Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have a tight issue with which to kick off our week, bringing us a handful of stories to keep our eyes on.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- UAE-based urea and ammonia exporter Fertiglobe secured a EUR 397 mn offtake agreement from the German government’s H2Global program to supply green ammonia to the EU from its Egyptian facilities between 2027 and 2033, following an auction

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

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- COP29 host Azerbaijan is launching a fund to raise at least USD 500 mn in climate finance for poorer countries with a contribution from the state owned oil company Socar, a senior COP29 official said. The fund is set up for fossil fuel companies to contribute through lump sums or portions of revenue, and any returns made on the investments will be funneled back into the fund. The country is still in talks on whether 50% of the capital should be allocated for developing countries impacted by severe weather events.

What’s next: “We will, once the concept is ready, reach out to the parties we think could be potential contributors. We will be enquiring of all countries that produce and use fossil fuels to be part of the initiative,” the official said.

A weak start to the pre-summit commitments: The fund — which is an alternative to imposing a levy on fossil fuel companies — is nominal in comparison to the USD 30 bn fund launched by the UAE at COP28 in Dubai, which aims to mobilize USD 250 bn of private sector investment for climate action by 2030. Climate diplomats and negotiators have expressed concern that Azerbaijan, which relies heavily on oil and gas revenues, is reluctant to address how to phase out fossil fuels.

The story made headlines in the international press: Financial Times | Reuters

COP WATCH-

EU to pressure fossil fuel transition at COP29: The EU is planning to put pressure on other countries at COP29 to strengthen their efforts in transitioning away from fossil fuels in line with the goals set at COP28, according to a negotiations draft document seen by Reuters. The draft — set to be finalized in October — added that the EU is hoping to achieve a new global target for climate funding at the conference, including pushing large economies like China to contribute. The EU’s push will come ahead of the 2025 deadline to submit new national climate pledges to the UN.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Amea Power to expand its investments in Egypt: Amea Power Chairman Hussein Al Nowais met with Egyptian Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat last week to discuss expanding the renewable energy company’s investments in Egypt, Wam reports. They addressed establishing new solar and wind energy projects with a potential total capacity of 2.5 GW, in a bid to up the share of renewable energy in Egypt’s electricity mix to more than 42% by 2030 and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Amea Power has lots going on in Egypt: Amea Power is currently working on 1 GW worth of projects in Egypt, including the 500 MW Abydos solar power plant — slated for completion in Aswan in September 2024 —- and a 500 MW Amotope wind power plant — scheduled to go live in Ras Ghareb by Summer 2025. Amea is also working on a 2.5 GW green hydrogen project in Egypt, Wam says, although we only know of one green hydrogen project Amea Power had agreed to develop in Egypt during COP 27, with a capacity of 1 GW.

#2- Another step for Masdar’s DBS wind farm: The Development Consent Order application for UAE’s renewables giant Masdar and RWE’s Dogger Bank South (DBS) offshore wind farm in the UK has been accepted for examination by the UK Planning Inspectorate, according to a statement published last week. Acceptance of the application advances the project to the pre-examination phase, with the public examination scheduled later in 2024. The next step of the project will be securing Contracts for Difference, followed by financing and construction.

The project is moving along: Masdar and RWE awarded Dutch surveyor Fugro a contract forgeotechnical surveys on the farm in April, following Masdar’s acquisition of a 49% stake in the project in March. The acquisition came as part of Masdar’s larger GBP 11 bn investment plan in UK renewables. The DBS wind farm — which comprises two sites, each with a capacity of 1.5 GW and spanning 500 sqkm — expects to power 3 mn UK homes.

#3- EBRD will provide USD 305 mn in financing to Egypt’s green sector in 2H 2024: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will direct USD 305 mn in financing to banks in Egypt to on-lend to small and medium enterprises and green energy projects in the second half of this year, EBRD’s head of financial institutions for Egypt Hashem Abdelhakim told Asharq Business.

Where could the money be going? The EBRD recently said it would provide leading private sector bank CIB with USD 60 mn for on-lending to local women-led business and green investments. It’s also mulling over extending a USD 71.7 mn senior loan to finance a 200 MW, USD 214.8 mn wind farm in Egypt’s Ras Ghareb developed and operated by the UAE’s Masdar and Egypt’s Infinity Energy. Hassan Allam Utilities (HAU) subsidiary HAU Energy BV is also expected to get USD 75 mn from the EBRD for local renewable energy projects.

#4- Germany is set to abstain from the upcoming vote by EU member states on imposing provisional tariffs on EVs imported from China, Reuters reported on Friday. The proposed tariffs, which could reach up to 37.6%, aim to counteract subsidies that give Chinese EV manufacturers an unfair advantage. German carmakers, who rely heavily on the Chinese market, have expressed concerns over the tariffs causing Beijing to impose retaliatory measures, given that a third of their sales were made in China last year. While the provisional tariffs do not require member states’ approval, the final tariffs could be blocked if a qualified majority opposes them.

REMEMBER- The EU has been putting pressure on Chinese imports: The EU launched a probe last year into Chinese subsidies for EVs in efforts to ward off a flood of cheap imports, claiming prices were being kept “artificially low.” The EU also recently officially imposed tariffs of 17.4% to 37.6% on Chinese electric vehicle imports. Tariffs are on provisional status for the next four months before becoming “definite” as the talks between both sides continue and the EU anti-subsidy investigation continues. In response, China’s Commerce Ministry launched a formal trade and investment barrier investigation into the probe to evaluate whether they constitute a trade barrier.

#5- World’s energy transition will be “disorderly,” warns BP: The world is transitioning away from fossil fuels too slowly, with fossil fuel consumption still breaking records and oil demand rising as countries operate in an “energy addition” phase rather than “substitution” phase, according to British oil firm BP’s Energy Outlook (pdf). If the trend continues into the 2040s, the world will fail to limit temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the report found. The fossil fuel phase out will likely be “disorderly,” increasing the risk of high economic and social costs as climate change impacts are exacerbated, BP added.

The data: While low-carbon energy investments have increased by 50% since 2019, and wind and solar power generation doubled in the same period, the growth is not enough to cover rising energy demand, the oil giant concluded. Energy efficiency has also been slow to improve globally, with the amount of energy used per unit of economic activity only decreasing by about 1%. In the meantime global oil demand is expected to grow until 2035.

REMEMBER- BP is making a U-turn on its energy transition commitments: BP paused development on new offshore wind projects earlier this month on the back of increased pressure by investors criticizing the company’s energy transition strategy. CEO Murray Auchincloss expressed his intention to slow down large low carbon investments that are “not expected to be profitable for years.” The firm also imposed a company-wide hiring freeze. Teams previously working on identifying new renewables opportunities have been reassigned to older projects and some job cuts are to be expected. BP’s EV charging business BP Pulse has already laid off over 10% of its workforce and pulled out of several markets.

AND- Irena is in agreement: The world’s renewables growth rate is inadequate to meet the 2030 target of tripling renewables capacity to 11 TW, a new report (pdf) by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) found. While 473 GW of renewables capacity was added last year — representing a 14% increase and the largest annual growth since 2000 — the world would still be 1.5 TW short of its goal by 2030 if the trend continues. The record increase brings the compound annual growth rate between 2017-2023 to 10%, which if maintained as the annual growth rate would accumulate only 7.5 TW of renewables capacity by 2030. To meet the goal, a growth rate of 16.4% in renewables capacity is needed, Irena concluded.

THE SCORECARD-

Green investment in GCC could add up to USD 2 tn to GDP: GCC countries have the potential to unlock up to USD 2 tn in GDP contribution by 2030 through investment in green projects and sustainable finance, according to a new report (pdf) by PwC’s strategy consulting business unit Strategy&. GCC governments must focus on promoting environmental sustainability, creating a green sovereign wealth fund, strengthening capital markets, and developing transparent reporting mechanisms for environmental performance to bring in the full investment amount.

Sectors with big potential: Green hydrogen production is becoming attractive due to easy-to-access technology and the potential for a massive export market, the report adds. By 2050, exports could reach 200 mn tons annually, creating a USD 300 bn industry and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Waste and recycling are also promising as currently only 10% of plastic and metal waste is recycled in the GCC. Increasing this rate to 40% could create 50k new jobs and support a USD 6 bn market, according to Strategy&.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host the Egypt Mining Forum tomorrow and Wednesday 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.

The UAE will host the World ESG Summit from Tuesday, 20 August to Wednesday, 21 August in Dubai. The summit will gather experts and industry leaders to explore new ways to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into business practices.

Turkey will host the International Conference on Clean and Green Energy Engineering from Saturday, 24 August to Monday, 26 August in Izmir. The event will gather researchers and professionals to share advances in clean energy. It will also offer a platform to discuss the latest research, practices, and applications in clean and green energy engineering.

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