Good morning, friends. We have a compact issue this morning with a smattering of news across several subsectors in the regional climate industry. Let’s dive right in.

ICYMI- A look into the NBE’s climate financing efforts: EnterpriseAM Egypt recently spoke with The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Chief International Banking Officer Hesham El Safty to get a better understanding of the Transforming Financial Systems for Climate program, which aims to support green projects and drive Egypt’s sustainability goals forward. Click here to read the interview.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- KSA to launch its carbon trading market in November: Saudi Arabia is planning to launch its voluntary carbon market exchange in November, CEO of PIF’s Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) Riham ElGizy told Asharq Business on the sidelines of the Portfolio Egypt conference. The launch will coincide with the company’s largest auction to date with carbon credits ranging between 2.5 mn - 3 mn tons up for grabs. Regional and Saudi companies, including Aramco and Sabic, will participate in the auction, ElGizy added.

This will be the company’s third auction: The company hit the ground running in October 2022 with an auction of 1 mn tons of carbon credits. Then in June 2023, RVCMC held its second auction in Nairobi which drew big demand from over a dozen firms who bid on an available 2 mn tons of carbon credits.

REMEMBER- RVCMC has long been preparing for the Saudi carbon market: RVCMC hired global ESG commodities exchange platform Xpansiv back in April to provide a tech base for the carbon credit exchange. The company also signed two MoUs with Kenya’s main dry cell battery maker Eveready East Africa and Carbon Vista Nigeria to set up high-quality and impactful carbon projects in the two countries last year.

The kingdom has its eye on the prize: RVCMC is poised to become one of the largest global markets for carbon credits, reaching a trading volume of 100 mn tons by 2030, El Gizy told Asharq Al Awsat in a separate interview. At the moment, the company accounts for about 1.3% of the global carbon trading market size

IN OTHER SAUDI NEWS- Azerbaijan is looking to establish a joint sovereign investment fund with Saudi Arabia to boost investment in priority sectors in both countries, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikail Jabbarov told Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) Chairman Hassan bin Moajab Al Huwaizi, SPA reports. Jabbarov discussed the idea with Al Huwaizi during his visit to Azerbaijan at the head of an FSC trade mission.

The potential investment areas: Officials discussed channeling Saudi investments towards Azerbaijan’s energy, renewables, manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, livestock, agriculture, and mining sectors, while also facilitating Azerbaijani companies' involvement in infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia and exports of foodstuffs to the Kingdom. Incentives for Saudi investors at Azerbaijan's freezones were also on the agenda.

#2- Norway’s shelving of hydrogen pipeline plans is threatening Germany’s blue hydrogen goals leading to “concern” for the sector, Bloomberg reports, citing comments made by economy ministry head Philipp Steinberg. The decision caused a “problem” for Germany which is looking to import 1 mn tons of blue hydrogen starting from 2030 and was banking on Norway to be its first major supplier while pipeline projects in Spain, Portugal, and Denmark took longer to be ready. Germany had already put plans in motion to set up a core hydrogen grid in anticipation of securing the offtake and set up EUR bn in subsidy schemes.

Background: Norway’s biggest oil and gas company Equinor halted plans for a Norway-Germany blue hydrogen pipeline last month with German electricity company RWE due to a lack of customer, supply, and regulatory framework.

Which one is it? European investors aren’t drawn to hydrogen projects due to the financial risks associated, but those same European countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement. “Many countries seem to be positioning themselves in such a way that they say, that’s totally great with the energy transition and hydrogen, and then Germany gets to pay for it,” Steinberg added.

REMEMBER- Germany is heavily reliant on coal and gas and expects to buy up to 70% of its hydrogen abroad to reach its goal of up to 130 TWh.

THE SCORECARD-

Highest growth in renewables’ labor recorded: Renewable energy jobs increased 18% y-o-y in 2023 from 13.7 mn to 16.2 mn, according to a joint report (pdf) by the International Renewable Energy Agency and International Labour Organization. Almost two-thirds of the added global wind and solar capacity came from China alone, creating an estimated 7.4 mn jobs equivalent to 46% of the global renewables job total. The EU, Brazil, and the US and India were next in the rankings with 1.8 mn, 1.56 n, and almost 1 mn respectively.

Solar PV took the lead: The biggest driver of the increase in jobs was the surge in the global solar photovoltaics (PV) sector which added 7.2 mn jobs with 4.6 mn in China. Liquid biofuels were responsible for the second largest amount of jobs followed by hydropower and wind. China also dominated the wind sector along with Europe.

Africa fell behind: Africa receives a small share of renewables investments, with a lack of attention to remote areas. The continent only accounted for 324k renewables jobs in 2023.

Policy can support job creation: The report recommends the implementation of policy to support workforce diversity and gender equity as well as educational opportunities to train disadvantaged groups.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the first EU-GCC Green Transition Forum on Wednesday, 9 October in Abu Dhabi. The forum will gather industry leaders, policymakers, and experts to explore netzero emission strategies and host discussions on sustainability across the region. Interested parties can register here.

Egypt will host the EVs Electrify Egypt Summit from Thursday, 10 October to Saturday, 12 October in Cairo. This event will bring together industry players, engineers, and over 300 exhibitors for interactive showcases and EV test drives.

Egypt will host Cairo Water Week from Sunday, 13 October to Thursday, 17 October in Cairo. The event will explore various themes relating to water and climate and enhancing resilience in communities.

Egypt will host the World Urban Forum from Monday, 4 November to Friday, 8 November in Cairo. The forum, established by the UN, will center around the effect of rapid urbanization on communities, economies, climate change, and policies.

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