TODAY: Bahrain set to power the region’s first seaport with solar power + AfDB’s annual meeting concludes with the release of two reports
Good morning, friends. It’s another busy start to the week with lots of updates across all sectors and parts of our region. Let’s jump right in.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORIES- APM Terminals Bahrain, the operator of the Khalifa Bin Salman Port, plans to launch a USD 10 mn, 18.5 GW solar power plant to help the seaport reach energy self-sufficiency by the end of the year. Also, the African Development Bank’s five-day annual meeting of the board of governors concluded on Friday with the release of new reports, one of which reveals the bank fell short of its climate financing target for Africa.
^^ We have the details on these stories and much more in the news well, below.
HAPPENING TODAY- The Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit will kick off today and run until this Wednesday, 31 May in Abu Dhabi. The conference will bring together state representatives, industry players from the EV sector, as well as engineers and researchers to discuss policy trends and tech innovations in the industry and provide attendees with networking opportunities across value chains.
Over in Qatar, the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Forum will kick off today and run until this Thursday, 31 May in Lusail City. The event aims to spotlight MENA’s CCUS regulations and policies, map out paths and business models that would bring down CCUS project costs, promote regional and international cooperation to advance the international carbon capture sector, and discuss the role CCUS will play in helping Gulf countries meet their net zero targets.
THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- More than 1.5k climate activists detained for blocking the A12 highway in The Hague: Over 1.5k climate activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement were detained by police forces on Saturday for blocking the A12 freeway The Hague in protest against continued fossil fuel subsidies. Dutch police — who later released 850 of the demonstrators without charge — used water cannons for hours to disperse the crowd and managed to clear the motorway by Saturday evening, hours after the demonstration began at noon that day. Dutch celebrities — including Carice van Houten, best known for her role as Melissandre in hit HBO series Game of Thrones —- partook in the demonstration and were among those arrested by police. Police have not yet revealed the identities of the protestors who remain in custody, but noted that 40 will be prosecuted on charges including vandalism. Extinction Rebellion says more than 6k activists participated in the demonstration.
The story snagged headlines over the weekend: France 24 | BBC | Euro News | CNN | Deutsche Welle | The Guardian
OVER IN COPLAND- The UAE’s COP28 presidency has identified four paths to unlocking green finance, the National quotes COP28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi as saying at the Net Zero Delivery summit in London. The four paths include reforming international financial institutions, leveraging private-sector finance, establishing well-functioning carbon markets, and raising finance for innovation. The summit linked the agenda of Egypt’s COP27 with the upcoming climate conference in the UAE. The full preliminary thematic schedule was published on the official website last month.
ALSO- Brazil’s Belem is set to host COP30: The UN has officially tapped Belem — located in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest region and the country’s second most populous city — as the host of the COP30 climate change summit in November 2025, Reuters reports. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended COP27 in Egypt last year as president-elect and signaled interest in hosting an Amazonian COP30.
WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Second round of Loss and Damage talks conclude: The second meeting of the COP27 Transitional Committee wrapped up in Bonn, Germany on Saturday. The three-day meeting aimed to move beyond general discussions about the crucial loss and damage fund agreed upon during COP27, bringing together multiple stakeholders to share views on issues related to the L&D funding arrangements, modalities, structure, and governance. The Bonn-hosted transitional committee meeting concluded with members receiving an internal co-chairs document that attempted to determine the “emerging points” needed to guide discussions in the upcoming meeting in August.
What went down: The three-day meeting saw developed and developing countries still at odds over the fund and related funding arrangements. Developed countries’ vision focuses on existing institutions, or what they describe as a “mosaic of funding arrangements” especially for those outside the UNFCCC's Equity and CBDR-RC Principle. This vision could be built upon through major roles played by the multilateral development banks, existing humanitarian agencies and anticipatory finance through the G7. On the other hand, developing countries demand that the fund becomes an operating entity of the UNFCCC governed by COP and the CMA. They see sources of funding coming from developed nations and alternative sources such as levies to accommodate for the hundreds of bns needed by the fund. The funding should be provided in the form of grants and not loans that are delivered at the scale of needs, developing countries said. The fund should focus on three windows of climate crisis: one on extreme events, slow onset events and long term recovery and rehabilitation.
You can watch the first day here (watch, runtime: 8:56:10) and the second and third days here (watch, runtime: 9:28:57 | watch, runtime: 4:11:07)
Looking ahead: The committee will meet again on 29 August-1 September, and 17-20 October for the third and fourth transitional committee meetings, with a workshop planned on 22-23 July in Bangkok. The 2nd Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage will be held June 8-10 in Bonn.
WATCH THIS SPACE #2- IMF to offer USD 100 bn climate foreign-exchange guarantee: The IMF and other multilateral development banks are planning to offer currency guarantees that could unlock USD 100 bn in climate finance for developing countries, Reuters reported on Saturday. The plan — sent to the world's governments in preparation for the upcoming Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris — will cut the excessive macro-risk premiums imposed on developing countries by providing foreign exchange guarantees on domestic currency loans. The guarantees will be for green transition investments, which are likely to include green bonds, blue bonds, and sustainability-linked bonds.
SOUND SMART- Guarantees issued by development banks provide a safety net for investors by hedging the risk of volatile local currencies. For example, the guarantor is obliged to “step in and compensate international buyers of the green bonds if the country involved devalued its currency and effectively cut the USD-value of its bond payments,” Reuters explains.
REMEMBER- Premium added on loans due to risks is one of the highest barriers to climate finance access. A recent report on methods to achieve low-cost finance for the energy transition found that the biggest reasons for the discrepancy in financing cost between G20 countries were non-technical variables, including country risk, exchange rate risk, and off-take risks (risk of off-taker not paying for energy generated), which adds a premium to the cost of capital and makes borrowing for renewable related projects more expensive.
WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Tunisia touts its green hydrogen export capacities: Tunisia will be able to export between 5.5-6 mn tons of green hydrogen to Europe by 2050, Tunis Africa Press Agency quotes Director General of the Industry Ministry’s Electricity and Energy Transition Belhassen Chiboub as saying on Friday. The amount of green fuel accounts for over half of the 11 mn tons the bloc is looking to source from Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia by the middle of the century under the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative. The country’s roster of solar and wind energy projects and proximity to Europe — coupled with a planned green hydrogen transport network spanning from the country — will help it realize its export target. However, the expected USD 25 bn price tag for producing 1 mn tons of green hydrogen will require foreign investments, as “Tunisia cannot shoulder these costs alone,” Chiboub said.
WATCH THIS SPACE #4- Bad news for climate activists: French oil giant TotalEnergies’ shareholders rejected an activist resolution that aimed to accelerate the company’s efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters reported on Friday. The annual general meeting took place in a charged atmosphere that saw French police fire tear gas at climate protesters outside the company’s headquarters. Over 30% of investors backed the resolution filed by Dutch activist shareholder Follow This urging Total to accelerate cuts by 2030. This is a step up from a similar activist motion that garnered support from 17% of investors in 2020, signaling investor revolt over the company’s climate targets.
WATCH THIS SPACE #5- Everything’s lined up for Neom’s mega green hydrogen plant: Construction of the first phase of Neom’s USD 8.4 bn green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia’s floating industrial complex Oxagon will commence “within the next four months,” Neom Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) CEO David David Edmondson told Asharq Business last week. The plant — which achieved financial close last week — will have a 1.2 mn ton annual production capacity once fully operational in 2026. All of the plant’s output is planned for global export, mainly to the EU and specifically Germany, through an exclusive 30-year offtake agreement with US-based gas supplier Air Products. To date, NGHC has spent c. USD 900 mn on the project, completing 60% of the green hydrogen plant’s engineering works and will likely source the machines to power the facility within the next three months, Edmondson said in an interview with Al Arabiya. The price tag for construction, engineering, and project-associated purchases stand at USD 6.7 bn, he added.
WATCH THIS SPACE #6- Investors untempted by Europe’s hydrogen hype: Hundreds of hydrogen projects proposed by governments in Europe are failing to lure in investors on the back of a lack of clarity and the technology’s early research stage, Bloomberg reported last week. Only 7% of the hundreds of floated projects have received necessary funding to begin construction, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The lack of interest reflects growing doubt over Europe’s ability to economically produce large amounts of hydrogen amid a lack of lucrative subsidies compared to those in the US. Energy firms say there is not enough infrastructure in place to use hydrogen for utility-scale investments, stressing the necessity for greater regulatory clarity and financing from governments for the projects. The technology’s early research stage is also a hurdle, with some energy companies expressing doubts over the outlook on production.
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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The UAE will host The Arab Green Summit on Tuesday, 13 June to Wednesday, 14 June in Dubai. The two-day summit will bring together industry players and experts for conversations on climate change and sustainability and solutions for concurrent climate-related issues in the region. Key themes to be addressed during the summit include industry decarbonization, renewable and clean energy potential and implementation, sustainable building and construction and others.
Morocco will host the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa on Tuesday, 13 June to Wednesday, 14 June in Marrakech. The event will bring together stakeholders from the private and public sector to discuss the world’s most pressing topics and assess potential solutions. Those include the impact of a decelerating global economy, spiking food and energy prices, supply-chain shocks and risks of distress among sovereign borrowers.
Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.