Good morning, wonderful people. For anyone who has anything to do with the climate industry, the only game in town is still the ongoing fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank. As the biggest global event until COP27, you cane expect the meetings topping global climate coverage until they end on 16 October.

PSA- Speaking of COP27, we have 26 days to go until the event kicks off in Sharm El Sheikh.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- The IMF’s World Economic Output report has a stern warning: stop procrastinating on climate policies or pay the cost. The Fund says delays in implementing meaningful policies — in addition to global conflicts — have made the green transition more expensive and will continue to do so unless a coordinated effort is made to chart a new course. We have the full story in this morning’s news well, below. We also dive into the agreements that came out of day two of the meetings.

WORTH NOTING FROM THE IMF REPORT- The Middle East and Asia’s GDP is expected to grow 5.0% in FY2022, up by 0.1 percentage points from the July 2022 update. The region’s growth is expected to shrink to 3.6% in 2023, the report states. That’s still 0.2 percentage points higher than the July update.

MORE TO COME TODAY- Climate will be a big theme at the IMF and World Bank meetings today. Among the high-profile sessions is a seminar headlined: “Getting to Net Zero with IFIs and Multilateral Partnerships.” The session will discuss how institutions can collaborate to design and finance climate mitigation policies. Speakers include World Bank President David Malpass, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgiev and OECD Sec-Gen Mathias Cormann. Tap or click here to get full schedule.

ALSO TODAY- The Middle East Facility Management Association’s seminar on sustainable development kicks off today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event will focus on how tech can help overcome challenges stifling the sustainable development of the facilities management sector in Saudi Arabia. You can register for the event here.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- The EU wants more gas, green hydrogen, solar, and wind energy from Algeria: The EU wants to help Algeria mobilize funding from the European Fund for Sustainable Development for renewable energy projects, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said during the EU-Algeria High-Level Energy Dialogue on Monday (pdf). Algeria, one of the top three gas suppliers to Europe, “has a great potential to become a global leader in the production of clean energy,” he added, referring to the country’s wind, solar and green hydrogen production potential. No financial details were disclosed as of yet.

THERE’S MORE- Algeria is planning legislation that will set a framework for renewable energy investments: Algeria is preparing new renewable energy legislation to spur the push to green energy, Renewable Energy Minister Benattou Ziane announced in June. We dive into what the private sector wants to see from Algeria’s new Renewable Energy Act in the news well below.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- We need to talk about climate education: Climate change awareness has come a long way since scientists first raised the alarm back in the 1970s. But while awareness has been rising, climate education — both on the formal education level and on the capacity building side — remains weak in MENA on an institutional level. Below, we break down by the numbers just how weak climate education is here, as well as how that has been improving.

Want to know how this is playing out in Egypt? Egypt, broadly speaking, reflects much of what we found happening in MENA on the climate education front. While awareness is there, this has largely come from the actual impact climate change is having on the ground. Technical education remains pretty weak.

Check out Going Green, our weekly dive into Egypt’s green economy in EnterpriseAM, for more.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Egypt's Senate has given final approval to an automotive bill that includes provisions for electric vehicles: Egypt’s Senate approved a new bill regulating the automotive sector, including electric vehicles (EVs) yesterday. If passed by the House of Representatives and ratified by the president, the bill would establish a Supreme Council for Vehicle Manufacturing and set up a fund to provide financing to the country’s EV industry. We have details of the legislation here.

*** Take our EV survey: Are you an ex-petrolhead shopping around for your first electric vehicle? EV-curious and wondering what all the fuss is about? Or are you not ready to say goodbye to that sweet smell of benzene as you wait at the gas station?

We want to hear from you: We’re taking the pulse on how the region feels about MENA’s EV transition. Take a few minutes to fill out our short survey. We’ll be back with the results in a couple of weeks.***

THE OTHER BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION has to be Austria filing a suit to reverse the EU Commission’s to label gas and nuclear energy as green energy sources in the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, Austria’s Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler wrote (German) on Facebook on Monday. The country is looking for other EU members to back its claim. Luxembourg is already on board to remove both energy sources from the taxonomy. The taxonomy is a classification system for sustainable activities in the EU, and the EU Commission plans to classify several natural gas and nuclear plants as green in 2023. (VOA | Reuters | Bloomberg)

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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.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Cairo Water Week 2022 will kick off on Sunday, 16 October and run for four days. Discussions will revolve around climate change strategies and development plans, sustainable financing solutions, as well as water recycling, among other topics.

The International Exhibition of Renewable Energies Clean Energies and Sustainable Development will run from 24-26 October in Oran, Algeria. The event will focus on the role of startups in the green 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.