The president convened the summit to urge global cooperation on climate change. “It’s an encouraging start,” Biden told world leaders during the summit. “We’re really beginning to make some real progress.”

In a split from his past attitude toward climate change, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro vowed to end illegal deforestation in the country by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country will pledge to curb emissions by 46% by 2030 compared with 2013 levels. Japan, the world’s fifth largest emitter, previously committed to a 26% reduction, a goal that was criticized as insufficient. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that Canada will slash emissions 40% to 45% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels, a major increase from its previous pledge of 30%. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t provide a new target but re-confirmed the country’s vow to install 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. Russia President Vladimir Putin broadly pledged to “significantly” reduce the country’s emissions in the next three decades and said Russia makes a big contribution in absorbing global carbon dioxide. Putin also said the country has nearly halved its emissions compared to 1990 and called for a global reduction of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and a main driver of climate change. China’s President Xi Jinping re-affirmed commitments to peak emissions before 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2060. The U.S. and China have agreed to cooperate on climate change despite division on issues like trade and human rights. CNBC

President Ursula von der Leyen said: “I am delighted that we have reached an agreement on this core element of the European Green Deal. Our political commitment to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation. It is our binding pledge to our children and grandchildren.”

Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans added: “This is a landmark moment for the EU. We have reached an ambitious agreement to write our climate neutrality target into binding legislation, as a guide to our policies for the next 30 years. The Climate Law will shape the EU’s green recovery and ensure a socially just green transition. Today’s agreement also reinforces our global position as a leader in tackling the climate crisis. When world leaders gather on Earth Day, the EU will come to the table with this positive news, which we hope will inspire our international partners. This is a good day for our people and our planet.” European Commission

The money is split into 338 billion euros in grants and 386 billion in loans for the 27 EU countries and the rest is for joint EU programmes. It will be distributed over the next five years with a third to be spent on reducing CO2 emissions in the EU’s 27 economies.

Each of the 27 EU governments can get 13% of its share of the money this year in pre-financing before projects paid for by the scheme reach agreed milestones and targets. The EU will publish a funding plan six months in advance to allow investors to plan.

“Our structures will be ready by June and theoretically we could start borrowing then, but it depends on how quickly member states complete the ratification process,” Han told a news conference.

The repayment of the borrowing is supposed to come from new taxes the EU is to agree on over the coming years, rather than from national budgets. The repayment is to start in 2028 and continue until 2058. The EU also plans a financial transaction tax and a financial contribution linked to the corporate sector or a new common corporate tax base. Reuters

Iranian oil started to slip into China from late 2019 despite tough U.S. sanctions, but volumes began to surge only since late last year as oil rebounded above $60 and buyers were emboldened by the prospect of the United States lifting sanctions under President Joe Biden.

China received a daily average of 557,000 barrels of Iranian crude between November and March, or roughly 5% of total imports by the world’s biggest importer, according to Refinitiv Oil Research, returning to levels before former U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran in 2019. South America’s top exporter Brazil and West Africa’s Angola were among the worst hit, while Russia’s far-east grade ESPO crude recorded some rare flows to the U.S. pinched by falling Chinese demand.

India’s imports of Brazilian and Angolan crude jumped for March to May arrivals while Europe took in more Brazilian oil between March and April than at the start of the year, Refinitiv data showed. Reuters

The solar-battery hybrid plant was integrated and commissioned successfully with the existing power plant operation, with the solar plant on course to be 100% complete by the end of June.

The integration of the solar power plant with the battery system will ensure safe and reliable power, saving 13.1 million litres of heavy fuel oil a year. The photovoltaic-battery system will help to reduce CO2 emissions by 39 000 t/y, according to the company.

Thorsten Althaus, Project Manager at BayWa re, added: “Integrating such a large amount of solar into a small, isolated grid safely and reliably has been a major technical challenge and required the use of battery storage as well as a tailor-made control system. This was conceptualised in the early stages of the project and we ensured that our vision was implemented accordingly by the suppliers. It is extremely rewarding to see how well this solution performs in reality and shows that the technology works and is just waiting to be applied on further projects.” World-Energy

“As a globally active trader of commodities, we have a lot of experience with shipping energy carriers – including Australian LNG – around the globe and see ourselves as a facilitator for global hydrogen trading,” said Javier Moret, global head of LNG at RWE Supply & Trading.

H2U, in which Japan’s Mitsubishi has invested money, is active in Australia and New Zealand. In southern Australia, it is working on a 75-megawatt (MW) electrolysis plant called the Eyre Peninsula Gateway Project. This could supply 40,000 tonnes a year of ammonia, a carrier gas for hydrogen. Reuters

The meeting was also used to discuss the importance of developed nations in meeting a commitment to mobilise $100bn in annual funds to support developing nations mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis while integrating low-carbon technologies and markets. The meeting also saw discussions take place over improving climate-related financial disclosures, and increasing support for the creation of global standards for sustainability-related financial reporting.

The meeting was the first in a series of high-level political discussions taking place this week that will set out key discussions ahead of COP26 in November this year. Later on this week, Sunak is expected to call on the G20 to support the International Monetary Fund in incorporating climate change across its financial activities. Euroactiv

“Public and private investment should ally, and governments have the responsibility to give the right signals, creating the regulatory framework and conditions for the private sector to invest with stability and predictability,” said Portugal’s minister of environment and climate action, João Pedro Matos Fernandes. Along the same line, Dutch minister of economic affairs and climate policy, Bas van’t Wout, also highlighted the importance of mobilising public sector investment, which he said would be crucial for implementing the European strategy for hydrogen as a key element in the decarbonisation of sectors of the economy where other alternatives “may not be viable or be more expensive”.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker of the German federal ministry of economic affairs and energy said that besides the regulatory framework, it was also crucial to plan the necessary infrastructure for the production and distribution of hydrogen (obtained through the electrolysis of water, which separates oxygen from hydrogen).

Spain’s secretary of state for energy Sara Aagesen Muñoz added that it was time to accelerate investment and political decisions, laying the foundations for a stable investment. Claude Turmes, minister of energy and spatial planning of Luxembourg, focused on transparency to attract private investors. “We need a transparent system because private investors will only be interested in moving forward if there is transparency”, Turmes said, emphasising that reducing the cost of electrolysers as one of the most important issues for the future of hydrogen. Euroactiv

The target, announced by the Departments of Energy, Interior and Commerce on Monday, represents a significant ramp-up of America’s fledgling offshore wind industry, which trails other parts of the world.

The United States’ first offshore wind facility, the 30 megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, began commercial operations in late 2016. By contrast, the world’s first offshore wind farm, in waters off Denmark, was opened in 1991

The White House said meeting its new goal for offshore wind would trigger in excess of $12 billion a year in capital investment. It said it would lead to more than 44,000 jobs in the offshore wind sector by 2030, and support 33,000 other roles connected to the industry.

According to the Department of Energy, deploying 30 GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade would produce enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes in the U.S. CNBC

The Saudi minister also said the kingdom would gradually phase out its additional voluntary cut that have been running at 1 million bpd, by adding 250,000 bpd to production in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and then 400,000 bpd in July.

“We reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation to ensure affordable and reliable sources of energy for consumers,” Jennifer Granholm, the new energy secretary appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden, said on Twitter after her call with the Saudi energy minister. Reuters