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The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) has begun in Katowice (Poland) under the presidency of the Polish government. It will be a crucial time for the implementation of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

As part of the COP 24, countries must finalise a detailed set of rules and guidelines – the so-called Paris ‘work programme’ or ‘rule book’ – which will enable the Paris agreement to be put into practice all around the world.

All G20 members except the United States have reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, which established a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by capping global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. As of 2018, 195 UNFCCC countries have signed the agreement and 184 have ratified it.

Global oil and gas company Shell has announced plans to establish short-term targets as part of a long-term ambition to reduce its net carbon footprint by around 20% by 2035 and by 50% in 2050. The short-term target will be set every year for the following 3-year or 5-year period starting from 2020 until 2050. These targets are not active and remain subject to shareholder approval.

The Indonesian Ministry of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has allocated 6.19 million kilolitre (kL) of unblended biodiesel to 18 fuel distribution companies under the framework of the B20 programme for 2019. However, the bulk of this amount has been attributed to the state-run energy company PT Pertamina,…

The Colombian government has temporarily suspended its search for a buyer for Naturgy’s (formerly known as Gas Natural) power distribution firm Electricaribe (ECA) and will resume the process later in 2019. Besides, it announced it would invest approximately US$220m in the company and estimates that it will requires investments of around US$2bn in the next 10 years.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to lend €250m to support the construction of the SeaMade (formerly “Mermaid” and “Seastar”) wind parks in the Belgian territorial waters of the North Sea under the framework of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The projects are under development and their construction is scheduled to start in the summer of 2019.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide financing worth US$87m (€75m) in support of three Mexican solar power plants with a total combined capacity of 1,088 MWp in the states of Guanajuato and Coahuila States. The three solar parks comprise the 828 MW Villanueva solar park located in Viesca,…

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) is paving the way for Colombia’s first auction of long-term renewable energy at the beginning of 2019 and estimates that the country could add approximately 500 MW of renewable energy capacity per year over the next 10 years. Successful projects will secure 10-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) through the auction.

German wind turbine manufacturer has signed a turnkey agreement for the 475 MW Nysäter onshore wind park project in Sweden, which is currently under construction. It will supply and install 104 N149/4.0-4.5 turbines and 10 N131/3900 turbines for the project and also signed a two-year service contract with the German company E.ON,…