Good morning, friends. We hope you enjoyed some time off and aren’t too bleary–eyed this morning as we resume working life. It’s a compact issue as the region heads back into the office this week, but we have some significant green hydrogen updates to unpack below…

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- A new precedent for climate change-linked lawsuits? The European Court of Human Rights ruled the Swiss government was infringing on its citizens’ human rights by failing to take sufficient climate action last Tuesday in a case presented by over 2k Swiss women. The lawsuit brought forward argued the Swiss government’s inaction on climate change put elderly women — particularly vulnerable due to their age and gender — at elevated risk of death from heat waves.

More to come? The outcome sets a precedent for similar cases across the continent including six pending cases that were put on hold until Tuesday’s rulings were made, Reuters reported. Two of the pending cases could affect Norway’s oil industry by going after licenses granted for oil exploration in the Arctic.

The story grabbed plenty of attention in the international press: Reuters | AP | The Washington Post | The Wall Street Journal | The Financial Times | The New York Times | CNN | The Guardian | BBC

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

It will be a busy week in the UAE with the World Future Energy Summit kicking off tomorrow and running through to Thursday in Abu Dhabi. The summit will gather industry leaders and experts from around the world to host discussions on recycling, waste-to-energy, and air-to-water trends and progressions.

Masdar will be hosting the second Green Hydrogen Summit tomorrow, bringing together industry experts, policymakers and investors to explore hydrogen’s critical role in decarbonization and how to scale the energy source to support the energy transition. Check out the program (pdf) and bookmark the livestream here.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- G20 wants the WB Group to play a larger role on the global scale: World Bank Group President Ajay Banga kicked off the IMF and World Bank Group’s spring meetings last Thursday with a press conference touching on some of the most-talked-about global issues including climate change, food insecurity, and scarce resources (watch, runtime: 34:26). “G20 leaders challenged the World Bank Group to change and to be a bigger part of the solution,” Banga said, with the bloc providing a roadmap of 27 recommendations for the group to boost the speed and simplicity of its processes.

A faster approval process: The WB Group has already cut its approval process by three months and is on track to cut it by another three months by the end of 1H 2025. “A few months ago, the average World Bank project approval process took 19 months,” said Banga.

What to expect this week: The group has recently struck partnership agreements with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank and is expected to announce two additional agreements this week, according to Banga. Expect the group to spill the beans about its new climate outcomes tracking approach which focuses primarily on impact, Banga added.

#2- Public Investment Fund-backed EV maker Lucid outperformed expectations 1Q 2024 delivering 1.9k vehicles after slashing prices, according to a statement (pdf) released last week. The growth in deliveries came after Lucid recently cut prices for its flagship Air sedans up to 10% to help shore up demand as US appetite for EVs slumps.

ICYMI- Lucid said last month that it is raising USD 1 bn in capital from PIF unit Ayar Third Investment. The potential proceeds will finance the company’s capex and working capital, among other things.

ON A RELATED NOTE- Big advances in battery and charging tech look set to stimulate demand for EVs over the next five years, Christopher Mims writes for the WSJ. By 2030, “[Petrol] vehicles will cost more than their electric equivalents; some EVs will charge as quickly as filling up at a gas station; and super long-range EVs will make the phrase ‘range anxiety’ seem quaint.”

#3- China says EU’s EV probe is anti-Chinese: A Chinese industry body has accused the EU of being biased against Chinese manufacturers in its investigation into electric vehicles, alleging that the probe is not transparent and violates global trading rules, Reuters reported on Friday. The European Commission chose three Chinese producers to sample in its probe — BYD, Geely, and Saic — but left out Tesla and Renault, despite the two being the largest exporters of EVs from China to Europe, VP of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) Shi Yonghong said. Trade official Wang Wentao has warned the Commission against protectionism in response to the investigation, according to Reuters, and founder of Chinese EV maker Nio has called upon the US — which has also been putting pressure on the industry — to keep the market as open and competitive as it is in China, the news outlet added.

REMEMBER- Tension has been brewing over EVs: Trade tensions have been sparked between China and the West over the oversupply of cheap solar panels and EVs from China, which has crowded American and European markets and threatened domestic production. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Beijing earlier this month against dumping key components of the global green economy on other markets, arguing that the practice “distorts global prices and production patterns and hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.” The European Commission launched its investigation in September to consider imposing punitive tariffs on Chinese EV imports as a protection measure for local producers, Reuters explains.

#4- The EU adopts new laws cracking down on emissions: EU lawmakers have approved new legislation curbing methane emissions from oil and gas imports by 2030 and curbing emissions from heavy vehicles, Reuters reported here and here. The new regulations will impose limits on methane intensity values for fossil fuel producers supplying the EU, putting pressure on major gas exporters like the US, Algeria, and Russia. Heavy-duty vehicles sold in the EU must be emissions free by 2040 in a bid to slash trucking’s carbon footprint. Truck manufacturers must cap the carbon emissions of their fleets by 45% by 2030, 65% by 2035, and 90% by 2040. The new legislation must still be approved by EU countries, but the step is usually seen as a formality, Reuters added.

The EU also adopted proposals for power market reform: The European Parliament has voted in favor of measures to reduce the impact of fossil fuel prices on the pricing of electricity, with the aim of promoting renewable energy and shielding consumers from price fluctuations, Reuters reported on Thursday. The rules aim for longer-term, fixed-price contracts to protect against unstable energy markets and encourage investment in renewables projects to enhance the bloc’s energy security. These changes come in response to record-high power prices triggered by disruptions in Russian gas supplies after the invasion of Ukraine.

#5- US + Japan partner on nuclear fusion development: The United States and Japan have formed a partnership to collaborate on accelerating the development and commercialization of nuclear fusion, according to a joint statement released last week. The partnership will focus on pillars involving addressing challenges to delivering commercial fusion, developing global supply chains, developing R&D facilities, and promoting common regulatory frameworks and skills development for a growing workforce.

COP WATCH-

Future COP meetings must be reduced in size in order to focus on negotiation outcomes as the world faces a time crunch to avert further climate disasters, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said last week. COP28’s guest book ballooned to nearly 84k attendees — including 2k fossil fuel lobbyists — leading to talks with future COP hosts Azerbaijan and Brazil over managing the size of the conference. Policymakers, business leaders, and development banks now have just two years to take action to avoid far worse impacts of climate change, Stiell added.

Fifty nations around the world — including world powers like the US, EU, and India — are holding elections this year, paving the way for “ordinary people everywhere” to push for climate action, The Financial Times quoted Stiell as saying. Although climate action has been “slipping down cabinet agendas," Stiell cited research by academics and Gallup showing that 89% of people across 125 countries want governments to take more decisive steps.

ALSO- The UK has a new climate change minister: Justin Tomlinson will replace Graham Stuart as UK climate change minister, Reuters reported on Friday. Stuart assumed the post of minister of state for climate in September 2022.

DANGER ZONE-

Global energy demand continues to outpace renewable energy growth putting the planet at risk of missing the 1.5 °C warming threshold, according to a report (pdf) released last week by Paris-based think tank REN21. While renewable energy capacity grew by 36% to reach 473 GW, it still failed to meet even half of the 1 TW per year goal needed to achieve climate commitments. A lack of funding has halted 3 TW of projects from being connected to the grid. Failure to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which hit a record USD 1.3 tn in 2022, has also slowed the clean energy transition.

AND- Fossil fuel + cement industry are responsible for 80% of CO2 emissions: Nearly all carbon emissions released into the atmosphere since 2016 can be attributed to 57 fossil fuel and cement producers, according to the Carbon Majors Database by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap. Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, and Coal India were the top three contributors of the emissions. Despite committing to the UN Paris Agreement in 2015, most companies have increased their fossil fuel production since then.

GHGs are on the rise: Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide concentrations rose to new highs in 2023 at 419 parts per mn, 1.9 parts per bn, and 336 parts per bn respectively, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Despite the increases, the CO2 jump was only the third largest in the past decade, the methane increase was lower than in 2020-2022, and nitrous oxide increased less than the two highest years of growth in 2020 and 2021, indicating that some progress was made, but still at a slower pace than required to achieve global climate targets.

***
YOU’RE READING ENTERPRISE CLIMATE, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the world’s most important industry. We’re out Monday through Thursday by 9am Cairo / 10am Riyadh / 11am UAE.

EXPLORE MORE OF ENTERPRISE ON THE WEB —tap or click here to read EnterpriseAM, EnterprisePM, Enterprise Climate, Enterprise Logistics, and The Weekend Edition on our powerful new website packed with reader-friendly features.

Were you forwarded this email? Get your own subscription without charge here or reach out to us on climate@enterprisemea.com with comments, suggestions and story tips.
***

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the Connecting Green Hydrogen MENA event from Tuesday, 23 April to Thursday, 25 April in Dubai. The event will explore green hydrogen partnerships, policies, and practices in the region, in parallel to a showcasing of the latest in the clean fuel’s technology.

Oman will host the Oman Sustainability Week from Sunday, 28 April to Thursday, 2 May in Muscat. The event will focus on exploring investment opportunities and implementing best practices in sustainability within the energy, water, and environmental sectors.

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Water Forum from Monday, 29 April to Wednesday, 1 May in Riyadh. The forum will facilitate dialogue among water sector leaders, experts, and stakeholders to address challenges and share expertise. It will feature presentations by key entities in the water industry focusing on integrated solutions, showcasing successful water projects, and promoting investment opportunities for sector development.

The UAE will host The Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit from Monday, 20 May to Wednesday, 22 May in Abu Dhabi. The event will see industry leaders come together to discuss sustainable mobility and tapping into groundbreaking advancements in electric vehicles while engaging with key decision-makers.

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