Good morning, wonderful people, and happy end-of-the-week to everyone. It’s the last business day of the week for most folks, and hang in there, friends in the Emirates — just one day left.

We have a packed issue this morning with lots of news from our corner of the world after two days in which the climate agenda has been dominated solidly by the World Bank and IMF fall meetings.

But there’s still going to be lots of climate talk in DC today: Day four of the IMF + World Bank annual meetings will see attendees debating the role of multilateral development banks in the energy transition, as well as how to finance the green transition while ensuring gender equality. Speakers will include World Bank chief David Malpass, International Finance Corporation boss Makhtar Diop, and International Emissions Trading Association CEO Dirk Forrister. Tap or click here for the full schedule.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY in our corner of the world: It’s all about regional green hydrogen exports. Saudi renewable energy giant ACWA Power and South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) signed an agreement this week that would see the two work together on green hydrogen production, with an eye to supplying Kepco’s Korean operations. This follows a string of green hydrogen announcements ACWA has been making in recent months that appear to be positioning the company as a regional green hydrogen powerhouse.

THAT’S NOT ALL: Belgium’s Tree Energy Solutions wants to use green hydrogen from our neck of the woods to produce synthetic natgas to replace Europe’s Russian supplies. Its plan has gotten backing from several EU nations, and received a major profile in the New York Times this week.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES- UAE industrial renewables firm Yellow Door Energy (YDE) raised USD 400 mn from shareholders who came on board earlier this year. These include private equity giant Actis, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, and the Saudi-based Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp).

^^ We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in this morning’s news well, below.

COUNTDOWN TO COP (24 days to go)-

The chiefs of a number of major finance outfits will not be attending COP27, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The CEOs of BlackRock, Citigroup and Standard Chartered, all of whom made a point of attending COP26, will be skipping the November meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. They’re not the only ones: Bloomberg says “a long list of top-level executives” won’t be attending, sending instead delegations of lower-tier representatives.

Why? They’re tackling more “immediate crises,” the business information service writes, including fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war, energy crises, rising inflation and the threat of recession.

That’s weak sauce, if you ask us: Overnight, the G7 group of industrialized nations said they would “intensify climate efforts despite war challenges,” Reuters reports. Finance ministers and central bankers meeting on the sidelines of the IMF + World Bank meetings have arguably as much on their plate as Larry Fink and Jane Fraser do, but will “not compromise on, but rather intensify our efforts to meet our climate goals,” they said. If Joe Biden can reportedly find the time to come to Sharm, folks…

Your Alarming Pre-COP Report of the Week: About 600 mn people across Asia and Africa will face heat waves that go beyond the “human survivability threshold,” by 2100, according to a report (pdf) by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) published Monday.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Is MENA’s cement industry not “driven” enough to decarbonize? The biggest hurdle for decarbonization in the cement industry in our region is the lack of drive to act now, industry leaders concluded at the World Cement Association (WCA) annual conference in Dubai, according to a statement (pdf) out yesterday. Other limiting factors include the lack of economic incentives, such as carbon pricing and green procurement.

What can MENA do? Certain measures can be taken that could potentially reduce carbon emissions by 47%, according to cement industry consulting firm A3&Co. These mainly include using alternative fuels and using low-emission inputs such as calcined clay which improves the strength of concrete.

SOUND SMART- Across the globe, cement generates the most carbon emissions per USD of revenue — with 6.9 kg of CO2 released, which is 5x more than steel, the WCA statement says. MENA cement producers account for nearly 7% of the global cement output.

*** 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 BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Perhaps there’s a reason China keeps trying to water down global emission reduction targets: China will need USD 14-17 tn to reach its net zero target by 2060, according to a World Bank report published yesterday. The price tag only tackles green infrastructure and technology in the power and transport sectors. This will require more than just public investments, regional VP for Asia and the Pacific at the International Finance Corporation Ruth Horowitz said. Climate change could cut the country’s economic output by 0.5-2.3% by 2030, the report adds.

China needs to get this right for all our sakes: “Without China successfully transitioning to a low-carbon economy, achieving global climate goals will be impossible,” the World Bank writes, adding that the country emits 27% of the world’s CO2. (Reuters | Asia Financial)

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Climate education done right: The Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) launched its e-learning platform Abu Dhabi Nature to educate users on the emirate’s surrounding flora and fauna, the agency announced on Wednesday. The platform’s app is currently available for schools but will be accessible to the wider public in 2023.

MENA could use a climate education boost: Awareness of climate-related issues has been rising, but climate education — both on the formal education level and on the capacity building side — remains weak in MENA.

Want to know more? Read our explainer here and here.

KUDOS- Oman became the latest this week the latest country in our region to make a net-zero commitment. Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has set a goal of 2050, according to an Oman cabinet statement picked up by Muscat Daily.

Oman joins Saudi, Bahrain and the UAE, which announced net zero commitments in October of last year. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain said they aim to hit net zero by 2060, while the UAE pledged to hit the target by 2050. By our count, Qatar and Kuwait remain the only GCC holdouts. The latter said it is cutting emissions 7.4% under the “business as usual scenario” by 2035 and unveiled last month what it’s billing as the world’s “largest net zero community.”

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. Our friends at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be taking part and will discuss its water infrastructure investment program for the depollution of the Kitchener sewage drain in Egypt on Wednesday, 19 October. This comes in partnership with the EU and European Investment Bank, EBRD said in a statement (pdf).

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.

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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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