Commodities & Energy

In September 2024, scientists at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service  reported that summer 2024 was the hottest on record globally, and the previous twelve months posted a average global temperature that was a record 1.64 degrees Celsius (2.95 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average during the pre-industrial period, 1850-1900. This was triggered by a combination of a warmer El Niño cycle and the effects of human-caused warming. While it will take more years of such ...

Le 5 novembre 2024, Donald Trump a gagné son duel face à Kamala Harris. Le 45ème président des États-Unis sera aussi le 47ème et il prendra ses fonctions à la Maison Blanche le 20 janvier 2025. Les politiques de la future Administration Trump seront évidemment très différentes de celles qu’aurait pu conduire une Administration Harris et de celles de l’Administration Biden depuis janvier 2021 et c’est aussi le cas pour les questions énergétiques. Mais une chose est sûre : que la prem ...

...

Si la réalité même de la transition énergétique est parfois questionnée, voire remise en cause (Fressoz, 2023), l’effet de report qu’elle crée sur les ressources minérales, mis en évidence par de nombreuses études prospectives, apparaît indiscutable. Plus de cuivre, de lithium, de nickel, de graphite ou de terres rares : telles sont les conditions non exhaustives permettant de soutenir le développement de l’électromobilité et des énergies renouvelables et, ainsi, de contribuer à la ...

This paper examines the complex interplay between global climate ambitions and national interests within the New South—defined as a diverse group of emerging economies, each pursuing distinct geopolitical strategies, economic priorities, and development goals—seen through a realist lens at the COP29 climate summit. As the climate crisis deepens, the geopolitical stakes involved in climate governance become more pronounced. The New South, grappling with the dual challenges of economi ...

The road to decarbonizing the planet runs through the energy transition, which includes the shift from fossil-fueled cars to renewable energy vehicles. This automotive transition is unfolding as a true revolution in the industry. The evolution toward electric and hybrid vehicles has come in tandem with the ascent of Chinese producers. In the current context of geopolitical and technological rivalries, the automotive transition has been marked by an intense trade war, with implicati ...

La nouvelle était largement attendue : mercredi 18 septembre 2024, et pour la première fois depuis 2020, la Réserve fédérale américaine (Fed) a diminué ses taux directeurs, les portant ainsi à 4,75 % et 5 %, soit une baisse significative de 50 points de base. En repli quasi-constant depuis juin 2022 où elle avait atteint une valeur record de 9,2 % en base annuelle, l’inflation américaine est désormais sous contrôle, tandis que les récentes statistiques du marché de l’emploi du pays ...

Green industrial policies are essential to enable the structural transformations needed for a successful transition to a low-carbon economy. Because of the pressing need to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, it is imperative to reallocate resources strategically from carbon-intensive sectors to sustainable, high-productivity industries. This transition is critical both to mitigate the impacts of climate change and to promote long-term economic growth and sustai ...

Over the next decade, the energy transition will transform the global economic landscape in terms of regulations, industrial and energy investments, and technological solutions. The African continent is set to play a significant role in this transition while addressing its own sustainable development needs. To fully capitalize on this emerging dynamic, African countries should pursue innovative paths tailored to their specific contexts and constraints. They should also identify stra ...

Some of the designs are etched into the desert sand like intricate spiderwebs. Others wind through African jungles like giant serpents, transforming pristine landscapes into conduits of profit, constructed from metal, plastic, and cement. Pipes, endless pipes, stretching for thousands of kilometers, even reaching beneath the sea. Europe’s thirst for oil and gas has intensified, especially since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war—whether that conflict drags on for months or years ...

Le rôle du secteur halieutique dans l’alimentation du continent africain est considérable : 22 % des protéines animales disponibles viennent des produits de la mer et des eaux douces et plus de 50 % dans certains pays africains, en particulier en Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest. Les pêches et leurs activités connexes fournissent non seulement de la nourriture, mais aussi des emplois à 12 millions de personnes, et génèrent des revenus pour les États comme pour les communautés ...

The agricultural sector is responsible for 72% of global water withdrawals, and is the biggest employer of the world’s most vulnerable and poor populations. Still, close to 84% of smallholder farms in low- and middle-income economies are located in water-scarce regions, with less than one third of them having access to irrigation (UN, 2024). These small-scale farmers also bear the heavy weight of land degradation and climate crisis. It is estimated that food production will need to ...

The earth’s average surface temperature in May 2024 was higher than any other May on record, marking the twelfth consecutive such record-breaking month. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, May’s temperature was 1.52 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, while temperatures over the past twelve months have averaged 1.63°C above (Figure 1). Global sea surface temperatures have also set records over the past fourteen months.   Consider the e ...

Le constat est désormais parfaitement connu : une quantité croissante de ressources minérales sera nécessaire au cours des années et décennies à venir si nous voulons réussir notre transition énergétique et, délaissant les énergies fossiles, ainsi parvenir à la neutralité carbone. Plus de lithium, de manganèse ou de sulfate de nickel pour les batteries Li-ion des véhicules électriques légers, plus de silicium pour les panneaux photovoltaïques, de terres rares ou de zinc pour les éol ...

Interview publié sur philonomist.com   Si la récente crise qui a secoué la Nouvelle-Calédonie part d’un conflit politique, elle s’inscrit dans un contexte économique difficile. L’industrie du nickel, qui représente 90 % des exportations de l’archipel et emploie près d’un Calédonien sur quatre, est au point mort. Le « pacte nickel » proposé par le gouvernement pour relancer la filière tarde à être adopté. Comment comprendre cette situation, alors que la Nouvelle-Calédonie possède u ...

Carbon trading have long been touted as a silver bullet to channelise climate finance to African countries lacking the capital to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The erstwhile ‘Kyoto Protocol’ and its successor ‘The Paris Agreement’, though much more comprehensive and wider in scope, both recognize the importance of carbon trading (a form of carbon pricing) in combatting climate change, and in the Paris Agreement the same is enshrined under Article 6 and its sub-c ...

Africa has a wealth of natural resources, including minerals, agriculture, and energy commodities, which provides an opportunity for the financialization of these commodities on the continent, a concept that has gained global attention and sparked debate on the potential benefits and drawbacks. Although the financialization of commodities has been studied in various contexts, including in African countries, challenges such as liquidity constraints and market readiness have emerged a ...

Au cours de la prochaine décennie, la transition énergétique transformera le paysage économique mondial en termes de régulations, d’investissements industriels et énergétiques et de solutions technologiques développées. Le continent africain est appelé à jouer un rôle important dans cette transition, tout en répondant à ses propres besoins de développement durable. Pour tirer pleinement profit de cette dynamique naissante, les pays africains devraient s'engager sur de ...

Carbon pricing mechanisms are central to mitigating climate change. These mechanisms work by internalizing the costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions, thus encouraging emissions reductions and promoting technological progress in favor of sustainable alternatives. However, the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms faces numerous complexities and challenges, especially in developing countries, given the potentially regressive impact of carbon pricing on low-income groups ...

It all began in 1924, when the World Energy Council (WEC) was established in order to harness the collective expertise of the global energy community and translate vision into tangible outcomes. In April 2024, the city of Rotterdam hosted the 26th Congress of the World Energy Council, whose theme was “Redesigning Energy for Better Lives and a Healthy Planet”.  It is not about a single energy transition, but rather many energy transitions. The concept of energy transition is not ...

This study conducts an in-depth exploration of the increasing interest in voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in Africa, shedding light on the potential opportunities and challenges associated with African participation in these markets. VCMs have gained prominence as promising means to address climate change, driven by substantial financial incentives and market expansion. Nonetheless, persistent debates revolve around the legitimacy of carbon credits and their tangible contributions t ...

National and regional visions for the future of water and food security have been at the forefront of sustainability talks. Nevertheless, the role of soil in water and food security and carbon management needs to be highlighted and integrated into these discussions and visions. The dynamic characterization of soil as a medium that accounts for the long-term impact of the agro-environmental conditions is of utmost importance to sustainability of these resources and to sustainable dev ...

The current decade is critical for global decarbonization. The ongoing energy transition will bring about changes in technology, commodities, infrastructure, supply chains, as well as geopolitical factors, which could give rise to new energy security challenges. It is therefore important to undertake a thorough re-evaluation of energy security dynamics, with a view to enhancing the resilience of power systems. In this paper, we examine North Africa’s energy transition trajectory th ...

Low-carbon hydrogen is a potential contributor to the goals defined in the Paris Agreement, i.e. limiting the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The transformation of hydrogen production is a part of this effort, as current production methods in the hydrogen industry are carbon-intensive. To achieve net-zero scenarios, hydrogen production and consumption will need to change. Creating a pipeline of projects plays a central role in drivin ...

Le Maroc traverse l'une de ses pires périodes de sécheresse. Au cours des 43 dernières années, le Royaume a traversé 7 périodes de sécheresse, présentant des niveaux de sévérité variables. La plus faible pluviométrie a été enregistrée, en 2017, avec seulement 103 mm de précipitations annuelles. Ce qui caractérise la présente sécheresse, c'est sa durée exceptionnelle de six années consécutives, marquant ainsi la période de sécheresse la plus longue de l'histoire du pays. En effet, su ...

Par rapport aux intérêts des générations des années cinquante, soixante et soixante-dix (dont je fais partie), la question de l’environnement n’est venue se greffer dans les préoccupations des acteurs, leurs réflexions et programmes d’action, que tardivement. Il faudra encore quelque temps pour mûrir les éléments de cette problématique relativement nouvelle. Toutefois, dès le départ on est partagé entre deux visions : d’une part, une approche qui considère la protection de l’envir ...