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Monday, 21 November 2022

Mubadala acquires stake in carbon exchange AirCarbon Exchange + Egypt eyes 2023 launch for carbon exchange

UAE obtains stake in carbon trading platform: Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company obtained a stake in Singapore-based carbon trading exchange AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), according to a company statement released last week. The size of Mubadala’s stake was not disclosed, with Bloomberg previously reporting the fund would acquire at least a 20% stake in ACX citing sources in the know.

How AirCarbon Exchange works: The carbon credits trading platform is built on blockchain tech and will soon launch the world’s first fully regulated carbon trading exchange with help from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), according to a company statement.

What they said: “This transaction will strengthen the UAE’s competitiveness on the world stage, while driving forward a future-focused sector that is vital to the UAE’s decarbonization journey,” executive director of UAE Clusters at Mubadala Investment Company Badr Al Olama said in the statement.

The timeline: ADGM is set to launch the carbon market “in a matter of weeks,” Bloomberg reports quoting ADGM’s head of sustainable finance Mercedes Vela Monserrate.

Not just going East: Mubadala acquired stakes in German offshore wind developer Skyborn Renewables and US offshore project Bluepoint Wind last month. Mubadala is the latest in a string of GCC sovereign wealth funds buying up stakes in US and EU based renewable energy companies.

EGYPT TO LAUNCH CARBON MARKET IN MID-2023-

Egypt plans to launch Africa’s first voluntary carbon market in mid-2023, Egyptian Exchange (EGX) chairman Ramy El Dokany said during a press conference last week. The bourse is close to finalizing contracts with a Canadian fintech to supply the technology for the carbon credit platform, El Dokany said. “We want to build an African OPEC for carbon that can regulate and standardize prices,” he added.

Don’t expect traction for a couple years: Auditing and verification alone takes at least 18 months to complete, El Dokany said, adding that the sector-agnostic platform’s target will be to issue some 7 mn tons of local credits in Egypt within the first three to four years. The process will need some form of “disruption” — whether through tech or by setting up local verifiers — to be able to scale, he explained.

Egypt also got a EGP 1 bn carbon credit fund: Egypt’s Planning Minister Hala El Said launched a fund — EgyCOP — that will invest up to EGP 1 bn in low-carbon projects that issue carbon credits, according to a statement on Thursday. The statement does not specify what industries it will be focusing its investments on — but El Said name-checked sectors like transport, energy, waste, and biodiversity. The companies will have their credits verified by Gold Standard.

And there are still a lot of details to iron out: The regulatory framework for the market is still pending the cabinet’s review, El Dokany said. Enterprise AM has more on the story.

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