Sustainability UNDP chief says global economic crisis strangling progress for poor Decades of development progress are at risk as economies are pushed backward by climate change losses, the COVID-19 economic fallout, a growing cost-of-living crisis, and soaring debt and inflation, the UN development chief said at Cop27 in Egypt. “We essentially document a regression – and regression that is virtually universal across the board,” said Achim […] November 11, 2022
Cop28 What to watch on Thursday at Cop27 At the UN climate conference on Thursday, delegations are expected to be in closed-door negotiations over the details of this year’s Cop27 agenda. The summit’s main stage opens for panel discussions and presentations by business leaders, civil society members, scientists and students. The day features twin themes – “science” and “youth”. A key report by […] November 10, 2022
Cop28 Brazil’s Lula will offer to host future climate summit Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will offer to host a future global climate change summit when he attends the Cop27 United Nations climate conference in Egypt next week, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Lula plans to announce an overhaul of Brazil’s environmental policies at the summit in Sharm El Sheikh and the creation […] November 10, 2022
Cop28 US plan to sell carbon credits to private firms gets mixed reaction With the opening speeches out of the way, day four of Cop27 was the first of the “thematic days”, as member parties moved into the back rooms out of view of the cameras to conduct the real negotiations. The biggest announcement of the day came via the US climate envoy, John Kerry. A new carbon […] November 10, 2022
Cop28 Decoding Cop27: the many shades of green bonds Banks, governments and businesses say financial markets can play a crucial role in driving the shift to a lower-carbon world. At the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, companies and country delegates are discussing ways of enhancing the market for green bonds, or bonds that are linked to projects deemed environmentally beneficial. Green bonds have their […] November 9, 2022
Cop28 What to watch on Wednesday at Cop27 After two days of speeches from heads of state, delegates at the Cop27 UN climate conference in Egypt were planning a day-long agenda Wednesday focused on finance. Expect a possible flurry of announcements around clean energy projects or climate adaption funding on the conference sidelines. But take them with a grain of salt: a UN […] November 9, 2022
Cop28 Developing countries call for new taxes on oil and gas producers By the end of the second full day of Cop27 the tone of the conference had been set. One after another, leaders of developing countries took to the plenary stage to voice their frustration and demand that rich nations offer more support to help combat the effects of climate change. After Barbadian prime minister Mia […] November 9, 2022
Energy UAE’s Masdar to develop onshore wind farm project in Egypt UAE’s renewable energy firm Masdar has signed an agreement with its Egyptian partners to develop a 10-gigawatt (GW) onshore wind farm project in Egypt, the UAE state-owned WAM news agency reported. The partners include Infinity Power Holding, a joint venture between Masdar and Egyptian renewable energy developer Infinity, and Hassan Allam Utilities. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed […] November 9, 2022
Cop28 Countries band together to keep forest promise More than 25 countries at the Cop27 climate talks on Monday launched a group they said would ensure they hold each other accountable for a pledge to end deforestation by 2030 and announced billions of dollars to finance their efforts. The first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, chaired by Ghana and the […] November 8, 2022
Cop28 What to watch on Tuesday at Cop27 World leaders will take the stage again on Tuesday as the Cop27 climate summit enters its second full day. Among the expected speakers are outspoken advocates for measures to compensate poor, climate-vulnerable countries for damage already being wrought by global warming. They include Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which was recently hit by devastating […] November 8, 2022
Cop28 Finance challenges burden Egypt’s clean energy goals A week before Cop27 began, the governor of South Sinai, Khaled Fouda, declared Sharm el-Sheikh “the first environmentally friendly tourist city in the Middle East.” His announcement marked the conclusion of the five-month “Green Sharm El-Sheikh” project, which introduced hundreds of electric cars, hybrid and hydrogen buses, and numerous vehicle charging points to the city […] November 8, 2022
Energy President: UAE will remain responsible supplier of oil and gas The UAE will be a responsible supplier of oil and gas for as long as the world needs, President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said at the start of two weeks of climate talks in Egypt. He added that the Gulf nation, which is one of OPEC’s biggest producers but has also invested in renewable […] November 8, 2022
Energy Kuwait commits to be carbon neutral in oil and gas by 2050 Kuwait is committed to becoming carbon neutral in the oil and gas sector by 2050 and across the country by 2060, foreign minister Salem Al-Sabah told state news agency Kuna. The minister said Kuwait’s plan, a major oil exporter and member of Opec, to achieve carbon neutrality is “a solid and serious commitment to which […] November 8, 2022
Sustainability DP World to invest $500m to cut CO2 emissions over five years Dubai-owned ports giant DP World plans to invest up to $500 million to cut CO2 emissions from its operations by nearly 700,000 tonnes over the next five years, UAE state-owned WAM news agency reported, citing chairman and group CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. He reinforced the company’s commitment to sustainability by taking on the Green […] November 8, 2022
Sustainability What to watch at Cop27 summit in Egypt on Monday Leaders from around the globe will begin making speeches at the UN climate summit in Egypt on Monday as they seek to whip up ambition in the fight against global warming. But their messages will likely differ a lot on key points, and their soaring rhetoric will at times clash with performances that have lagged […] November 7, 2022
Analysis Cop28 ‘Loss and damage’ to take centre stage at Cop27 The United Nation’s Cop27 summit has opened in Egypt with secretary-general Antonio Guterres stating that climate change is happening with “catastrophic speed” and the planet is sending a “distress signal”. More than 120 world leaders are due to arrive at the Cop27 summit being staged in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. This will […] November 7, 2022
Sustainability Egypt to become Africa’s hub for carbon certificates trading Egyptian Exchange Holding Company for Capital Markets Development, Agricultural Bank of Egypt and Libra Capital Group have signed an agreement to establish a carbon certificates trading company, according to Egypt Today newspaper. The report said no financial and organisational details of the new company were given. Egyptian Stock Exchange executive chairman Ramy El-Dakani said the […] November 7, 2022
Sustainability UK PM to ask leaders to deliver on global warming promises British prime minister Rishi Sunak will on Monday use a speech at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt to tell world leaders to deliver on their promises to tackle global warming. Sunak, who became prime minister late last month, had initially said he would be too busy coming up with a plan to fix […] November 7, 2022
Sustainability Cop27 climate talks in Egypt are set to get heated The Cop27 climate talks, which begin on Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on behalf of Africa face the challenges of an energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. These impactful events have dramatically changed the geopolitical context of Cop since Cop26 was held in the UK city of Glasgow last year. A key question expected […] November 6, 2022
Cop28 Egypt to sign 9 projects with $15bn investments at Cop27 Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation plans to sign contracts for nine projects with investments worth $15 billion at the Cop27 climate summit. The projects fall in the water, food and energy programme, which is a regional and international approach to move from the pledges stage to the implementation stage, reported Egypt Today, citing a ministry […] November 3, 2022
Analysis Tech Cairo is the tech hub of Africa – and it’s just getting started Almost 20 percent of African tech startups are based in Egypt, and the vast majority in its sprawling capital of 10 million inhabitants. Egypt is Africa’s tech hub and Cairo is its heart. According to Access Partnership, a public policy consultancy focused on technology, more than a third of Egypt’s startups have benefited from national […] October 28, 2022
Analysis Sustainability Revealed: Gulf climate targets – and the progress so far The economies of the Middle East differ greatly in size and diversity – partly because of the distribution of oil and gas resources. Their impact on the climate varies accordingly. Governments’ willingness and ability to tackle climate change also differs. Many oil-rich Gulf states are engaged in high-profile renewable energy projects, for example, yet their […] October 26, 2022
