Global Climate News

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly signed an MOU with National Pingtung University of Science and Technology to establish a campus-based demonstration center for sustainable energy and climate change. - **Main announcement/action:** On 114-09-26 (Minguo calendar), the **Ministry of Environment**, **Ministry of Agriculture**, and **National Pingtung University of Science and Technology** signed an **MOU** (witnessed by Legislators 鍾佳濱 and 蘇清泉 and the **Pingtung County Government**) to build the "Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Demonstration Center" on **about 300 hectares** of campus land; agreed activities include **waste collection**, **energy conversion (biomass-to-energy)**, and **resource reuse** to create a circular economy pilot on-site. - **Background and implementation details:** The project will leverage Pingtung’s agricultural scale to pilot a **Taiwan biomass energy model**, develop **natural carbon sink and carbon capture technologies**, and offer professional training courses to cultivate **green-collar talent**; the MOU sets collaboration scope (research, demonstration, replication) but **no specific multi-year implementation timeline** is specified in the announcement.

The HKMA announced a set of actions to build a transition finance ecosystem in Asia, including taxonomy updates, guidance for banks on transition planning, enhanced disclosure alignment, and scaled capacity-building programmes. - **Main actions by the HKMA:** Published Phase 1 of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance and launched a consultation on the prototype of **Phase 2A taxonomy** (expanding sectors, increasing activities from 12 to 25, adding **transition elements** such as interim decarbonisation targets, supportive measures, and sunset dates, and introducing a new environmental objective on **climate change adaptation**); issued **good practices** for bank transition planning (Dec 2024) and is revising **draft guidelines** after industry consultation; will align banking disclosure requirements with **ISSB Standards** and the **Basel disclosure framework** (Basel framework issued June 2025); administers the **CBSS** (since 2022) with **>7,600 reimbursements** approved amounting to **over HK$42 million**, and launched the **ECF-GSF** Professional Level module (Nov 2024). - **Background and implementation details:** HKMA framed the need with IMF estimates that **emerging and developing Asia needs at least US$1.1 trillion per year** for climate actions and faces an **investment shortfall of about US$800 billion**; the HKMA is the first Regional Anchor with the **IFC's Alliance for Green Commercial Banks** (Alliance has 18 member banks); event context: keynote delivered at the **CASI Sustainability Forum**, Hong Kong, **12 September 2025** (part of Hong Kong Green Week).

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has published a memorandum advising public company boards on enhanced risk oversight responsibilities and practical recommendations for documenting and implementing board-level risk governance. - **Main announcement/action:** The memorandum provides detailed guidance for boards to **oversee enterprise risk** (including **climate**, **cybersecurity**, **ESG**, and emerging tech risks such as generative AI), recommends regular director training, documents the importance of maintaining records to satisfy **Caremark** standards, and urges boards to ensure management integrates risk into strategy; it cites legal and regulatory developments including SEC disclosure rules, Delaware case law, and DOJ enforcement guidance (DOJ revised Corporate Enforcement Policy announced May 2025). - **Background and other concrete details:** The memo summarizes specific regulatory actions and timelines: SEC 2023 cybersecurity disclosure rules require Form 8-K Item 1.05 reporting of material incidents within **four business days** after determination; the NYSE/SEC clawback rule had a compliance adoption deadline of **December 1, 2023**; DOJ settlements and enforcement examples include a **$25 million** SEC penalty against Charter Communications, an Ireland Data Protection Commission fine of **€530 million** against TikTok, and a **$98 million** DOJ settlement with Illumina (July 2025); the memo also cites a **2024 Spencer Stuart survey** showing **12%** of S&P 500 companies had a standing risk committee in 2024.

The Executive Yuan held a ceremony to award official certificates for the "Ministry of Environment Net-Zero Green-Collar Talent Training Course," presenting certificates to 22 qualifying learners, with the youngest recipient aged 17. - **Main announcement and course details**: The ceremony awarded **22** official certificates; the course started in **April** via a **32-school alliance**, uses standard teaching materials from the **National Environmental Research Institute**, and is a **48-hour** program with a **tuition fee of NT$12,000**. The first centralized exam was held on **2024-08-30** (reported as Aug 30) with **~1,400** trainees taking the test and an **86.7% pass rate**; nearly **2,000** people had registered since April and about **1,400** completed training and sat the exam. - **Background, partnerships and implementation details**: The Ministry provided **partial/full tuition subsidies** (half-price for currently enrolled tertiary students except in-service programs; full subsidy for eligible disabled and low-income registrants). Planned cross-ministry courses include **Near-Zero Carbon Building** (Ministry of Interior), **Energy Saving Training** (Ministry of Economic Affairs), **Green Healthcare Talent Training** (Ministry of Health and Welfare), **Indigenous Green-Collar** (Council of Indigenous Peoples), **CCUS** training with National Cheng Kung University, and **Resource Recycling** with the EPA Resource Circulation Agency. The first NTNU class (40 seats) filled in **16 minutes**.

The UK government announced that two carbon capture projects — Padeswood (Heidelberg Materials UK) and Protos (Encyclis) — have signed final contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company and are ready to begin construction. - **Main announcement and actions:** The projects have **signed final contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company** and are expected to **move into the construction phase shortly**, together securing **500 skilled jobs** (part of **2,800 jobs** across the wider HyNet network). Padeswood (cement) will capture **~800,000 tonnes CO2/year** and Protos (waste-to-energy) will capture **~400,000 tonnes CO2/year**, totaling **1.2 million tonnes CO2/year**. Both projects will connect to **Eni’s Liverpool Bay Transportation & Storage** as anchor projects of the **HyNet** cluster. - **Background, financing and timelines:** The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s April green-light for HyNet and the government’s **£9.4 billion** commitment to Carbon Capture made in the Spending Review (funding stated **over this Parliament**). The projects are positioned as **shovel-ready**, with contracts now in place to provide certainty to proceed; Padeswood will deploy capture at the existing cement works to produce **evoZero net zero cement**, and Protos is described as a first full-scale carbon capture-enabled waste-to-energy facility.

Greenpeace International has called on governments to introduce permanent polluter profit taxes on oil, coal and gas corporations, backing a letter from dozens of former presidents and prime ministers as well as former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. - **Main action:** Greenpeace’s Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign is publicly supporting the letter that urges the introduction of **permanent polluter profit taxes** on the fossil fuel industry to pay for **climate damages**; the campaign is coordinated with **The Polluters Pay Pact** and is backed by **more than 250,000 individuals**, **firefighters, mayors, worker unions**, and **over 60 environmental and humanitarian organisations**. Sub-bullets for related events: - COP30 in Brazil: referred to as **"this year’s COP30 in Brazil"** in the statement — agenda: **affirm the polluter pays principle** (date not specified in the article). - UN Global Tax Convention, Nairobi: **November** (year not specified) — agenda: **advance new global tax rules** to enforce the polluter pays principle and raise revenues for UN climate funds. - **Background and details:** The statement cites a **global survey** (commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International) finding **81%** support for taxing oil, gas and coal corporations for climate damages and **86%** support for channeling revenues to communities most impacted by the climate crisis; the article links to the former leaders' statement (Club de Madrid) and to the Polluters Pay Pact campaign. Contact details provided: **Tal Harris, Global Media Lead** (tharris@greenpeace.org, +41-782530550) and **Greenpeace International Press Desk** (pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0) 20 718 2470).

McKinsey has published an analysis highlighting the role and potential of ocean carbon dioxide removal (ocean CDR) and calls for urgent, coordinated R&D, regulatory, philanthropic, and industry action to build a foundational ocean CDR ecosystem over the next decade. - **Main announcement and findings:** The report outlines **five major ocean CDR approaches** (coastal ecosystem restoration; direct ocean capture (DOC); ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE); algae cultivation and harvesting; open-ocean microalgae fertilization), estimates the ocean could support **more than ten gigatons** of annual CO2 removals, and notes **pilot DOC costs of $900 to $3,000 per ton**. It highlights **high efficiency** and **high scaling potential** but warns of scientific uncertainty and ecological risks that require R&D and robust methodologies. - **Background, evidence, and specific details:** Authors include **Emma Parry, Mark Patel, Gualtiero Jaeger, Jonathan Scott, and Shruti Badri** (McKinsey offices: London, Bay Area, Nairobi). The report cites bodies such as the **IPCC**, **London Convention and London Protocol** (which flagged possible "deleterious effects that are widespread, long-lasting, or severe" for some approaches), and research collaborators including **CarbonPlan** and **[C]Worthy**. It calls for **shared research results, regulatory frameworks, Indigenous and community engagement, and stakeholder funding** to derisk and scale ocean CDR within the next decade.