Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We can’t say the news cycle has slowed down, but it has done a bit of shape-shifting, giving us a morning with a handful of significant stories to keep us busy.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Alpha Dhabi Holding — one of the UAE’s biggest conglomerates — is set to snap up a majority stake in water management solutions provider Metito Holdings, with Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Gulf Capital set to sell their shares.

HAPPENING TODAY- Climate Future Week kicks off at Dubai’s Museum of the Future today and runs through this Saturday, 30 September. The event includes 20 main sessions and six workshops, bringing together 30 speakers including government ministers, business leaders, and sustainability experts, according to WAM. The three pillars will center around the future of climate action and the role of technology; the next generation of climate solutions; the role of entrepreneurship in creating new innovations supporting climate resilience; and the importance of enhancing climate awareness and human behavior to achieve climate goals. The event is organized by the Museum of the Future and Dubai's Fiker Institute.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- DHL and Sasol partner up with Germany’s HH2E on SAF production: German logistics firm DHL and South Africa’s Sasol — the world’s largest producer of fuels and chemicals from coal and gas — have entered an agreement with Berlin-based clean energy supplier HH2E to expand the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in Germany, according to a company statement. Under a new JV, the three companies will capitalize on green hydrogen production in the country to generate up to 200k tons of SAF annually from a planned production plant in the eastern part of the country, with plans to later expand volumes up to 500k tons per year. SAFs can be produced from a mix of renewables-powered hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere.

French Aerospace company Airbus — which is already partnering with UAE renewables giant Masdar on SAF production — also intends to join the consortium to use the jet fuel in a bid to meet EU climate targets mandating that 2% of fuel available at EU airports be sourced from SAF in 2025, and 70% by 2050. Meanwhile, Sasol, which has set a target to slash its emissions by 30% by 2030, signed an agreement with Danish decarbonization company Topsoe in June to set up another SAF JV also relying on green hydrogen.

The story got some ink in the foreign press yesterday: Bloomberg | Reuters

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OVER IN COPLAND- UAE and Indonesia join forces again to save the mangroves: Home to the most extensive mangrove ecosystems in the world, Indonesia plans on launching an international mangrove research center with the UAE at COP28, Arab News reports. Last year, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate was established by both countries at COP27 with the aim of promoting nature-based solutions for climate change.

The details: The planned international mangrove research center will be used for capacity-building, collaborative research on mangrove innovations and biotechnology, as well as biodiversity conservation. The research center will also focus on rehabilitating degraded mangrove forests, according to Agus Sari, CEO of environmental advisory agency Landscape Indonesia and former senior adviser to the UN Development Program.

The reasoning: The tropical plants can capture massive amounts of GHG from the atmosphere, trap, and store them in their carbon-rich flooded soils for millenia, making mangroves an effective and relatively cheap carbon-offsetting tool. Check out our explainer on it here.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Algeria is building its first solar power village: Algeria is set to issue a tender soon for the construction of its first solar power village, according to reports from El Khabar. The project will be located in the remote Southeastern desert of Illizi province, where supplying conventional electricity is expensive, but sun exposure is available year-round. This project’s tender documents are already prepared and are set to be made available soon to both domestic and international contractors.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Egypt’s Finance Ministry has its eyes on green infrastructure cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and has developed a roster of infrastructure projects to pitch to the bank for low-cost financing options during its annual meetings currently happening in Sharm El Sheikh, Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk tells Al Ahram. The ministry is looking to promote green infrastructure projects that can support sustainable development and foster green growth, Kouchouk said. Key areas of interest for development partnerships include renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and water, Al Ahram reports.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Portuguese energy giant Galp is investing EUR 650 mn (USD 692 mn) in two projects to reduce the carbon footprint of its refinery in Portugal’s Sines, according to a statement. The projects include an advanced biofuels unit with a production capacity of 270k tons annually, which Galp will set up through a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui. Galp will invest EUR 400 mn in the biofuels unit. The remaining EUR 250 mn have been earmarked for a 100 MW green hydrogen unit.

REMEMBER- Mitsui already has a presence in the region, as it signed a shareholder agreement with Fertiglobe, GS Energy, and Adnoc-ADQ JV Ta’ziz to construct a facility to produce some 1 mn tons of blue ammonia per year. The company is still awaiting a final investment decision on the project, its most recent earnings release said.

DATA POINT- New green transition strategies could boost emerging markets’ economic output by 4% in two years, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF expects economic development policies geared toward decarbonization, lowering trade barriers, accelerating the transition to green energy, and ultimately creating a net-zero pathway could expand developing countries’ GDP by an estimated four percent by 2025, and eight percent by 2027. “Lowering trade barriers can increase access to low-carbon technology and facilitate technology transfers that are critical for the green transition in less technologically advanced countries,” the IMF said, but cautioned against rapid economic policies without factoring in the emissions resulting from the expansion of industry.

“Stringent green reforms, such as energy taxation, regulations and green investments, are necessary to significantly reduce the emission intensity of economic activity. Combining economic and green reforms will allow these [emerging] economies to reduce their overall emissions while supporting growth,” the IMF said. In July, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said developing markets need to rake in an estimated USD 1.7 tn annually to meet clean energy targets — more than triple the amount they received in 2022.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Algeria will host its International Fair on Environment and Renewable Energy (Sieera) from tomorrow through Friday at Algiers’ Exhibition Palace. The conference will see local and international exhibitors debut their green tech offerings, and will include workshops and talks centered on accelerating the transition to clean energy sources with a focus on the role climate and green tech-focused startups and SMEs can play to create a net-zero pathway. The guest of honor for this year’s addition will be South Korea, and Sieera aims to capitalize on the country’s green tech know-how and capabilities to facilitate knowledge transfer and collaboration agreements between the developers of both countries.

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