Cypress Creek Renewables has reached financial close and started construction on its Hanson Solar project in Coleman County, Texas. The 505 MWdc solar farm will deliver electricity to the ERCOT grid, while Meta purchases the environmental attributes to advance its net-zero and clean-energy commitments.
The project, backed by a mix of preferred equity from a $350B global credit manager and debt financing from MUFG and SMBC, marks a major milestone for Cypress Creek’s Texas expansion. It is expected to create 300 construction jobs, generate $80M+ in local tax revenue, and come online by mid-2027.
Sarah Slusser, CEO of Cypress Creek Renewables, said: “Securing financing for Hanson Solar is a key milestone as we expand in Texas and continue partnering with customers like Meta. Projects like this help meet the near-term need for reliable, affordable power while supporting economic growth.”
With Meta targeting net-zero across its value chain by 2030, Hanson Solar is part of the company’s push to add 9.8 GW of renewable energy to U.S. grids by 2025.
Abu Dhabi has moved a major step closer to becoming a regional hub for low-carbon jet fuel, as Masdar and Tadweer Group advance plans to build the emirate’s first commercial-scale waste-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant. The project, backed by a recently signed Joint Development Agreement, is designed to convert half a million tons of waste and biomass every year into SAF- one of the most ambitious waste-to-fuel concepts in the Middle East.
Turning Waste Into Jet Fuel
The plant will use a hybrid production pathway that pairs waste gasification with green hydrogen generated via renewable-powered electrolysis. Together, these streams will be converted into sustainable aviation fuel capable of cutting lifecycle emissions by up to 80% compared with conventional jet fuel.
A feasibility study confirmed the project’s commercial viability, positioning Abu Dhabi to supply SAF to one of the world’s busiest aviation markets at a time when airlines, regulators, and investors are scrambling to secure long-term, low-carbon fuel supplies.
Masdar: Tackling Hard-to-Abate Sectors
Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said the project underscores Masdar’s commitment to bringing innovative decarbonisation solutions to sectors that face some of the steepest emissions barriers.
“This project will advance the UAE’s leadership in sustainable aviation, supporting the growth of a sector critical to the nation’s economic development while driving its decarbonization,” he said. “We look forward to working closely with Tadweer Group to bring this project to fruition and deliver tangible emissions reductions for the UAE and beyond.”
Tadweer: Waste as a Strategic Energy Resource
For Tadweer Group, which oversees Abu Dhabi’s waste management system, the plant aligns directly with its mission to transform waste into economic value and reduce the emirate’s reliance on landfills.
Managing Director and CEO Ali Al Dhaheri said the initiative demonstrates how waste streams can be absorbed into the UAE’s emerging clean-energy economy.
“This agreement marks a pivotal step in unlocking waste as a valuable resource with the potential to be converted to key energy products,” he said. “Together with Masdar, we’re showcasing the potential of waste-derived SAF and contributing to the nation’s Net Zero ambitions.”
Aviation, Climate, and Hydrogen Strategies Converge
The waste-to-SAF plant aligns with nearly every key pillar of the UAE’s decarbonisation policy architecture, including:
UAE General Policy for SAF
National Hydrogen Strategy
Abu Dhabi Low-Carbon Hydrogen Policy
UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative
Aviation is central to the UAE’s economy -contributing 18% of GDP in 2023 – and global regulators are tightening low-carbon fuel mandates. The project could supply multiple regional markets, strengthening Abu Dhabi’s emerging role as a SAF production and export hub.
The facility also supports Tadweer Group’s goal of diverting 80% of waste from landfills by 2030, opening new value chains across waste valorisation, green hydrogen, and renewable fuels.
Why Executives and Investors Are Watching
For airlines: the project provides long-term visibility into SAF supply in a region where demand is set to surge. For financiers: it creates one of the most promising integrated waste-to-hydrogen-to-fuel pathways in the Gulf. For policymakers: it ties together waste-sector reform, clean-energy diversification, and compliance with global aviation decarbonisation frameworks.
A Regional Project With Global Implications
Abu Dhabi’s waste-to-SAF initiative stands out for its integration of three strategic pillars- waste management, green hydrogen, and aviation decarbonisation – at a moment when global demand for certified SAF is accelerating.
By combining Masdar’s renewable energy expertise with Tadweer’s waste resources, the UAE is laying the foundation for a new low-carbon fuel ecosystem that blends climate ambition with economic advantage. If delivered at scale, the project could mark a turning point for sustainable aviation in the Gulf – and push regional SAF deployment faster than many expected.
DBS Bank (Hong Kong) and Nan Fung Group have inked a HKD 1.5 billion (US$193 million) sustainability-linked loan, breaking new ground by tying the financing to quantifiable social impact -not just environmental metrics.
The five-year, multi-currency deal marks Nan Fung’s first-ever loan linked to a social value KPI, signalling a major shift in how Hong Kong’s property sector measures community impact.
Under the agreement, Nan Fung must boost the monetary value of its social contributions, calculated across its property portfolio through stakeholder engagement and community programmes. The developer has already notched HKD 46.6 million in measured social value through initiatives supporting seniors, mixed-age physical activity, and urban farming.
Key projects contributing to the KPI include:
AIRSIDE Sports Date – promoting wellness and social inclusion
Senior Docent Programme – training retirees as tour guides
Farming Assistant Programme – enabling elderly residents to support urban farming and exhibitions
Beyond social value, the loan also tracks sustainability performance targets such as:
Greater tenant participation in Nan Fung’s “Net Positive Lease” programme
Increased renewable energy generation across its buildings
DBS said the financing reinforces its push to scale innovative, community-focused sustainable finance. Nan Fung described the loan as a powerful signal of its commitment to delivering measurable, real-world impact, aligned with its SEWIT framework covering social cohesion, wellness, environment, innovation, and technology.
For Hong Kong’s ESG finance market, the deal is a standout moment – one of the clearest examples yet of a major developer tying loan costs directly to the social good it produces.
A new global coalition is taking aim at one of the most urgent challenges of the energy transition: how to manage soaring electricity demand as AI, electrification and population growth push power grids to their limits.
Schneider Electric and Bloomberg New Economy have unveiled the Energy Technology Coalition, a cross-sector alliance designed to fast-track adoption of demand-side energy technologies, reshape grid resilience, and influence climate and industrial strategy worldwide. The launch was announced simultaneously at Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit North America in Las Vegas and at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
Shifting the spotlight from energy supply to smarter energy use
While global investment still focuses heavily on building more electricity supply, the Coalition argues that the fastest and most cost-effective path to energy security is transforming the way energy is used. The initiative will champion technologies such as AI-enabled grid optimisation, digital twins, advanced industrial automation, and scalable demand management tools designed to stabilise consumption without slowing economic growth.
“Building a resilient and affordable energy future requires strong collaboration across the technology and energy sectors,” said Frédéric Godemel, Executive Vice President for Energy Management at Schneider Electric. “By leveraging innovations like AI and digital twins, we can strengthen the grid, improve reliability, and make energy more accessible and cost-effective for everyone.”
Addressing the bottlenecks holding back smart grid technologies
Coalition members will map out the regulatory, technical and commercial barriers that have slowed adoption of demand-side technologies. These include outdated regulations, fragmented standards, limited digital infrastructure and uncertainty among utilities and industrial users around return on investment for advanced grid tools.
Their mission: deliver data-backed frameworks, market guidance and policy recommendations that help governments and businesses deploy demand-side solutions at speed.
The Coalition will also explore how AI can forecast load surges, how digital twins can optimise asset performance in real time, and how automated control systems can eliminate waste across industrial operations.
A heavyweight governance group
Founding members span industry, academia and policy, including:
Christina Shim, Chief Sustainability Officer, IBM
Professor John D. Sterman, Director, MIT System Dynamics Group
Claire O’Neill, former UK Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth; Non-Executive Director, Oxy
Arch Rao, CEO, SPAN
Manon van Beek, CEO, TenneT
O’Neill said the focus is long overdue: “Demand-side innovation and investment are too often ignored. Regardless of the carbon intensity coming into the system, managing demand better delivers huge cost, efficiency and flexibility benefits.”
Bloomberg Media CEO Karen Saltser added, “Digital infrastructure and energy systems are converging at an unprecedented pace. As AI and compute demand skyrocket, the world urgently needs coordinated action to deliver clean, resilient and efficient energy.”
Why this matters for CEOs, utilities and investors
The launch comes as governments and companies face escalating pressure to manage electricity demand amid the AI computing boom. For grid operators, demand-side solutions can delay or avoid costly new generation capacity. For corporates, they unlock efficiency gains, lower energy bills and reduce exposure to volatile markets. For investors, they represent one of the fastest-growing segments in climate technology-with both near-term commercial traction and long-term systemic importance.
Demand-side management is also becoming central to national energy security strategies, with the US, EU and Asia assessing how AI-driven consumption will reshape peak load curves, grid reliability and renewable integration.
Next stop: Davos 2026
The Coalition’s first in-person working session will take place in January 2026 at Bloomberg House in Davos, coinciding with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Members will refine analytical frameworks, explore pilot projects and shape policy recommendations that could redefine how the world approaches efficient, intelligent energy use over the next decade.
As AI and electrification accelerate, the Energy Technology Coalition is positioning demand-side innovation not as a niche efficiency play-but as a central pillar of global energy transition, climate strategy, and future grid resilience.
Morningstar Sustainalytics has appointed sustainable finance veteran Jodie Tapscott as its new Head of Climate & Nature Solutions, strengthening the firm’s focus on the rapidly converging areas of climate risk, biodiversity, and nature-related financial impacts.
Based in London, Tapscott will lead Sustainalytics’ global climate and nature strategy, reporting to Chief Strategy and Product Officer -and incoming President- David Pagliaro. The newly elevated role reflects surging regulatory and investor demand for deeper integration of nature-related risks alongside climate considerations.
Tapscott brings more than two decades of experience in sustainable finance. She most recently served as Senior Vice President for Responsible Investing Strategy and Portfolio Solutions at AllianceBernstein and previously held senior roles within Sustainalytics across the Asia-Pacific region. Her background spans ESG product development, responsible investing frameworks, and corporate sustainability leadership in Australia.
In her new position, Tapscott will oversee the expansion of Sustainalytics’ climate-nature analytics, including enhancements to biodiversity modelling, nature value-at-risk assessments, and physical climate risk datasets. Key forthcoming offerings include a consolidated climate dashboard, deeper climate-nature datasets, and tools aligned with net-zero investment frameworks, such as Sustainalytics’ Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF) toolkit.
The appointment comes as investors face increasing regulatory obligations under frameworks such as the EU’s CSRD and global ISSB standards, which place greater emphasis on nature-related disclosures. Sustainalytics’ existing suite of tools- including its Nature Data platform covering over 12,000 companies, Physical Climate Risk Metrics, and Low Carbon Transition Ratings – is set to be expanded under Tapscott’s leadership.
Pagliaro said the new Climate & Nature Solutions function will play a critical role in helping investors understand and act on intertwined climate and nature risks, which are becoming financially material across sectors and geographies.
Tapscott’s appointment signals Sustainalytics’ strategic commitment to staying ahead of market and regulatory expectations, as the financial industry increasingly recognises biodiversity loss, land-use impacts, and ecosystem degradation as core components of long-term investment risk.
Singapore has teamed up with leading carbon crediting bodies Gold Standard and Verra to launch a new Article 6.2 Crediting Protocol, a move set to streamline cross-border carbon markets and help countries meet their Paris Agreement climate targets faster.
The protocol allows governments to leverage existing voluntary carbon-market frameworks rather than building new national schemes from scratch. It establishes standardised rules for authorisation, transfer, retirement, and corresponding adjustments, while ensuring registry interoperability and market integrity- critical elements for scaling internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs).
A Global, Consultative Effort
First proposed at COP28 in Dubai, the protocol has been refined throughout 2024 with input from governments, crediting bodies, and market participants. It incorporates the latest Article 6.2 decisions from COP29 and is designed with flexibility for future enhancements, including Share-of-Proceeds mechanisms and improved data protocols.
Framing the initiative as a major step for developing and smaller nations, Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat said the protocol allows countries to participate in high-integrity carbon markets without the administrative burden of creating their own standards.
Why It Matters
For governments, the protocol accelerates climate action by unlocking carbon markets with ready-to-use voluntary standards. For investors and project developers, it provides clear, uniform rules, reducing legal and operational uncertainty in cross-border carbon trading.
The move also signals a more integrated global carbon market, bridging voluntary and compliance systems and giving nations a fast-track pathway to scale mitigation efforts efficiently.
Next Steps
The protocol will be piloted in 2025, testing registry workflows, cross-border transactions, and reporting mechanisms. Singapore, Gold Standard, and Verra plan to refine the governance structure over time, aiming to make the protocol a replicable blueprint for countries worldwide.
By standardising the use of existing carbon crediting programs, the initiative could reshape international carbon markets, making cooperation more transparent, efficient, and impactful – a critical step as nations race to meet net-zero targets.
