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Argus provides key insights on how global climate policies will affect the global energy and commodity markets. We shine a light on decisions made at UN Cop meetings, which have far-reaching effects on the markets we serve. Progress at Cop 30 in Brazil will be crucial in transforming ambitions into actions aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries must produce new climate plans this year.

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11/12/25

EU may crank up coal and steel research funds in 2027

EU may crank up coal and steel research funds in 2027

London, 11 December (Argus) — The European Commission could fund a much larger share of research in the coal and steel industry from 2027, according to a staff working document published yesterday. The EU Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) would fund 70pc of corporate research and 100pc of academic research into green initiatives if the EU moves forth with the proposal. It currently funds 50pc of both corporate and academic research projects, but has struggled to attract participants or meet its spending targets, noting that the "underspending of the project is rooted in a lack of attractiveness of certain aspects of the programme". RFCS spent 57pc of its €43mn ($50mn) budget for large coal projects and only 31pc of its €208mn budget for steel research from 2021 to 2024. Brussels, troubled by a lack of applications, consulted companies and academics this year and found that its spending requirements were the largest barrier. Most were unable or unwilling to fund 50pc of large research projects themselves. RFCS has supported a number of groups hoping to repurpose old coal mines for clean energy. GreenJOBS and Mine-TO-H2, two funding recipients, both plan on making green hydrogen from mine water, while GrEnMine received pilot funding worth €3.5mn to research new ways to store gravitational energy in abandoned mines. Others, such as REM and GI-mine, are working on new methods to capture methane from coal mines. In the steel sector, RFCS has awarded funds to hydrogen power projects such as ProSynteg and HYDREAMS and research groups such as BIOCODE, which hopes to replace up to 10pc of the coal in coke ovens with biomass. The EU dissolved the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) — an agency tasked with making a common European steel market, which eventually led to the creation of the EU — in 2002. The EU used revenues from ECSC assets to launch and fund the RFCS in the same year, and boosted the programme in 2021 by tapping into the assets themselves. By Austin Barnes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Zambia to develop 300MW of new coal-fired capacity


11/12/25
News
11/12/25

Zambia to develop 300MW of new coal-fired capacity

London, 11 December (Argus) — Tanzanian conglomerate Amsons Group and Zambian energy firm Exergy Africa have announced a $900mn partnership to develop 1.3GW of generation capacity in Zambia. This will comprise 300MW of coal-fired capacity and 1GW of solar capacity, with $300mn and $600mn to be allocated to the respective energy sources in a bid to boost Zambia's energy security. Half of the new solar capacity is expected to be added to the grid within 18 months, with the full 300MW of coal-fired capacity and remaining 500MW of solar capacity to be installed within two years, according to Zambian energy minister Makozo Chikote. Zambia has recently turned to coal-fired power to reduce its dependence on hydropower, which accounts for around 85pc of the country's total electricity generation, given recent dry spells have caused water levels in Lake Kariba to fall below those sufficient for power generation. Kariba Dam levels remained near a record low this year, resulting in continual load-shedding after a severe drought in 2024 drained Lake Kariba. The country's only operational coal-fired plant, the 300MW Maamba coal power station owned by Zambia's largest coal mining firm Maamba Collieries, is set to double its capacity to 600MW after the construction of a second coal-fired unit was approved last year. Zambia last year also approved the construction of another 300MW coal-fired unit as part of the Mulungwa Power Generation project — a joint venture between Zambian firm Africa Power Coal and China's Jiangsu Etern. Construction of a new 600MW coal-fired power plant is also under way in Sinazongwe, according to the Zambian government, after Chinese-owned Wonderful Group's $900mn proposal was approved this year. The first 150MW of coal-fired capacity is expected to be installed by the third quarter of next year, with a further 150MW of capacity to be added in each quarter through to the second quarter of 2027. By Bryan Wu Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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EU lowers CBAM benchmarks for aluminium


10/12/25
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10/12/25

EU lowers CBAM benchmarks for aluminium

London, 10 December (Argus) — The European Commission has lowered the benchmark for primary aluminium imports under the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), according to a leaked draft of the approved document. The benchmark determines the free allocations of carbon emissions that will be deducted from the CBAM liability of an importer once implementation of the scheme begins in 2026. The benchmark for primary aluminium will now be set at 1.423t of CO2/t of aluminium produced, down from 1.464t in the draft document seen last month. The benchmark for secondary aluminium, which the EU defines as metal which is more than 50pc sourced from scrap metal, will now be set at 0.091t of CO2/t of aluminium produced, down from 0.139t in the draft document. For most aluminium products in the intermediate steps of the value chain, such as bars, wire, plates and sheets, an additional 0.056t will be added to the primary and secondary benchmarks, while products at the end of the value chain such as aluminium containers and aluminium foil will see an additional 0.166t added to the benchmarks. The commission has also set the default values for CBAM calculations within today's leaked documents. The CBAM default values are estimates of embedded carbon emissions that will be used to determine CBAM charges for imported material in the absence of adequate data for that specific material's origin. The risk of losing the ability to use actual emissions data is a real possibility, consultancy firm Redshaw Advisors lead CBAM advisor Dan Maleski said today. The commission has confirmed that if circumvention of CBAM is detected for a producer, all producers within that country could lose the right to use actual emissions data and would need to rely only on default values, Maleski said. The default values vary between countries and product type. Unwrought aluminium from China will have a default value of 3t of Scope 1 CO2 emissions per tonne of aluminium produced, with intermediate products at 4.88t and foil at 5.56t. Aluminium from India will have a default value of 1.87t, with intermediate products at 3.44t and foil at 4.13t. The UAE will also have a default value of 1.87t for unwrought aluminium, but lower values of 2.22t for intermediate products and 2.66t for foil. A phased-in annual mark-up to default values will be introduced over the next three years to compensate for data gaps, at an additional 10pc/yr. By Jethro Wookey Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Arab region warming at twice the global average: WMO


04/12/25
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04/12/25

Arab region warming at twice the global average: WMO

London, 4 December (Argus) — The Arab region is warming at twice the global average, with temperatures increasing by 0.43°C per decade from 1991 to 2024, a report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) found today. The world experienced the hottest year on record in 2024. The average temperature across the Arab region in 2024 was 1.08°C higher than the 1991-2020 average, the WMO said. The Arab region saw "intense heatwaves and droughts as well as extreme rainfall and storms", the WMO added. The WMO's report, the inaugural State of the Climate in the Arab Region , covers 22 countries across north and east Africa and the Middle East and was compiled with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the League of Arab States. The Middle East and north Africa "are among the hottest regions in the world, and climate projections indicate a continued intensification of summer heat extremes in both subregions", the WMO said. The report also included regional climate projections from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "If the current warming rate continues, mean temperature increase in the Arab region could reach 1.8°C with respect to the 1991-2020 average by 2050", the report found. A handful of climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — submitted recently by Arab region countries underline the challenges that climate change poses for the region. NDCs submitted over the past few weeks by Bahrain, Qatar and Yemen all note the countries' vulnerability to climate change, including water scarcity. Of the 20 most water-scarce countries globally, 15 are in the Arab region, and climate change is compounding this, the WMO said. Qatar and Bahrain flagged in NDCs their water sectors as a source of emissions , including through power-intensive desalination processes. Bahrain this week noted its "water vulnerability as a challenge that is further intensified by climate change impacts", in its third NDC. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Qatar presents 2040 climate target to UN


04/12/25
News
04/12/25

Qatar presents 2040 climate target to UN

Edinburgh, 4 December (Argus) — Qatar has pledged to reduce its emissions by 42mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2040 from a 2019 baseline, with the oil and gas sector "at the forefront of national mitigation efforts". Qatar does not provide its total greenhouse emissions for 2019, but said its climate plan encompasses CO2, methane and nitrous oxide gases. It covers the energy sector — oil and gas, power and water — construction and industry, transport, waste and agriculture, forestry and other land use. Parties to the Paris Agreement were required to submit climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), for 2035 to the UN climate body UNFCCC this year. Qatar had previously targeted emission reductions of 25pc, or 37mn CO2e, by 2030, compared with a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. BAU scenarios typically assume emissions based on current policies, leaving room for potential increases. The country's emission cuts in its oil and gas sector will rely on "deploying cleaner fossil fuel technologies, developing engineered sinks to store emissions, diversifying the energy mix, and driving operational excellence across existing facilities and infrastructure", according to its climate plan. Qatar is the world's largest LNG producer, with a production capacity of 77mn t/yr, according to QatarEnergy, and its economy is heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues. The country's climate plan highlights the country's vulnerability to response measures to mitigate climate change, resulting from its economy's reliance on hydrocarbons. "Qatar is actively working to reduce the socio-economic effects of global climate action," the plan said, adding that it seeks to balance climate goals with national sustainable development. "Despite many efforts and considering its role as a leading producer and exporter of natural gas, Qatar remains significantly vulnerable to climate response measures," it said. Qatar is part of the Arab Group, a negotiating group in UNFCCC climate talks, which is seeking to focus on cutting emissions from fossil fuels, rather than hydrocarbon production and consumption, through increased adoption of carbon capture technologies. The country said it plays "a pivotal role" in supporting other countries' targets by "reliably supplying them with a cleaner alternative to coal and oil and providing a critical backup for intermittent renewables". Qatar's climate plan sees the secure and affordable supply of lower-carbon energy as well as the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the management of emissions of energy production as the focus to pursue sustainable development and climate action. The country considers itself to be among the leaders in CCS with its Ras Laffan project, and aims to capture 11mn t/yr of CO2 by 2035. Engineering firm Samsung C&T was recently awarded a contract to build a 4.1mn t/yr CO2 facility to process and store emissions from Qatar's LNG liquefaction plants. Qatar, in its climate plan, highlighted the country's water supply vulnerability to temperature increases and heat. The power and water sector accounts for a large share of the country's emissions. Water scarcity is also responsible for increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Bahrain through desalination, although its energy sector remains the main source of emissions, according to the country's new climate plan. The country is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its energy and revenues, while "limited land availability and competing land-use demands constrain large-scale deployment" for the development of solar energy. Rising demand over the peak summer months this year meant that Bahrain had to import LNG for the first time since commissioning its 800mn ft³/d onshore LNG receiving and regasification terminal in 2020. But it is looking at renewables options and is in talks with Saudi Arabia for a link to a large-scale solar facility. Bahrain said that response measures to climate change "may lead to economic losses that, in turn, hinder Bahrain's ability to pursue effective climate action and achieve broader sustainable development objectives." By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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