The Republic of Korea government has announced a national strategy to secure critical minerals, reduce dependency on a few foreign suppliers, and scale domestic production, recycling, and international cooperation.

• Main action: The strategy focuses on expanding domestic production, scaling recycling, and bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Key measurable targets and projects: national production target >300,000 tonnes/year by 2028; POSCO Future M inaugurated a NMC precursor plant in Gwangyang (June) with ~45,000 t/year capacity; three additional NMC plants planned at Saemangeum including one plant expected to produce ~120,000 t/year once at full capacity. The plan also includes a new law on battery waste treatment, a certification system for recycled materials, and incentives and standards for industry participants.

• Background, partnerships and investments: The strategy includes multilateral alignment (Seoul joined the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan and chairs the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) until 2026) and multiple bilateral agreements. Notable implementation details:

  • Forum: Public-private Forum on Critical Minerals, held in March 2025 (location/time not specified in article); agenda: recovery/recycling of 10 strategic minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite; target to raise recycling rate from 2% to 20% by 2030.
  • G7: June 2025 summit meetings where President Lee held bilateral talks with South Africa, Brazil, Mexico on lithium/copper/rare earths; agreements with Australia on critical minerals and supply chain security; first Korea-Japan critical minerals dialogue also held in 2025.
  • Overseas investments: KOMIR acquired 46% stake in the Ambatovy nickel-cobalt mine (Madagascar); POSCO operates the Mahenge graphite project (Tanzania) and secured a six-year supply contract with Syrah Resources to import up to 60,000 t/year of graphite from Balama (Mozambique); STX Corporation holds 40% of Caula graphite production (Mozambique); Korea Zinc invested $85.2 million in Canadian startup The Metals Company (deep-sea mining developer).

The Economic Chamber of North Macedonia has unveiled the country’s first digital Decarbonisation Guide for small businesses, developed with support from EIB Global and the EU delegation in Skopje.

• Main announcement: The Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, with EIB Global financing and cooperation from the EU delegation in Skopje, launched an interactive online Decarbonisation Guide for SMEs that includes a carbon-footprint calculator (covering nearly 60 energy sources and refrigerants), regulatory information on EU rules such as CBAM, funding opportunities and practical case studies; the guide was unveiled in Skopje at a conference attended by more than 100 entrepreneurs.
• Background and implementation details: The tool was developed via the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) Technical Assistance Envelope; the EIB Group (through EIB Global) positions this as part of its broader objectives including supporting €100 billion of investment by the end of 2027 and notes that the EIB has provided €1.6 billion of financing to small businesses and infrastructure in North Macedonia to date.

Event details (from article):

• Location: Skopje
• Attendance: more than 100 entrepreneurs
• Date/time: described in the text as “unveiled today” (no specific calendar date provided)

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, MP, introduced the Draft South African Carbon Markets Framework and announced a complementary Draft Carbon Credit Revenue Plan, both to be vetted and gazetted soon.

• Main announcement and implementation: The Draft South African Carbon Markets Framework (developed under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) and the Draft Carbon Credit Revenue Plan will establish the institutional and regulatory architecture for high-integrity carbon markets in South Africa; actions include a comprehensive status analysis, a strong institutional setup with an inter-agency arrangement, the launch of pilot projects, and a fair revenue-sharing model to allocate proceeds to the national fiscus, project expansion, and local communities.
• Key scope, programs and alignment: The Revenue Plan has three objectives (generate sustainable revenue from forests, wetlands, oceans and protected landscapes; reinvest revenue in environmental programmes aligned with NDCs; demonstrate climate-innovation leadership); concrete programmes cited include the Ten Million Trees Programme, REDD+, management of national parks and protected areas as verified carbon sinks, and unlocking Blue Carbon potential across 3,000 kilometres of coastline; the approach aligns with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism and will prioritize transparency, verification and equitable benefit-sharing.

The UK Government announced over 10 billion of investment commitments at the first Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham and nearly 1,000 jobs to be created across UK regions.

• Main announcement: The Summit secured over 10 billion in public and private commitments, pledging nearly 1,000 jobs and targeting growth across life sciences, AI and innovation. Key named commitments include Leeds United: 200 million for Elland Road redevelopment; Woven Capital: up to 300 million to build its European growth capital team in the UK; Hines (with Woodbourne Group): 400 million to support the 4 billion Birmingham Knowledge Quarter; Atos: 10m for AI centres creating 50 jobs; and Freshways: 25 million to build a dairy hub creating at least 200 jobs.
• Background and supporting details: The Crown Estate will acquire Harwell East (221-acre) with a projected Gross Development Value 4.5bn, which the article says could boost UK GDP by 2.5bn, deliver 400 homes and create 24,000–30,000 jobs; the National Wealth Fund: 104 million for wind projects and a Hull heat network; L&G: 2 billion by 2030 for affordable homes; Welltower: US$4bn already committed and plans to treble investment over 5–10 years; Birmingham Airport: 300 million over four years; Knighthead: at least 3 billion for a Sports Quarter. The government also announced regulatory cuts to save nearly 6 billion a year by the end of the Parliament and launched the investor-led Sterling 20 partnership to channel pension and insurer capital into infrastructure and high-growth sectors.

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China announced codified and tightened export restrictions on rare-earth-related technologies and other items in early October.

• Main action: The new MOFCOM rules require export licenses on national security grounds for Chinese technologies used in mining, processing, refining and recycling rare earths, and for core battery-supply-chain technologies (cathode/anode materials and industrial machines that produce EV batteries); the rules state “nothing leaves China without official approval” and warn that military-linked end-uses will likely lead to license denials. The rules apply to every exporter and intermediary in China (including banks, freight companies and e-commerce platforms) and include Announcement 61, which permits China to apply legal provisions beyond its borders.

• Background and details: By early September Beijing had approved under 15% of rare-earth licence requests from European companies and the ECB reports over 80% of main European firms are “no more than three” intermediaries away from Chinese rare-earth producers; affected sectors named include semiconductors, defence equipment, ammunition and clean-technology supply chains. The piece recommends collective EU measures using the 2023 Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) (triggered by a qualified majority in the Council) and lists possible responses such as import tariffs, services restrictions, export controls, suspension of IP rights, and curbs on access to finance and public procurement.

The Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) announced a package of regulatory cuts and regional investment pledges at the inaugural Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham.

• Main announcement & immediate measures: The government will cut red tape to save nearly £6 billion per year by the end of Parliament and pledged regulatory reforms affecting over 100,000 firms (including simpler reporting for up to 44,000 medium-sized private companies and ~7,000 subsidiaries), removal of Directors’ Reports to Companies House, and digital planning checks (including photo evidence approved by trained AI models) to speed approvals. The Summit will gather 350+ business leaders and mayors and saw over £10 billion of private sector investment pledged, including £6.5 billion from Welltower for elderly care beds.
• Background, public investment and implementation details: The government has already identified £1.5 billion in savings toward the £5.6–5.6 billion administrative savings target (aiming to return nearly £6 billion/year by end of Parliament). The Crown Estate purchased Harwell East (potential for 400 homes, 30,000 jobs nationwide, 10,000 in Harwell, and an expected £2.5 billion economic boost). The National Wealth Fund will provide £104 million for onshore/offshore wind in Norfolk and Orkney and a heat network in Hull; its Regional Project Accelerator will support Clyde Metro, Trafford heat network, West Yorkshire Mass Transit, and Greenpower Park. Event details: inaugural Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham, attended by 350+ stakeholders across sectors; official sponsors include E.ON, HSBC, IBM, KPMG, and Lloyds.

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB), IFC and partners have appointed Inspired Evolution as investment manager for Zafiri, a permanent capital DRE equity vehicle to expand electricity and clean cooking access across Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Appointment & vehicle details: Zafiri is a permanent capital investment vehicle managed by Inspired Evolution to provide long-term equity to distributed renewable energy (DRE) companies; it has an initial $300 million capitalization by 2026 and is expected to scale up to $1 billion, aims to facilitate new electricity and clean cooking access for more than 30 million people, and will commence operations in early 2026.
• Partnerships, commitments & track record: Founding partners include IFC, AfDB, The Rockefeller Foundation, TDB Group, and NDF; The Rockefeller Foundation announced an anticipated $10 million investment at the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit. Inspired Evolution (headquartered in Cape Town) has financed more than 10 GW, supported 29 companies across 18 African countries, and manages over $850 million (including co-investments). SEFA (AfDB) will be combined with partner capital to deploy concessional junior equity and mobilize commercial capital into DRE.

SINTEF reports that current minimum ventilation requirements in TEK are insufficient for good indoor air quality in urban apartments.

• Main announcement/action: SINTEF’s Urban Ventilation project (a competence project funded by EnergiX and business partners) conducted laboratory tests and simulations and finds that current minimum requirements are inadequate: standard forced kitchen extraction of 108 m³/h failed to capture cooking emissions in tests, while increasing to 180 m³/h gave large improvements; for bathrooms 75 m³/h is sufficient for moisture removal. The project included partner Røroshetta, laboratory tests at SINTEF (including preparing 72 salmon dinners), and produced the report “Urban ventilasjon. Ventilasjon for godt inneklima i urbane boliger” (linked in sources).
• Background and other details: Tests show exhaust-to-outside systems remove pollutants far more effectively than recirculating solutions; tested filters poorly removed ultrafine particles and gases. The project recommends updating test standards to document performance at multiple airflows (e.g., 108 – 180 – 250 m³/h) and developing realistic aging tests for filters. Key named contributors: Kari Thunshelle (SINTEF), Håvard Augensen (Røroshetta), and researchers from UiO.

The UK Government published its first national Clean Energy Jobs Plan to train the workforce for a clean energy expansion and expects an extra 400,000 jobs by 2030.

• Main announcement: The UK Government (DESNZ / Office for Clean Energy Jobs) published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan on 19 October, setting workforce estimates that target employment to double to 860,000 by 2030 and deliver 400,000 extra jobs by 2030; it names 31 priority occupations (e.g., plumbers, electricians, welders) and will open 5 new Technical Excellence Colleges. The plan links workforce criteria to public grants and procurements, and includes commitments such as fair work charters, closing offshore employment law loopholes, and piloting workforce criteria in DESNZ grants (including the Clean Industry Bonus and Great British Energy). Skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire are backed by £2.5 million.
• Background and implementation details: The plan is backed by record investment—over £50 billion of private investment announced since July 2024—and cites concrete projects and investments (Sizewell C, SMR preferred bidder Rolls Royce, Acorn and Viking CCUS projects). It includes targeted measures for veterans (Mission Renewable), ex-offenders and unemployed, an Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund (nearly £1 million in Aberdeen this year, additional £450,000 from the Scottish Government, and plans to scale to up to £18 million across 2026–2029), and up to £20 million jointly from UK and Scottish governments to retrain oil & gas workers. Centrica announced a £35 million Training Academy in Lutterworth as part of the response.

Framatome announced its industry-first, 100% PROtect E-ATF lead fuel assembly completed a second 24-month cycle (48 months total) of in-reactor operation and inspection in a U.S. nuclear power plant.

• Main announcement: The 100% E-ATF lead fuel assembly (LFA) containing 176 chromium-coated rods and chromia-enhanced pellets was inserted during the 2021 spring refueling outage, inspected after its first 24-month cycle in 2023 and again after its second 24-month cycle in 2025, and will complete its third 24-month cycle in spring 2027; the PROtect program development was supported by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding and the LFA was fabricated at Framatome’s Richland, Washington facility under a 2019 contract.
• Background and technical details: The E-ATF is built on prior irradiation campaigns in the U.S. and Switzerland; Framatome’s PROtect chromium-coated cladding and chromia-enhanced pellets reduce oxidation and hydrogen production under high-temperature conditions, providing additional safety margins and enabling potential power uprates or longer operating cycles; the Richland facility was modernized to produce chromia-enhanced pellets at industrial scale, and these pellets are now standard in ATRIUM 11 BWR reloads operating at eight U.S. commercial power plants.

The BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority published key findings from Project Symbiosis on 17 October 2025, presenting the Net Emissions Optimiser (NEMO) proof-of-concept.

• Main announcement: The BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre and HKMA released Part 1: Key Findings of Project Symbiosis, reporting results of applied technology research and a NEMO (Net Emissions Optimiser) proof-of-concept (POC) designed to reduce information gaps for corporations, the financial sector, and SMEs in the climate transition. The publication date is 17 October 2025 and the report is available as a PDF (3,103kb, 19 pages).
• Background and details: The project is a collaboration between the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA); the work focuses on demonstrating a technical pathway using new technologies to improve emissions-related information for core stakeholders. A Project Symbiosis webpage is provided alongside the full report.

The President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participated in the first meeting of the National Council of Mineral Policy (CNPM) on Thursday, 16 October at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) in Brasília.

• Main announcement/action: The CNPM approved the priorities of the Brazilian Mineral Policy, set guidelines for the National Mining Plan (PNM-2050) and defined the Plan of Goals and Actions for the sector; the meeting was chaired as an advisory body directly to the President and emphasized sustainable mining and national sovereignty over subsoil resources.
• Background and implementation details: The Council approved its Internal Rules and created four Working Groups (GTs): (1) Critical and Strategic Minerals (value chain, beneficiation, industrialization); (2) Inspection Fees, Sector Charges and Incentives (studies on fees and disincentivizing area retention); (3) Sustainable Development in Mining (integration with environmental, social and territorial policies); (4) Diagnostic Study on Mining Oversight in Brazil (focus on ANM role and joint action between federal entities, mapping legal and constitutional competences).

RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) has opened the application period to compete for the permit to construct and operate a 1 GW wind farm in the Nederwiek Wind Farm Zone Site I-A; applications accepted 16–30 October 2025.

• Main action: Applications open 16 October 2025 – 30 October 2025 for a 1 GW offshore wind farm at Nederwiek I-A. Submit via eLoket (log in with eHerkenning level 3 / eH3 or DigiD). Applications are judged by a comparative test with a financial bid; scoring criteria include certainty of realisation, contribution to energy supply, amount of financial bid, and nature-impact reduction.
• Background and requirements: Grid operator TenneT will connect the site to a 2 GW DC offshore platform in the Borssele area (Nederwiek I-B intended to connect later). The winner must provide a bank guarantee/deposit of €100 million (collectible in stages if not completed); €10 million fine applies per month of delay. Assessment takes a statutory period of 13 weeks; additional national-security checks on components from third countries are ongoing and may introduce conditions before permit grant.

ANEEL participated in a public hearing at the Federal Senate on energy storage; Director-General Sandoval Feitosa said regulation on storage is advancing and ANEEL is prepared to license storage projects if planning requires.

• Main announcement/action: ANEEL reported on 2025-10-16 that regulation on energy storage is advancing, there are seven ad hoc concession requests for storage currently under analysis, and the agency — in coordination with ONS, EPE and the Ministry of Mines and Energy — is prepared to advance and to tender (licitar) storage projects if system planning deems it necessary. The hearing was part of the discussions promoted by the Comissão Mista da Medida Provisória 1304/2025.
• Background and other details: ANEEL highlighted a battery deployment in Registro, São Paulo that avoided the construction of a transmission line that would be used only for peak hours or local generation, demonstrating the battery’s effectiveness; batteries can be implemented autonomously (individual cost) or integrated to transmission (shared cost), with revenue sources such as price arbitrage, ancillary services, and specific auctions, and cost allocation depends on the chosen implementation model.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Californians purchased 124,755 zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in Q3 2025 — a record 29.1% share of new car sales.

• Main announcement: Governor Gavin Newsom reported 124,755 ZEVs purchased in Q3 2025 (29.1% of new car sales), bringing cumulative new ZEV purchases to 2,468,158; Q3 2025 surpasses the previous high of 26.9% in Q3 2023. The release attributes the spike in part to last-month federal tax credits eligibility and increased EV model availability (146 ZEV models in Q1).
• Background and program details: The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted first-in-nation EV charger reliability and reporting standards, approved NEVI projects to build 64 fast chargers along key corridors, and approved three grants totaling more than $10 million to build over 1,000 Level 2 EV charging ports (majority in low-income/disadvantaged multifamily housing). The release also references over 200,000 public EV charging stations statewide, ~800,000 home chargers, and 30,000+ megawatts of new clean energy resources added since 2019.

NVIDIA unveiled MGX and Kyber designs at the OCP Global Summit, presenting open-standard rack and compute-tray architectures and an ecosystem for 800 VDC gigawatt-scale AI data centers.

• Main announcement/action: NVIDIA announced the Vera Rubin NVL144 MGX open-architecture rack servers and previewed the NVIDIA Kyber rack generation; supporting details include: 50+ MGX partners, Kyber to connect 576 Rubin Ultra GPUs by 2027, and Vera Rubin NVL144 features 100% liquid cooling, a midplane PCB replacing cable connections, 45°C liquid cooling, and a liquid-cooled busbar with 20x more energy storage.
• Background/other details: multiple ecosystem partners and implementations were described, including Foxconn’s 40-megawatt Kaohsiung-1 data center (Taiwan) built for 800 VDC, Vertiv’s 800 VDC MGX reference architecture, HPE and others adding product support for NVIDIA Kyber and Spectrum-XGS; the summit (OCP Global Summit) took place Oct. 13-16 at San Jose Convention Center, agenda topics included:
  • Oct. 13-16, San Jose Convention Center — sessions and demos covering MGX rack servers, 800 VDC power delivery, liquid cooling, and Kyber rack architecture
  • Ecosystem showcases from silicon, power system and cooling vendors, and cloud/service providers demonstrating implementations and reference architectures

(Notes contain factual announcements, partner lists, timelines, and event details drawn directly from the article.)

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has launched Commodity Pricing and Analysis Limited (CPAL) in Dubai as a new HKEX subsidiary to act as a commodities pricing administrator focused on the global metals market and to support the LME’s sustainable metal premia development.

• Main announcement/action: HKEX has established Commodity Pricing and Analysis Limited (CPAL) in Dubai, UAE; CPAL will serve as the pricing administrator for the sustainable metal premia and provide independent price reporting and market analysis dedicated to the global metals market. The LME (a wholly owned HKEX subsidiary) has published a discussion paper as the next step in developing sustainable metal premium pricing and CPAL will support that initiative (LME first announced the sustainable metal premia development in April 2025).
• Background and other details: Dubai ranked second globally in the Commodity Trade Index (last year) and is first in the GFCI for the Middle East & Africa and 11th globally (GFCI 38 published 25 September 2025). The announcement underscores HKEX’s strategic push to expand its commodities business and strengthen connectivity between China/Hong Kong and fast-growing markets in the Middle East.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) published a preliminary list of entities that staff believe may be subject to SB 253 (Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (Climate-Related Financial Risk Disclosure), as amended by SB 219.

• Main announcement and scope: CARB published a preliminary roster (Excel) compiled by cross-referencing the California Secretary of State’s business registry with Dun & Bradstreet revenue data; staff estimate ~2,600 companies may fall under SB 253 ($1 billion annual global revenue threshold) and ~4,100 companies may fall under SB 261 ($500 million threshold). CARB stresses the list is not final and is asking entities to complete a validation survey (Survey123 link) to confirm inclusion or claim exemptions.
• Background, next steps and timelines: The list applies to companies doing business in California regardless of headquarters; CARB used the current conceptual scoping definitions from its public workshops. Entities should assess applicability, document non-reporting rationales, and prepare disclosures (possible frameworks: TCFD or ISSB). Inaugural reports under SB 261 are due January 1, 2026.

The South African government welcomed the EU’s announcement of a further investment package totalling €11.5 billion.

• Main announcement: The speaker confirmed the EU’s further investment package raising the total to €11.5 billion, to support sectors including critical minerals, e-battery development, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and vaccines, and to back rail, road and ports infrastructure, logistics and digital connectivity. The announcement follows the March South Africa–European Union Summit and discussions to launch a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership.
• Background and other details: The partnership will focus on investment, the clean energy transition, skills and technology, connectivity, and strategic industries along supply chains; officials have been engaged in technical discussions on the partnership. Event note:
  • G20 Leaders’ Summit: next month, Johannesburg — the speaker looks forward to welcoming President von der Leyen; agenda items referenced include advancing shared visions of peace, justice and inclusive international cooperation.

The California Energy Commission approved $136 million in clean energy and climate technology investments, and Governor Gavin Newsom announced California has added 30,800 MW of new clean energy and storage capacity since 2019.

• Main announcement: The CEC committed $136 million for clean energy and climate technology investments, and the state reports 30,800 megawatts of new clean energy/storage capacity added from Jan 2019–Aug 2025. The announcement cites about 9% of new capacity coming from clean projects outside California and notes 21,000 MW contracted and in development by end of 2029 under CPUC procurement orders. It also notes coal supplied 6,162 GWh (2.2%) in 2024 and will fall below 0.2% when the Intermountain Power Plant stops burning coal this year.
• Details and timelines: The CEC allocations include ~$19 million for EV charging grants (including $4.6M for new public fast chargers and $4.2M for charger reliability upgrades); >$117 million for battery storage and next‑gen tech (including a 75-MW battery system in Riverside County at $25M, a $4M direct air capture pilot in Stockton, and a $3.1M college-campus virtual power plant software project), $35M for R&D projects, and $42M for port upgrades to support offshore wind. The CPUC authorized PG&E up to $2.8 billion between 2025 and end of 2026 to speed grid connections. All figures and timelines are from the CEC/CPUC statements in the release.