storage solutions, according to this website.

REMEMBER- OIA has been all in on energy transition: OIA aims to diversify its global investment portfolio and benefit Oman in terms of investment returns and sustainable investments under its strategy to reach net zero carbon by 2050, according to the statement. Last year, OIA invested in US lithium-ion battery recycling company Ascend Elements and US-based global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery materials Group14. Oman plans to fully decarbonize its mobility sector by 2050 through an ambitious three-phase plan by the country’s Transport, Communications, and Information Technology Ministry (MTCIT), officials said in July.

What the first green methanol refueling operation in Egypt’s Port Said means for MENA: Last month, Dutch-based chemical producer OCI Global completed a six-hour operation refueling the world’s first green methanol-powered container ship with 500 tons of the green fuel in Egypt’s East Port Said. The refueling operation by OCI Global took place under a partnership with shipping and logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk.

Enterprise Climate sat down with Ahmed El Hoshy (LinkedIn), CEO of OCI Global and Fertiglobe, the strategic partnership between OCI Global and Adnoc. Euronext-listed OCI Global is one of the world’s top producers and distributors of hydrogen-based products, including ammonia, nitrogen fertilizers and other nitrogen products, methanol, green methanol, and biofuels, with a four-continent footprint and a production capacity of 16.8 mn metric tons per annum (MTPA). Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined and the largest producer of nitrogen products in MENA, with a combined production capacity of 6.7 MTPA of urea and merchant ammonia.

OCI’s partnership with Maersk is really a pioneering one. Taking green methanol as a shipping fuel into a container vessel hasn’t been done before; green methanol is one of these replacements for diesel or very low-sulfur fuel oil or heavy fuel oil. It’s one that can have materially lower greenhouse gas content, but it just isn’t used yet day-to-day. This meant we had to navigate new questions for the first time, such as how we can get temporary bunkering licenses in five different ports — considering the ship went from Korea, through Singapore, to Port Said where it was refueled, then back into Europe through Rotterdam, and ultimately will arrive in Copenhagen next week.

The maritime shipping industry is carbon-intensive — around 3% of greenhouse gasses are just from maritime shipping — but it’s also the best way to ship heavy items over long distances. It’s more CO2 intensive to carry cargo over long distances via plane, for example. So what that means is that long-distance shipping is going to be primarily marine for the foreseeable future.

Maersk has been kind of a pioneer in the low-carbon shipping space for the last several years — they’ve gone above and beyond to order over 20 dual-fuel vessels, which they can use to reduce their carbon footprint, even before the regulations come into place to decarbonize the industry.

A lot of what we did for this partnership was new territory, and it’s leading the way to open an industry that’s just starting out and doesn’t yet have regulations driving demand. As it currently stands, there’s just not that much available green methanol in the world — OCI Global is the global leader in green methanol today, and we have a capacity of 200k tons, which we’re looking to increase.

When you talk about regulation vs supply and demand, it becomes a “chicken or egg” question: You need regulation to create demand, because today you’re still not pricing CO2 in a lot of industries, including shipping. So CO2 is a negative externality for the world — there’s no price on it now in most global regions, save for the EU. Regulations are just starting to be formed, and that’s why Maersk and others like CMA CGM and Xpress Feeder Lines are getting ahead of it. If the regulations on CO2 emissions for the shipping industry are there and people start ordering the ships, then the supply of green methanol will come over time.

Currently, producing green methanol in and of itself costs more than producing regular methanol from natural gas or coal, so we need to see the bid from the demand side and that will incentivize the supply. If you just wait for there to be abundant amounts of fuel, that ramp-up in supply just isn’t going to happen. If you don’t price CO2, it won’t make economic sense to lean more on green methanol — everyone will just keep burning fossil fuels because it’s cheaper.

There are lots of projects that have been announced to produce green methanol in the form of bio-methanol or e-methanol, but these projects are all facing two major challenges. The first challenge is that sometimes these are new technologies — a lot of sustainability initiatives are driven by innovation. New technologies need somebody to take an outsized risk by taking on a higher cost of capital. If there’s an offtaker like Maersk or others in the shipping space that say I’m bringing in 20 ships and I need some fuel supply, that’s when people see that they can sell at a price to justify the risk, and that’s when you’ll start seeing more production projects.

For OCI, we were able to take those risks because we have existing infrastructure. We are one of the top five methanol producers globally and the number one global green methanol producer, so we have existing facilities and existing customers. So if we have the capacity to produce 33 mn tons of conventional methanol a year and up to 200k tons can be green methanol, we can use our existing plant and our supply chain.

The EU has taken a first step with maritime fuel by putting a price on CO2 and polluting fuels like heavy fuel oil and diesel, and they’re also giving support or credit to low-carbon fuels like bio-methanol and e-methanol. Today, green methanol is a 300k ton market and is expected to become a 6 mn ton market in the next five years. That’s a huge amount of demand that’s going to help more projects happen and come to fruition. But the regulations need to be in place to answer the question of who’s going to pay for the premium.

This isn’t just applicable to the EU and western markets, however — the MENA region has lots to benefit from in terms of advancements in green methanol. First and foremost, Egypt stands to benefit significantly. Around 12% of global marine traffic and 30% of container traffic passes through the Suez Canal, and despite this high volume and great revenues for the canal, it’s not a major bunkering hub. OCI produced the green methanol for Maersk in Texas, but in the future Egypt could be a great green marine bunkering hub. East Port Said is an excellent location because you could have those vessels going through on the demand side, and you can supply them with a lot of the renewable potential that Egypt has for green hydrogen and its derivatives.

This isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight, but there’s massive potential, especially for early movers. Fertiglobe, is investing in green ammonia, including in partnership with Fertiglobe in Abu Dhabi and with Masdar. These are all fuels that could be used not only to export the final product to Europe or Asia, but can also be provided at ports that can become major bunkering hubs and suppliers of low carbon fuels in the future. Methanol has the advantage today because there are already methanol engines.

Ultimately, the challenge with green hydrogen in any form is that you have to incentivize demand, whether via carrots or sticks, enough that it makes sense to pay for the higher cost, lower carbon fuel. Otherwise, the fossil fuels industry will continue to dominate and you won’t get these projects to fruition.

More green sukuk incoming, courtesy of DP World: UAE port operator DP World is looking to raise at least USD 1 bn from a 10-year USD-denominated green sukuk issuance with initial price guidance of around 150 basis points above US Treasuries, Reuters reports, citing a bank document it has seen.

Advisors: Citi, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered Bank are acting as the bookrunners for the debt sale, while HSBS is serving as the sole ESG structurer.

More to come? The UAE port operator is also reportedly eying another USD 1 bn green sukuk issuance through its subsidiary DP World Crescent Limited as part of its USD 5 bn Trust Certificate Issuance program, according to a bank document from one of the arranging banks.

REMEMBER- Green sukuk and bond issuances have gov’t support: The UAE government said it would exempt firms issuing green debt instruments — including sukuk and traditional climate-aligned bonds — from paying registration fees in 2023 to support funding for climate-friendly projects last July.

It’s been a busy 2023 for green bonds so far: Earlier this week, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank — the UAE’s third largest bank — raised USD 650 mn from five-year green bonds, setting the price guidance for the green notes at 125 basis points over US Treasuries. Back in July, First Abu Dhabi Bank issued a three-year AED 1.3 bn (c. USD 350 mn) green sukuk issuance, and before that in June the Commercial Bank of Dubai raised USD 500 mn through its inaugural green bond issuance.

And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down: BNP Paribas expects the global climate-friendly bond sales to climb up to c. USD 600 bn, outstripping 2021’s all-time high. The MENA region reported a 532% y-o-y rise in green and sustainable finance to USD 24.55 bn in 2021, up from USD 3.8 bn a year earlier, according to a report by consultancy Arthur D Little.

Egypt partners with France’s EDF on clean energy: Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Agency (NREA) has signed two cooperation agreements with French clean energy developer EDF Renewables as part of state plans to increase renewable energy generation, enhance electrical transmission capacity, and minimize grid losses, according to a statement. Egypt is currently devising a strategy to establish 47 energy control centers to monitor power distribution under its target of optimizing grid performance. Egypt’s NREA recently secured EUR 500 mn from undisclosed financiers in a bid to achieve its target of having renewables comprise 42% of the country’s energy mix by 2030 and 60% by 2040.

EDF already has a foothold in the country: The French company acquired a strategic stake in Egypt-based solar energy provider KarmSolar back in 2019 as part of its target of bringing up its clean energy portfolio to 50 GW by 2030. On the sidelines of COP27 last year, the company, alongside UAE firms AMEA Power and Masdar, announced plans to build a USD 3 bn facility to produce green fuel for ships in partnership with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE). The Ain Sokhna-based plant will eventually produce 350k tons of fuel each year, with an initially targeted 140k-ton annual production capacity in the initial phase. Construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2024, with operations slated to begin in 2026.

Egypt is also courting the UAE: On the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya this week, Egypt’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad met with UAE counterpart Mariam Almheiri to discuss knowledge transfer and cooperation in clean energy, waste management, reforestation, and climate mitigation ahead of COP28 in Dubai later this year, according to a separate statement. Egypt wants to rake in more UAE private sector financing to bolster its green economy sector, the ministry noted.

Egypt’s Flat6labs helps raise USD 10 mn for startups: Egypt-based seed and early stage venture capital firm Flat6Labs will help raise USD 10 mn in financing for 24 startups operating across several sectors including energy tech and agritech as part of the VC’s StartMashreq Growth Track program, according to a statement (pdf). Under the program, the cohort — which includes Lebanese waste repurposing startup Compost Baladi, Abu Dhabi-based agritech startup Palmear, and Iraqi green solutions company KESK — will access new markets and use the proceeds to scale their operations, the statement notes. The 24 startups collectively generate recurring revenues of USD 20.8 mn annually and have raised a total of USD 38.5 million. The StartMashreq Growth Track program kicked off in June 2023 and will run until December 2024.

REMEMBER- Flat6 is going big on climate financing: Flat6 announced launch of a USD 95 mn fund targeting greentech, agritech, smart city, and climate tech startups based in Africa, Flat6Labs Chief Investment Officer Dina El Shenoufy told Enterprise Climate last March.

A global shortage of technicians is spelling trouble for EVs: A shortage in technicians and independent repair shops globally could put the EV industry in jeopardy due to increased repair and warranty costs for drivers, Reuters reports. Technician training organizations, warranty providers, and repairers see independent repair shops as necessary to make EVs affordable due to their cheap services in comparison with franchise dealerships. Some garage owners resist training and equipment costs to fix high-voltage EVs due to risks that could kill unskilled technicians in seconds. Others believe that the risk of EV fires should also be taken into consideration. Some are also opposed to spending thousands of EUR on necessary equipment for repairs when EV sales and related infrastructure networks remain relatively low.

Some are trying to jump in: Some carmakers, including EV giant Tesla, have launched courses at US community colleges to provide training for future technicians, the newswire notes, as well as providing EV training for independent repair shops. The Siemens Foundation has also announced a USD 30 mn program to train technicians in the US to install and maintain EV chargers.

Your trainers could be helping the environment: A chunky and funky 3D-printed outsole for running shoes could help fitness fanatics sow seeds and contribute to urban rewilding, CNN writes. The idea behind the spiky blue outsole dubbed “Rewild the Run” is for feet to transform into vessels for plants and seeds to help them spread across cities.

How it works: The loops are designed to imitate how some types of seeds attach themselves onto the fur of wild animals. The outsoles can pick up smaller seeds within dirt or larger ones during a run and help scatter them in different areas. The bottom of the outsole is also designed like the unique hoof of the bison, helping press down seeds into the ground along the way. The new sneakers come under efforts to help the environment restore itself with little human intervention.

The rationale: “Living in London, I felt very disconnected from our local environment and our nature,” Rewild the Run product designer Kiki Grammatopoulos told CNN. “So I started thinking about ways that I could replicate keystone species in London,” she said, adding “because obviously, I can’t really bring in bison or wolves into King’s Cross”.

The effort behind the inspiration: Grammatopoulos examined the cocklebur and the grapple plant (or devil’s claw) to inspire the design of the outsole. The first species is known for having inspired Velcro, a fastener system that is home to tiny hooks on one side and tiny looks on the order side. Grammatopoulos used the system during the early testing phase. “Before I did any 3D modeling, I’d cover my shoes in Velcro to just have a look at what my shoe would pick up and over what areas of the shoe,” she said.

There are some drawbacks: Such urban rewilding efforts could bring in unwanted guests, including encroaching weed species, geographer Stephen Carver told CNN. “It’s an interesting idea, but my first impression is that it’s a great way to spread non-native, invasive weed species,” Carver said. “How will these shoes distinguish between the seeds of native and non-native plant species?”