Good morning, ladies and gents. It’s another busy morning as we close out the week with an avalanche of updates coming out of Egypt. Shall we?

OUR TOP STORY- The Egyptian government has set a date for the sale of two wind energy plants, a combined-cycle power plant in Beni Suef, and several desalination plants before the end of the current fiscal year on 30 June 2024.

^^ We have all the details on this story and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- It’s quiet on the climate news front, but the IMF is ringing the alarm bell on climate change in a new report. Conflicts in fragile nations and war-torn countries in Africa are set to be aggravated on the back of climate change, leading to higher death rates and a falling GDP. The Washington-based lender estimated death from conflict as a share of the population could rise by c. 10% in fragile nations by 2060 under a high emissions scenario. Climate shocks would worsen hunger in the continent’s fragile countries, leading an additional 50 mn people into hunger by 2060.

And extreme economic losses: Cumulative losses in GDP reach 4% in fragile countries three years after extreme weather shocks in comparison with c. 1% in other nations, the IMF said. It expects droughts in fragile countries to slash around 0.2% from their per-capita GDP growth annually. As a result, incomes in fragile countries would continue to extend a decline behind those in other countries, it added. Reuters and Deutsche Welle picked up the story.

OVER IN COPLAND- Al Jaber urges donor countries to make early pledges to loss and damage fund: In an opening message addressed to the third transitional committee of the loss and damage fund meeting in the Dominican Republic this week, COP28 President Designate Sultan Al Jaber called on developed countries to make early pledges to the loss and damage fund (watch, runtime 1:41). “It is one thing to have a well-structured fund, but it will only be fully operational if it is actually funded,” Al Jaber said. He also urged the committee to ensure that the final recommendation for the operationalization of the fund is “clear, precise, and easily understood by all stakeholders,” while encouraging them to be creative in identifying funding sources to ensure the funds are “adequate and distributed efficiently.”

So in what stage are the transitional committee negotiations? The transitional committee is shifting from collecting information to agreeing on concrete recommendations on all aspects of the COP27 mandate for operationalizing the loss and damage fund The discussions — which are controversially taking place in closed sessions without input from civil society organizations — began on Tuesday and will conclude tomorrow. The submissions made by governments to the transitional committee — some of which had not yet been shared publicly before — are now posted on the UNFCCC website.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- The Egyptian Cabinet approved a draft bill forming a national council for green hydrogen and its derivatives, according to a statement. The council will be led by Egypt’s Prime Minister and include members from various ministries including electricity, oil, justice, planning, finance, environment, military production and others. The council’s members will also include the heads of the Suez Canal Authority, Suez Canal Economic Zone, the General Authority for Freezones and Investment, and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the statement said.

What to expect from the council: The council aims to unify the state’s efforts in stimulating investments in green hydrogen and its derivatives, the statement said. It will be tasked with following up the country’s national green hydrogen strategy and updates if necessary. It will also adopt policies and mechanisms needed to implement the strategy and propose necessary solutions to resolve obstacles to investment in the sector. The council will also review related legislations for green hydrogen and its derivatives and amendments if needed, it added.

AND- There are plans for tackling demolition waste: Egypt is planning to establish a facility focused on repurposing demolition waste in a bid to manufacture products for its construction sector, according to a statement. Egypt’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad met with a delegation from Cairo-based Waterway Real Estate Development Company as well as delegates from an unnamed German research center to develop a strategy for realizing the target. The ministry has signed the draft contract for the project and is expected to hold another meeting with the country’s Building and Housing Research Center to discuss implementation steps for the recycling center.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- KSA is handing out the G20’s highest energy subsidies: Saudi’s fossil fuel subsidies of USD 7k per capita are the highest among the G20, according to a report (pdf) by the International Monetary Fund. The kingdom allocated a cumulative USD 253 bn in implicit and explicit energy subsidies last year — 27% of its GDP — surpassing China, the US, and Russia by a wide margin. Elsewhere in MENA, Morocco set aside a total of USD 14 bn in fuel subsidies last year.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- Share of fossil fuel in EU power mix is the lowest on record: The share of energy generated from fossil fuels in the EU is the lowest on record, decreasing by 17% y-o-y in 1H 2023 and reaching just 33% of total energy produced, Reuters reports, citing data collected by UK-based think tank Ember. The drop was driven by lower electricity demand, allowing the share of renewables to meet a bigger proportion of demand. Mild weather, consumption-cutting policies, and high gas and power prices due to Russia’s slashing of gas deliveries to Europe all contributed to the EU’s reduced energy demand. In May, coal produced less than 10% of EU electricity for the first time on record.

Battery storage projects could increase renewables yield further: EU countries including Spain and Poland have shut off solar power at times to avoid overwhelming power grids. Accelerating the deployment of battery storage on power grids could reduce the durations that renewables need to be curtailed when grids become overwhelmed, the newswire reports.

NON-CLIMATE REGIONAL HEADLINES:

• KSA: SRJ Sports— a sports fund recently formed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF) — has acquired a minority stake in the US’s Professional Fighters League under a global sporting expansion spree by the Gulf country. (Asharq Al Awsat)
• Egypt: The Egyptian Cabinet has announced the suspension of an earlier decision requiring state employees to work from home where possible as part of energy-saving measures rolled out by the government in late July. (Al Ahram)

MISSED OUR PREVIOUS FORUMS? The Enterprise Podcast has you covered: The Enterprise Podcast’s forum series has been bringing you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum and Enterprise Climate Forum.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami | Omny.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- In our third panel from the Enterprise Climate Forum, EFG Hermes Research Managing Director and Head of Strategy Simon Kitchen joined us on stage to talk about how business leaders across global growth markets are coping with climate change — and the macro factors that are both shaping and constraining ways to act. Kitchen covers markets ranging from Egypt to Vietnam, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kenya and regularly speaks with senior management from companies across the full spectrum of industries, from banks to electronics assemblers, garment markets to food producers.

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YOU’RE READING ENTERPRISE CLIMATE, the essential regional publication for senior execs who care about the world’s most important industry. Enterprise Climate covers everything from finance and tech to regulation, products and policy across the Middle East and North Africa. In a nod to the growing geographical ambitions of companies in our corner of the world, we also include an overview of the big trends and data points in nearby countries, including Africa and southern Europe.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host the Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference from Monday, 4 September to Wednesday, 6 September in Jeddah. Organized by KSA’s Transport and Logistic Services Ministry, the event will feature over 50 speakers to spotlight sustainability, new technologies, and digitization efforts in the maritime industry. Speakers will include International Maritime Organization Secretary General Kitack Lim and World Ocean Council CEO Paul Holthus.

Kenya will host the Africa Climate Summit from Monday, 4 September to Wednesday, 6 September in Nairobi. The event will bring together government leaders and investors to share pathways to increasing Africa’s climate resilience and serve as a platform to inform and frame commitments, pledges, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the Nairobi Declaration on Climatic Change.

India will host the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit from Saturday, 9 September to Sunday, 10 September in New Delhi. A G20 Leaders’ Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit, stating commitment towards priorities discussed and agreed upon during previous ministerial and working group meetings through the year, the organizers note. The last meeting of G20 energy ministers in July failed to reach consensus on a fossil fuel phasedown as several major producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, blocked the move. Among other expected announcements, the Global Biofuels Alliance is scheduled to be launched at the summit.

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