TODAY: Adani Group eyes hydrogen in Morocco, Oman + Does Jordan want to get in on EuroAfrica?
That’s right, good people. We’re just one week away from the Enterprise Climate X Forum. We have more on that below.
On the news front, we have a tip of our had this morning to R&D teams in the region, as MENA climate news is dominated this morning by some exciting developments on the greentech front, starting with…
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Could Egypt be soon getting its first chemical recycling plant for plastics? Nasdaq-listed conglomerate Honeywell and Egypt’s Environ Adapt — the waste treatment arm of Intro Sustainable Resources Holding — said yesterday they have inked an agreement that could see them boost plastics recycling in Egypt. The two companies will look into developing the first chemical recycling plant in Egypt using Honeywell’s patented tech to turn plastic waste into recycled polymer feedstock.
ALSO- A KSA-based startup is developing a system that could kill three birds with one stone: Mirai Solar has created a solar panel shade screen for greenhouses that could generate electricity, help keep greenhouses cool, and preserve humidity for the plants.
AND- An agritech startup is growing gourmet mushrooms where you least expect it — Abu Dhabi.
^^We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below.
WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Jordan is lobbying hard for a grid connection between MENA and Europe … and wants to be a part of it: Jordanian Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh lobbied hard for MENA-Europe interconnectivity project during a meeting last week with a delegation from the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union, Jordan News Agency reports. “Electric connection with Europe achieves integration between stakeholder countries by supplying the continent with relatively low-cost energy generated from renewable sources,” he added. Jordan wants to position itself as a regional hub for green energy exports with this project paving the way for future projects, the minister added.
All lines lead to Egypt: With all the talk of “regional integration,” and nothing on building its own linkages, it sounds like Jordan could be looking to piggyback on Egypt’s 2 GW EuroAfrica Interconnector project with Greece and Cyprus — or the planned EUR 3.5 bn Greece-Egypt Interconnector (GREGY), which will run almost 1.5k km from Wadi El Natroun directly across the Mediterranean to mainland Greece. Jordan already imports electricity from Egypt through a grid connection project whose capacity Kharabsheh has been trying to raise to 1 GW from 500 MW.
SIGN OF THE TIMES- If it’s still 2022, everyone is a hydrogen maker. Indian conglomerate Adani Group is exploring the feasibility of hydrogen production in Morocco and Oman, founder Gautam Adani told the Financial Times in an interview on Friday. The USD 200 bn Indian multinational conglomerate was eyeing investment in Moroccan projects with a 10 GW capacity last month to supply clean energy to a green ammonia plant that would target exports to Europe.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- No single big climate story is dominating coverage in the international press today. Reuters looks at how some COP27 attendees are calling for deep reform of the COP process in the wake of heated debate about just how much was achieved in Sharm El Sheikh earlier this month. In a separate piece, the newswire has an explainer of the upcoming conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), taking place from 7-19 December in Montreal — where some 195 countries will try to reach a biodiversity agreement similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement to address climate change.
ELSEWHERE- Mazda will invest USD 10.6 bn to electrify its vehicles, Reuters reports. The Japanese car manufacturer is also considering investing in battery production, and upped its global sales goals for electric vehicles from 25% to 40% by 2030.
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WORTH READING- How can COP27’s loss and damage fund be structured? Loss and damage financing needs to be designed in a way that incentivizes emissions reduction — and with a proposed solution expected by COP28, there’s no time to waste, notes Reuters columnist Hugo Dixon. Working out who pays, who receives, and by how much involves balancing several important considerations. Relevant variables include when to start measuring a country’s emissions to calculate how much they should pay, how to adjust country emission measurements according to population, and how to make the formula dynamic.
CLIMATE DIPLOMACY- KSA and Iraq have agreed to up cooperation on clean tech to curb emissions, according to a joint statement. This could include setting up knowledge and regional carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) hubs, the statement notes. Cooperation will likely focus on reducing methane and other greenhouse gas emissions, and gas flaring.
Mohamed Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Infinity is joining us for the Enterprise Climate X Forum, taking place at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Are you? We’re proud to announce that our friend Mohamed Mansour is going to be speaking at the forum on why he thinks climate is the biggest business and investment opportunity of our generation. He is joined on stage for that discussion by Amr Allam, co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding (Amr and Mohamed are woking on a ton of projects together) and Sherif El Kholy, partner and head of MENA at Actis (a longtime invest in climate themes).
They’re not the only ones: Among the top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are: Todd Wilcox, CEO and deputy chairman of HSBC Egypt; Tarek El Nahas, group head of international banking, Mashreq; Khaled Hamza, director and head of Egypt at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Simon Kitchen, head of strategy at EFG Hermes Research; Nader Abushadi, group treasurer at Dar Group; Karim Hussein, managing partner at Algebra Ventures; Aly El Tayeb, CEO and co-founder of ShiftEV; Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe; and Leslie Reed, Mission director for Egypt, USAID.
Topics and live interviews will include:
- What is green hydrogen, why is it important, and what signs will tell us that USD 85 bn in framework agreements are real?
- How CEOs across global emerging markets are dealing with climate change.
- What’s the difference between sustainability-linked and climate finance? How much do CEOs need to know about their supply chain?
- Meet the startup and VC in line to be Egypt’s first climate bn’aires.
For the full agenda please click here.
** Have you confirmed your attendance? We’ll be sending you on Sunday, 4 December the QR code you’ll need to gain admission to the Grand Egyptian Museum, along with a Google Maps link and some other pointers.
HAPPENING TODAY-
THE WORLD CUP TODAY- It’s day ten of the tournament, in which Group A and B teams are facing off again (all times CLT):
- Ecuador v Senegal (5pm)
- Netherlands v Qatar (5pm)
- Iran v USA (9pm)
- Wales v England (9pm)
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
Oman will host a two-day green hydrogen summit next Monday, 5 December at Oman’s Convention and Exhibition Center in Muscat. The summit will discuss all aspects of the hydrogen value chain including production, transportation, and storage challenges.
UAE will host the Big 5 global construction impact summit on Wednesday, 7 December at the Dubai World Trade Center, 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.
FURTHER DOWN THE LINE- Dubai will be host to the food and sustainability Middle East challenge on 2 March, 2023. The Rome-based European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability is partnering with SDG Global to bring a six-month long, online interactive course to align the region’s food industry with ESG sustainability and development targets. You can register interest in the for-pay course here.
Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.