Good morning, friends — there’s no rest for the wicked as the post-COP news snooze we were expecting hoping for simply didn’t materialize. While much of the region is relatively quite this morning — with no word yet on whether Dubai Islamic Bank kicked off its green sukuk roadshow — COP27 host Egypt continued to deliver.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- More stragglers from COP27: Lekela announced that it will invest USD 2 bn in Egypt over the next four years as part of the company’s USD 6 bn plan to quadruple its energy production capacity in Africa to 4 GW by 2026.

We also know more on the timeline for the nine hydrogen agreements Egypt signed at COP27. The final model shareholder contract should be ready some time in 2Q2023, Planning Minister Hala El Said said; she suggests that means we could see Egypt unlock investments worth as much as USD 16.5 bn by 2025-26. We have details + thoughts on how we should all be thinking about the hydrogen land grab.

MISSED OUR ROUNDUP ON COP27? Read up on the climate finance agreements, major projects, and policy initiatives to come out of the summit here, here and here.

MEANWHILE- What’s the environmental cost to hosting the World Cup? Without trying to pile on the hate on what has been (from a football perspective) an excellent tournament so far, we breakdown the cost of emissions the USD 250 bn tournament is expected to rack up over the timeline of development and hosting the event.

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

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- The post-COP debrief continues in the international press: International climate coverage remains focused on COP27, with Bloomberg terming the summit’s loss and damage agreement as “flawed but historic” and zeroing in on the lack of progress on phasing out fossil fuels. Reuters offers a run-down of where COP27 progressed beyond previous COPs, with its greater focus on carbon trading, adaptation, and curbing agricultural emissions. The Financial Times looks at plans by recently-appointed UN climate chief Simon Stiell to give the COP process a shake-up and make it “as effective as possible.” And the Guardian cites warnings from climate experts and campaigners that large economies need to make “fresh commitments” to slash emissions.

The soundbite of the day goes to UN secretary general António Guterres: “Our planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now — and this is an issue this COP did not address. The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.”

PROJECT MILESTONE- Construction has started on the second of four reactors at Egypt’s 4.8 GW Dabaa nuclear power plant, according to an Egyptian government statement on Saturday. Egypt and Rosatom began construction on the USD 30 bn plant in July of this year, kicking off an eight-year construction timeline. The facility is due to come online in the mid-2030s.

PSA- Amazon Web Services’ Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0 is accepting applications from mature startups working in breakthrough clean energy technologies. Challenge focus areas include carbon capture and storage, economic hydrogen generation and transport, grid modernization, energy storage and resilience. Selected companies will participate in a 12-week virtual and in-person training in Seattle in 2Q 2023 with mentorship from industry leaders from around the world. Program outcomes will be showcased during COP28 in Dubai next year. The submission window is open until January 1, 2023.

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HAPPENING TODAY-

Cityscape Intelligence Talks is taking place today and tomorrow at the Dubai World Trade Center. The event will focus on highlighting the construction industry’s climate resilience efforts. You can register for the event here.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

COP27 may be over — but climate will remain the world’s largest and most important industry for decades to come. Our Enterprise Climate X Forum will see members of the business community gather at the Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, 6 December 2022.

What’s the Enterprise Climate X Forum? It’s our first industry-specific conference, where CEOs, top execs, investors, bankers and development finance folks have the chance to talk about how to build a climate-centered business — and how to make sure your business continues to have access to the funds it needs to grow. You can learn more on our conference website here.

Some of the biggest names in business and finance are on board — are you? If you’re a C-suite exec, business owner, climate professional, DFI staff, investor or banker, please email us at climatexrsvp@enterprisemea.com to signal your interest, letting us know your name, title and where you work.

Saudi Arabia’s Education Ministry will host its Global Conference on Sustainable Partnerships next Wednesday, 23 November to Thursday, 24 November in Riyadh, bringing together ministers and senior officials from the private and public sectors.

UAE will host The Big 5 Global Construction Impact Summit on Wednesday, 7 December at the Dubai World Trade Centre, bringing more than 2k exhibitors from 60 countries, as well as regional and global construction industry leaders together to discuss ways to meet local and global net zero and waste reduction targets.

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