Good morning, folks. It’s another busy morning of news as the Eid Al Adha break draws nearer, and we have a deluge of updates from across the region hitting nearly every subsector of the business. But first, an update from across the pond…

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- California to confiscate earnings from Big Oil’s false advertising: California is using a new consumer protection law to force major oil companies — including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP, ConocoPhillips, and the American Petroleum Institute — to cough up any money made from misleading consumers about their green impacts. This law enables the state to seize any earnings obtained through unfair competition and false advertising.

REMEMBER- California initially filed a lawsuit last year against the oil majors for causing USD bns in economic and environmental damages by misleading the public on the impact long-standing fossil fuel extraction has on the economy and communities. The lawsuit alleges big oil firms and trade groups have known since at least the 1960s that their operations are warming the planet and causing “tens of bns of USD” in damages.

The story grabbed ink in Reuters, The Financial Times, and Bloomberg Law.

ON A RELATED NOTE- The city of Honolulu is also in the midst of a lawsuit against Big Oil for misleading the public for decades about the effects of burning fossil fuels and causing property and infrastructure damage. The Supreme Court’s request for the Biden administration to weigh in on Big Oil’s appeal for the lawsuit to proceed will postpone proceedings. The story made headlines in Reuters and The Guardian.

PSA-

It’s that time of the year again: Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has launched its Set at 24°C and Save initiative to reduce district cooling energy consumption during summer, according to a DFM filing (pdf). The campaign — Empower’s 11th in a row — promotes setting air conditioners to 24°C in auto mode for around 136k customers to conserve energy and reduce bills.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Turkey will impose a 40% additional tariff on Chinese hybrid vehicle imports from July 7, Reuters reports, citing a statement by Turkey’s Ministry of Trade. The decision aims to protect Turkey’s domestic automakers and prevent a deterioration of its current account balance by bolstering domestic production and investment. This measure will apply to both conventional and hybrid passenger vehicles, with a minimum tariff of USD 7k per vehicle.

Turkey already imposed tariffs on EVs: Turkey imposed a 40% customs duty on Chinese electric vehicles in a bid to promote its first locally-produced electric vehicle in March 2023. The government has supported the Automobile Joint Venture Group (Togg) with tax cuts, low borrowing costs, and a purchase pledge of 30k vehicles annually until the end of 2035.

#2- Taqa pulls the plug on Naturgy takeover: Abu Dhabi’s Taqa will not proceed with the acquisition of Spanish gas producer and renewables player Naturgy after halting discussions with two of the utility’s largest shareholders, CVC Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the energy firm said in a statement (pdf).

Taqa also confirmed that it has terminated talks with Criteria Caixa over a potential cooperation agreement to hold a stake in Naturgy.

ICYMI- Criteria Caixa said on Monday that talks with Taqa regarding a joint takeover have fallen through. The two companies were reportedly looking to “cooperate” on a potential acquisition. Criteria Caixa currently owns a 26.7% stake in the company.

BACKGROUND- Taqa disclosed in April that it was in discussions with the three shareholders to potentially acquire their stakes in the Spanish company. The acquisition was expected to meet resistance amid a rising wave of protectionism in the EU, which would have prompted the Spanish government to negotiate maintaining a stake.

#3- Shalfa gets green light for Nomu IPO: Riyadh-based waste management company ShalfaGroup has lined up Capital Market Authority (CMA) approval to debut its shares on Tadawul’s parallel market Nomu, according to a CMA statement. Shalfa is looking to offer a 15% stake in the company to qualified investors.

THE SCORECARD-

KSA + UAE ranked top 10 for sustainable infrastructure: Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the only Middle Eastern countries to have made it into the top 10 global rankings for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified projects, according to a report (pdf) by UAE project managing firm Stonehaven. Riyadh is the leading city for LEED projects in Saudi, standing at 866. In the UAE, Dubai took the top spot with 348 LEED projects followed by Ras Al Khaimah with 120 projects. Saudi Arabia has reduced construction and manufacturing emissions by 24% between 2010 and 2020, while the UAE attributes its sustainable construction success to the Al Sa’fat green building rating system, the report wrote.

DANGER ZONE-

Bahrain’s vulnerable groups to be impacted by climate change: Climate change-induced extreme heat, dust storms, flooding, and socioeconomic problems will affect vulnerable groups in Bahrain including migrant workers, health compromised elderly, and farmers, according to a report by the Middle East Institute.

Health + finance burdens will be exacerbated: Outdoor workers — the majority of which are migrants — are especially vulnerable to heat-related illnesses while the elderly are more vulnerable to respiratory issues and health distress from all cases of extreme weather. Farmers will suffer the burden of financial pressures caused by climate change such as the rising costs of water and energy which reduced their crop yield and revenues as water pumping, transmission, and other costs become more expensive. For consumers, it is expected that residential water costs will rise due to scarcity while food insecurity will also increase.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Spain will host the Connecting Green Hydrogen Europe conference from Tuesday, 25 June to Thursday, 27 June in Madrid. The event will see around 5k attendees including industry leaders, energy ministers, and executives to explore solutions, new technologies, and transformative advancements to advance the hydrogen industry.

Turkey will host the Nuclear Power Plants Summit & Expo from Tuesday, 2 July to Wednesday, 3 July in Istanbul. The event will gather utility companies, independent power producers, government officials, and industry leaders to explore nuclear power projects, plans, products and tech solutions.

Egypt will host the Egypt Mining Forum from Tuesday, 16 July to Wednesday, 17 July in Cairo. The event will convene decision-makers from government, industry experts, new exploration firms, financiers, and investors to explore the challenges and advantages to establish Egypt as a leading global mining hub by 2040.

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

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