Good morning, wonderful people — and welcome to another news-heavy Monday.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY in our corner of the world- Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund could end up acquiring around 9% of European energy company RWE for EUR 2.4 bn in a debt-to-equity transaction. RWE wants to use the funding to acquire US renewable energy developer Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses.

ALSO- Egypt is leading MENA in value of green hydrogen projects, with USD 63.8 bn out of a total of USD 180 bn worth of projects. We have more on both of these stories in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION still has a MENA angle: King Charles will not be coming to COP27: The UK’s King Charles III, a long-time climate advocate, has scrapped plans to attend November’s COP27 summit in Egypt. Charles had been scheduled to attend in his capacity as Prince of Wales and founder of the Terra Carta initiative. The cancellation comes on the “advice” of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, but speculation in the UK press corps is that Truss scuppered the trip and that Buckingham Palace leaked the news in retaliation.

The story is front-page news in the UK and around the world: BBC | Guardian | Reuters | AP

GO DEEPER- Charles’ Terra Carta Action Forum, which is scheduled to take place during COP27, will focus on how to deliver on “the promises made in Glasgow” at COP26, to unlock USD tns of private sector investment for climate action, the then-Prince of Wales said.

ALSO- Oil prices could be heading back up this week as OPEC+ mulls on Wednesday whether to slash production by 1 mn barrels or more — the cartel’s largest output cut since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Brent Crude climbed 2.5% overnight on the news to USD 81.47 / barrel, but was well above USD 100 / barrel from March through July of this year. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal have more.

AND speaking of fossil fuels: French filling stations are running dry on the back of strikes at four of six of France’s refineries.

WATCH THIS SPACE- The global green sukuk market could grow anywhere between USD 30-50 bn by 2025, according to a majority of Islamic finance professionals surveyed by Islamic Markets. The outfit found that GCC investment in renewables, along with COP27 and COP28 taking place our part of the world, are driving a rise in demand for shariah-compliant green bonds.

But the industry need more regulation and standardization for the green sukuk market to reach its potential, said Arsalaan Ahmed, chair of the Global Islamic Finance Forum, which is set to take place on 5-6 October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Uh, Enterprise, what’s a sukuk? We’ve got your covered in this Enterprise Explains column.

IMAGE OF THE DAY- You can (could?) see plumes of the Nord Stream explosions from space. Images taken from space show plumes of methane belching from four leaks along the two Nord Stream pipelines that transport gas from Russia to Europe, Bloomberg reports. Western nations are accusing Russia of deliberate sabotage to put additional pressure on Europe’s energy market.

What’s happening now? The pressure in the pipelines has now stabilized, meaning the leaks should have stopped, the Danish Energy Agency tweeted yesterday. While scientists haven’t yet calculated the extent of the damage, the images suggest the leaks are “substantially larger” than a so-called super-emitter event off the Gulf of Mexico last year that saw the equivalent of 3% of Mexico’s annual oil and gas emissions discharged into the water, the business newswire reports.

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YOU’RE READING ENTERPRISE CLIMATE, the essential regional publication for senior execs who care about the world’s most important industry. Enterprise Climate covers everything from finance and tech to regulation, products and policy across the Middle East and North Africa. In a nod to the growing geographical ambitions of companies in our corner of the world, we also include an overview of the big trends and data points in nearby countries, including Africa and southern Europe.

Enterprise Climate is published at 4am CLT / 5am Riyadh / 6am UAE, Monday through Thursday, by Enterprise, the folks who bring you Enterprise Egypt, your essential 6am and 3pm read on business, finance, policy and economy in Egypt and emerging markets.

Subscribe to Enterprise Climate here or reach out to us on climate@enterprisemea.com with comments, suggestions and story tips.

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COUNTDOWN TO COP (35 days to go)-

UK to launch climate finance accelerator in Egypt this week: The British Embassy in Cairo is launching a GBP 10.8 mn (USD 11.2 mn) Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) program in Egypt at an event on Tuesday, according to a statement (pdf). The program will help eight middle-income countries — including Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey — design more bankable projects and connect them with investors. Egypt’s Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk and CIB Chief Sustainability Officer Dalia Abdel Kader will be among speakers on a panel at Tuesday’s launch event.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies is today hosting an event focusing on green finance at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and COP27 Presidency Special Representative Wael Aboulmagd. Want to go in person? Register here. Want to dial in thought Zoom? Register here.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Green Energy Africa conference will run this Tuesday-Wednesday, 4-5 October in Cape Town, South Africa. The event aims to bring together executives, investors, utility firms, and government leaders to drive investment in Africa’s renewable and low carbon sector. You can register for the event here.

UN’s NZAOA to host virtual forum on blended finance for climate investments in EMs: The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) will discuss blended finance for climate investment in emerging markets and developing economies on Wednesday, 5 October, ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings next week. (Blended finance = using development finance to leverage private capital for countries’ sustainable development plans.) You can register for the event here.

The IMF and World Bank will hold their annual meetings in Washington, DC, on 10-16 October.

Closer to home, the International Exhibition of Renewable Energies, Clean Energies and Sustainable Development take place from 24-26 October in Oran, Algeria. The event will include panels focusing on energy efficiency and energy saving, startups’ role in the energy transition, and the bankability of renewable energy projects.

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

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

PSA #1- If you’re bidding on a water project in Dubai, make sure it is NSF 61-compliant: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority will be making it mandatory for anyone bidding on drinking water projects to adopt NSF International’s NSF 61 certification — a drinking water system health standard — starting from 23 November, Zawya reported Wednesday.

PSA #2- Applications for the Smart Energy Solutions for Africa program are open until 20 November, Siemens Stiftung said in a statement. The initiative will target SMEs building clean, energy-focused businesses from Ghana, Malawi, Morocco and South Africa that focus on sustainable energy solutions, Siemens says. You can download the application form here.