Saturday 4 September 2021

#Saudi PIF, Tadawul to set up exchange for carbon offset market-SPA | Reuters

Saudi PIF, Tadawul to set up exchange for carbon offset market-SPA | Reuters

Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund and the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul plan to establish a voluntary exchange in Riyadh for offsets and carbon credits within the Middle East and North Africa Region, the state news agency SPA reported on Friday.

This initiative aims to be the primary destination and main platform for companies and institutes that target reducing their emissions, or contributing towards the reduction, SPA said.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said in the past the kingdom aims to reduce its carbon emissions by generating 50% of the country's energy from renewables by 2030.

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia joined the United States, Canada, Norway, and Qatar in forming a new platform for oil and gas producers to discuss how they can support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Global Gas Price Surge Threatens to Dent the Economic Recovery - Bloomberg

Global Gas Price Surge Threatens to Dent the Economic Recovery - Bloomberg

Natural gas prices are undergoing a historic surge, and it’s bad news for everyone from ceramic makers in China to customers of patisseries in Paris.

The cost of the fuel is already at record seasonal highs in most major markets and looks likely to rise further, threatening to dent the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coming winter may give the world a painful lesson in just how pervasive and vital gas has become for the economy. Unaffordable prices could crimp households’ spending and erode their wages through inflation, giving central bankers some difficult policy choices.

Worse still, actual supply shortages could idle swathes of industry, or even trigger blackouts in developing countries, potentially causing social unrest.

“Energy lies at the base of an economy,” said Bruce Robertson, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “High energy prices reverberate through the supply chain” and could dent the nascent recovery, he said.