Adani companies lose endorsement of UN-backed climate group: Three Adani Group companies have lost the endorsement of the UN-backed Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for failing to conform to the group’s green-focused standards and policies, Bloomberg reports, citing an internal report by SBTi. The expulsion from the UN group’s list of “companies taking action” will likely thwart b’naire company owner Gautam Adani's ambition to raise some USD 800 bn to fuel the expansion of his green energy firm, Bloomberg writes.

Adani pushes back: The Indian company has called on SBTi to justify the exclusion and said it hopes the UN-backed group will reassess and review its decision, Bloomberg reports. Adani said that “none of these companies [Adani Green, Adani Transmission Ltd and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd] is involved in the exploration, extraction, mining and/or production of oil, natural gas, coal or other fossil fuels,” and that all three of its subsidiaries are “working on preparing their low carbon transition plans” after committing to SBTi.

REFRESHER- Adani reportedly using green funds to invest in fossil fuel: Green-branded investment funds are being usedby some of the world’s top fund managers to invest in fossil fuel companies, according to UK think tank Common Wealth. Investing in Adani’s renewables activity ultimately funds the growth of the group’s fossil fuel-based businesses, despite Adani’s claims that its subsidiaries have different mandates, according to Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley. Earlier this year, the value of Adani Group sank by USD 70 bn in the wake of another damning report issued by short seller investment firm Hindenburg Research Company.

Adani Green’s possible plans for our neck of the woods: Adani Group reportedly plans toinvest in renewables projects with 10 GW capacity in Morocco to supply green ammonia to Europe. The wind and solar plants would be Adani’s largest clean energy project outside of India, and would more than triple Morocco’s already installed renewables capacity of 2.8 GW. The Indian giant has similarly signed agreements with the Egyptian government for green hydrogen developments.

Glencore to build Europe’s largest battery recycling plant: Swiss-based Glencore is launching a joint study with Canada’s Li-Cycle to build the largest European plant for recycling batteries in Italy by 2027, the Financial Times reports. The plant will add to Glencore’s portfolio of copper, nickel, and cobalt mines, extending its access to the raw materials essential for EVs.

The details: Glencore — which owns a 10% stake in Li-Cycle — intends to repurpose the Canadian company’s zinc and lead smelter in Sardinia to recycle discarded portable electronics, scrap from battery manufacturing, and old EV batteries to extract lithium, nickel, and cobalt. The plant will have a processing capacity of 50k-70k tons of shredded batteries which will undergo hydrometallurgical processes to extract the raw materials — enough to recycle batteries from over 600k used cars.

Turkmenistan’s two main fossil fuel plants produced 4.4 mn tons of methane in 2022 — the equivalent of the UK’s total carbon emissions that year, The Guardian reports, citing satellite data compiled by energy analytics firm Kayrros. Turkmenistan’s western fossil fuel plant on the Caspian coast produced nearly 2.6 mn tons of the greenhouse gas alone, with the country’s eastern fuels plant releasing some 1.8 mn tons in 2022.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • China has halted 32 coal production operations in Inner Mongolia to conduct safety checks prompted by a deadly landslide last February. The closed operations have a combined annual capacity of over 28 mn tons. (Bloomberg)
  • Tesla plans to invest USD 375 mn to build a new lithium refinery in Texas, to secure a domestic supply of lithium hydroxide used in batteries for 1 mn of its EVs annually. (CNBC)
  • Lafarge Egypt has used 20k of eco-friendly ECOPlanet cement in the construction of Egypt’s Iconic Tower in the New Administrative Capital, which helped reduce the project’s overall carbon emissions by 60%. (Zawya)
  • Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi and HSBC Asset Management both filed a joint shareholder resolution for the second year in a row for Japanese electricity generator Electric Power Development (J-Power) to upscale the company’s climate disclosure and action strategy. (Reuters)
  • India’s Oil Ministry is looking to phase out diesel-powered vehicles by 2027, and is recommending a ban on combustion engine motorcycles, scooters, and rickshaws by 2035. (Reuters)
  • Sweden might not meet its 2030 CO2 emissions target, after the government decided to reduce the amount of biofuel that should be added to diesel and gasoline down to 6% until 2026. Currently diesel must include 30.5% biofuel and petrol should include 7.8%. (Reuters)
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