Good morning, folks. We’re ending the first week of Ramadan with a relatively meaty issue centered around green finance and decarbonization. But first… have you gotten acquainted with our new sibling?

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- There is no single story dominating the global headlines, but amid troubling times for the EV sector, US electric vehicle startup Fisker has reportedly hired advisers to assist with a possible bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal revealed yesterday in an exclusive report. The company had warned that it might not have the funds to stay in business earlier this month after 4Q 2023 earnings cast “substantial doubt” over the firm’s ability to stay afloat. Fisker’s stock plunged over 40% in after-hours trading yesterday after news broke. The story was picked up by Reuters and CNN.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Egypt moves closer to producing SAF: The Egyptian ministers of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Civil Aviation, Environment, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, and Land Reclamation met to discuss coordinating efforts to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to a statement. Feasibility studies are already underway to implement Egypt's first SAF project using used cooking oil, and an executive committee will be formed to expedite its progress.

Sound familiar? Reports surfaced last month stemming from unnamed sources claiming that state-owned firm Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) and state-owned Alexandria National Refining and Petrochemicals Company are looking into partnering with a local private-sector player to set up a USD 380 mn SAF project with an estimated production capacity of 120k tons a year.

Egypt has recently begun exploring its SAF opportunities: The Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Recycling (ECARU), Qalaa Holdings, and France’s Axens signed a cooperation protocol last July to conduct technical and economic studies for a second-generation biofuel and SAF production project. The US Commercial Service of the US Department of Commerce and the US Embassy in Cairo held a roundtable discussion attended by Enterprise Climate in June on decarbonizing the aviation industry and growing the use of SAF in Egypt and beyond.

#2- Dutch oil giant Shell may slow down the pace of its carbon emissions cuts in its Energy Transition Strategy to-be released today, Bloomberg reported, citing exclusive comments made by sources familiar with the matter. The strategy — which is updated every three years — may see the company allocate a greater portion of investments into oil and gas in order to give better returns to shareholders, a move which CEO Wael Sawan has been championing since he assumed the position early last year. The publication “will contain details of our plans to become a net zero emissions energy business by 2050,” a company spokesperson said.

Not the first European oil firm to backtrack on its climate targets: British global energy giant BP said last year it would pump more oil and gas and produce more CO2 emissions this decade than previously planned, the news outlet said. Some analysts said in October that BP could be joining forces with Shell to add more reserves to their portfolios and capitalize on surging oil demand. BP walked away from its target to reduce emissions by 35% by 2030 last year.

Following in the US’ footsteps: “The European supermajors have been trading at a consistent discount to their US peers, which have remained more firmly committed to fossil fuels,” Bloomberg writes. European oil firms were ahead of their US equivalents in their climate targets in the last few years, but have been slowly backtracking and showing reluctance to invest more ambitiously in the energy transition.

#3- The EU outlines a new plan to reduce climate risks: In response to the first-ever European Climate Risk Assessment published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) earlier this week, the EU Comissions has set out how the EU and its member states can implement policies to manage climate risks and “save lives, cut costs, and protect prosperity,” according to a statement. The EEA’s assessment warned countries across the continent to brace themselves for "catastrophic risks,” ranging from floods to fatal heatwaves on the back of worsening climate change.

The suggestions fall under four key categories of action, which include: Improving governance to strengthen cooperation between national, regional and local levels; expand the toolbox for empowering risk owners by widening access to data and scenarios to help authorities prepare better; harnessing structural policies through better spatial planning that embeds climate risks; and mobilizing sufficient public and private finance for climate resilience through improving climate-risk budgeting. The Commission will put forward “concrete suggestions for action in the fields of natural ecosystems, water, health, food, infrastructure and built environment, and the economy,” the statement added.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the World Future Energy Summit from Tuesday, 16 April to Thursday, 18 April in Abu Dhabi. The summit will address solutions for development in the transformation of future energy systems. The summit will also feature discussions on recycling, waste-to-energy, and air-to-water trends and progressions.

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.

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.