TODAY: KSA’s SIIG agrees to buy 24% stake in Danish sustainable protein company Unibio
Good morning, lovely people. The weekend is on the horizon and carbon credits appear to be making a comeback in the regional climate news cycle. Let’s dive in.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- KSA’s Saudi Industrial Investment Group has signed an agreement to acquire a 24% stake in Denmark’s sustainable protein company Unibio International by investing USD 70 mn in the company. We have all the details on this story and more in the news well, below.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- US and Japan ink trade agreement on EV battery minerals: The US and Japan struck a limited trade agreement that will see minerals critical to EV battery production extracted in the East Asian country — including manganese, cobalt, nickel, lithium, and graphite — count toward the USD 7.5k EV tax credits of the Inflation Reduction Act. Under the limited trade treaty, the allies will lift export duties on rare earths, and will jointly work to minimize reliance on China’s minerals supply chain, noting they would partner on combatting “non-market policies and practices” of other countries in the sector. Earlier this month, the EU and Washington agreed to begin talks for a similar trade bargain.
The story has been making the rounds in the international press overnight: New York Times | Bloomberg | Reuters | Associated Press | CNBC | Financial Times.
WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Loss and damage talks in Luxor to conclude today: The first meeting of the COP transitional committee will conclude today in Luxor. Representatives from 33 developing and developed countries are attending the talks, which are being led by Egypt’s lead climate negotiator, Amb. Mohamed Nasr. In a recorded opening statement, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry emphasized the importance of the committee’s responsibility to implement the loss and damage agreement, and said that he will continue to support discussions in the lead up to COP28 in November.
What went down on day 2: The second day of the transitional committee’s meetings saw back-and-forth about the scope and disbursal mechanism of a loss and damage fund. A handful of speakers — including representatives from the UN Environment Program, the World Food Program, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as leaders of some developing nations — pushed for the fund to be set up in a way that would allow funds to be unlocked rapidly to effectively act as relief in the event of major climate events. The US, however, wants to see the fund be more limited in scope to focus on “slow-onset” climate events. The speakers also discussed the nature of the funding that would be disbursed through the fund, with Nasr stressing that the vast majority of funding channeled to Pakistan in the wake of its deadly floods last year were loans, rather than grants, which grew the country’s debt burden. You can watch the full day of talks here (watch, runtime: 8:13:35).
WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Clean fuel for ships courtesy of Egypt’s SCZone in 2026? The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will begin providing green fuel for ships in 2026, SCZone CEO Walid Gamal El Din said, according to a statement. His statements come months after Egypt and Danish shipping giant Maersk said last year that they could cooperate on a USD 15 bn project to produce clean fuel for ships. The project comes under plans to turn Egypt into a main hub for supplying ships with green fuel in the region.
DATA POINT- The world is in need of USD 35 tn in investments annually for an efficient energy transition until 2030, according to a recent report (pdf) by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). The report, titled the World Energy Transitions Outlook 2023 Preview, sheds light on the necessity of annual investments for energy transition more than quadrupling to over USD 5 tn to help keep the 1.5°C global warming limit alive by 2030 despite having investment in the transition reaching a new record of USD 1.3 tn last year.
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The UAE is hosting the International Conference on Green Energy and Environmental Technology (ICGEET) on 18 and 19 April in Dubai. The event will bring together stakeholders from academia, the healthcare industry, and the private sector to discuss energy conservation among other topics.
The first MENA Solar Conference is accepting applications from published researchers specialized in PV technology until Sunday, 30 April. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority will be hosting the conference from 15 to 18 November, in conjunction with the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition and the Dubai Solar Show 2023. Researchers can submit their papers here.
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