Good morning, ladies and gents. It’s a brisk issue as we hit mid-week, with news on Morocco’s CMGP’s IPO and a W for Qatar’s green mobility sector. But first, climate change driven weather disasters continue to break records…

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Cyclone Chido wreaks havoc on Mayotte: Category 4 Cyclone Chido has hit the southwestern Indian Ocean with 220 kmph winds, slamming into France’s Mayotte islands territory before weakening in Mozambique. The storm — the strongest to hit the region in almost 100 years — 14 people have been confirmed dead, but actual casualties are feared to be in the hundreds or thousands.

‘It’s as if an atomic bomb fell on Mayotte’: The damage sustained by Mayotte is so severe that one resident compared it to an atomic bomb. “The situation is catastrophic, apocalyptic,” one resident told CNN. The storm wiped out neighborhoods, electrical grids, schools, and hospitals in the poorest place affiliated with the EU, leaving two-thirds of the island unreachable.

All driven by climate change: Tropical cyclones — also known as typhoons or hurricanes — are becoming more destructive and intense as oceans warm with more energy and warmer air holds more moisture to produce torrential rain.

The story grabbed widespread ink in the international press: Reuters | Financial Times | The New York Times | Bloomberg | The Washington Post | CNN | BBC | The Guardian | The Independent | DW | Axios | NBC

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Egypt is seeking EGP 68 bn loans to finance grid infrastructure equipment: The state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) is looking to borrow EGP 68 bn to finance electrical equipment and transformers imports for use in domestic projects, government officials told Asharq Business. The funding will likely come from the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire, which have already received the Central Bank’s greenlight to begin arranging financing.

#2- Trump administration may axe EV support with protective caveats for batteries + critical minerals projects: The Trump transition team is recommending a sweeping reversal of Biden's EV policy, calling for scrapping subsidies for charging infrastructure and EV production and consumption stimuli while maintaining strong support for critical minerals and batteries, citing their defense purposes use, Reuters reports, citing a transition document it has seen. The recommendations will, however, maintain Biden’s aggressive approach that sought to secure the country’s batteries and critical minerals supply chains from China’s influence.

Key proposals in the transition plan include:

• National Security tariffs on batteries, critical minerals, and charging components
• Environmental review waivers for federally funded projects in battery recycling and mineral processing
• Export restrictions on EV battery tech to adversarial nations while boosting US-made EV battery exports via the Export-Import Bank.
• Using tariffs as leverage to open foreign markets for US auto exports.

Looser regulations could mean more pollution: The Trump transition team’s plan would also reverse emissions and fuel-economy standards, allowing automakers to produce more gas-powered vehicles. The plan suggests reverting to 2019 standards, which would permit about 25% more emissions per mile and reduce average fuel efficiency by 15%. The proposal also recommends blocking California from setting its own stricter vehicle emissions standards.

DANGER ZONE-

Climate disasters are making malaria epidemics worse: Malaria infections rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2023, claiming nearly 600k lives globally, according to the WHO’s World MalariaReport(pdf). The total number of cases hit 263 mn last year, 11 mn more than in 2022, with 94% of infections reported in Africa. Extreme weather events could cause an additional 550k malaria deaths in Africa between 2030 and 2049, according to estimates from a joint report (pdf) by the Malaria Atlas Project and Boston Consulting Group.

What does climate change have to do with it? Extreme events, such as floods and cyclones, create ideal mosquito breeding grounds while damaging and disrupting healthcare access, and they also reshape mosquito habitats, accelerating disease spread and putting malaria eradication efforts at risk, especially in the most vulnerable regions. Scaling up current infection control tools could cut those projected deaths, but they would still be 17% less impactful.

THE SCORECARD-

#1- Hard-to-abate sectors' emission reductions must accelerate if the world is to meet its net-zero target by 2050, the World Economic Forum’s latest Net Zero Industry Tracker (pdf) found. Although the sectors have scored their first recorded emission reduction between 2022 and 2023 with a 0.9% drop, reaching net zero would require an additional USD 30 tn in funding to bring the sector’s emissions in line with a net-zero scenario by 2050. However, the current capital flows have remained stagnant due to a lack of returns on investment.

The breakdown of the needed capital: The required USD 30 tn represents around 45% of the total investments needed to achieve net zero. Around USD 13 tn are needed to go directly into those industries and USD 17 tn for clean energy infrastructure.

There’s a sliver of hope: Average emissions per production unit have declined 4.1% over the past five years due to faster renewables deployment, policy support, and cross-sector collaboration. However, this per unit rate was partially offset by the expanding production capacity, resulting in a more modest absolute emission reduction of 0.9%.

And yet more challenges: Half of emissions reductions rely on technologies that are not yet economically viable, highlighting a need for R&D and infrastructure investment, including for hydrogen and carbon capture.

#2- Petrol cars still lead in EU registrations, but hybrids and EVs are catching up: 10.7 mn new cars were registered across the EU in 2023, with petrol cars holding the largest share at (34.5%), Eurostat figures show. Non-plug-in hybrid petrol EVs came in second at 21.1%, followed by battery-only EVs at 14.5% and pure diesel with 14.3%.

Some countries are leading the change: Nine EU countries saw hybrids and EVs make up more than 50% of new registrations in 2023. Finland led the pack with 78% — 44% hybrid and 34% electric — followed by Sweden and Netherlands, which recorded 69% and 67%, respectively. Meanwhile, the lowest shares were reported in Bulgaria with 7% and Czechia with 20%.

China dominates the global EV market: Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrids hit 1.83 mn in November, marking a 32.3% y-o-y increase, according to Reuters citing Rho Motion data. China’s market accounted for nearly 70% of the sales, growing 50% y-o-y to 1.27 mn vehicles. US and Canada market sales also increased by around 16.8%, while sales in Europe slipped slightly y-o-y to 280k from October.

Why it matters: The EV market is undergoing a shift as China’s dominance in production reshapes global competition. Trade wars, rising production costs, strict CO2 regulations, and the rollback of incentives are putting pressure on European automakers.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the World Energy Summit from Tuesday, 14 January to Thursday, 16 January in Abu Dhabi. The summit will host over 350 speakers including energy industry leaders and policymakers with discussions ranging from eco-waste to sustainable cities. An exhibition will also be held for showcasing green products.

Saudi Arabia will host the Future Minerals Forum from Tuesday, 14 January to Thursday, 16 January in Riyadh. The forum will gather stakeholders from over 170 countries to discuss mineral technology and exploration. Speakers will include senior government officials and CEOs from renowned mining companies Vale, Rio Tinto, and Manara.

Bahrain will host the Sustainability Forum Middle East from Tuesday, 28 January to Wednesday, 29 January in Manama. Climate experts and decision-makers will convene to discuss a number of issues ranging from decarbonization to supporting SMEs on their path to net zero. Speakers will include GCC government officials and industry leaders from the banking and industrial sectors.

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