At the G20 meeting in Bali in November, Indonesia undertook to i) cap annual CO2 emissions from the power sector at 290 megatons by 2030 (seven years earlier than previously) ii) be producing 34% of that power from renewables by the same year iii) have the whole power sector hit net zero by 2050. In return, the […]
Andrew for the UNECE re PPPs for waste to energy: financial support needed
The UNECE has published its latest thoughts on how the private sector can be brought in to build and operate much – needed Waste to Energy plants or, in full, its Guidelines on Public-Private Partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals in Waste-to-Energy Projects for Non-Recyclable Waste: Pathways towards a Circular Economy. Andrew was acknowledged as […]
Energy Transition Mechanisms – how to make them actually happen
Like any traditional tale woven by Wayang Kulit, the messaging from the recent G20 meeting in Nusa Dua looked straightforward enough whilst masking any number of mysteries still to be resolved. The headlines were that: The International Partners Group, a group of wealthy nations led by the US and Japan (think of them as the […]
HKTDC’s BRI IRL
Good to be back In Real Life as a guest of the HK Trade Development Council at their summit on the Belt & Road Initiative last week. Interviewed by Xinhua then China Daily, I stressed my recent writings that, if the G7 might now be putting up money to rival China’s BRI, then host governments […]
Happy 50th birthday: HK’s Cross Harbour Tunnel is a role model for PPP
The first of several proposals to cross Hong Kong harbour was for a bridge in 1902 (!). The first to be actually built was the Cross Harbour Tunnel which opened to traffic fifty years ago today. (Later, it was formally opened on 21 October by Princess Alexandra who, it was reported, sported a nice white […]
The West finally stands up to Belt & Road … maybe
Reliable sources at Schloss Elmau tell me that most of the talk at the meeting of the G7 and friends last month was on What To Do About Russia? but there was at least one item on What To Do About China? The US had a proposal for a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment […]
The World’s ten biggest gold mines still include Lihir in PNG, 27 years on
This recently from Visual Capitalist shows the World’s ten largest gold mines by production operating today. Perhaps the most unusual is Lihir in PNG in that it started life back in 1995 as a project financing of considerable daring. Features included: Significant dewatering issues in that the open pit was to be dug in a […]
HK Electric’s offshore wind – is it just virtue signalling?
Lost in the excitement of the Chief Executive election in Hong Kong last week was the news that the Environmental Protection Dept had approved an amendment to a proposal by HK Electric to build a 150 MW wind farm off the south west coast of Lamma island. Tendering for the wind farm will start in […]
Hong Kong water taxis: give them a chance and think bigger
Logie Group has long argued that, instead of separating every day life in Hong Kong from its iconic harbour, HK should embrace it by expanding water – borne transport across the harbour and along its shoreline. A water taxi service therefore sounded promising. LegCo’s Finance Committee meets today to review the ongoing subsidies for this. […]
Hong Kong should open up now. It’s easier than the govt thinks
Writing to the SCMP over the weekend, Exasperated of Mid – Levels explained how Hong Kong can lift all Covid restrictions yet stay consistent with Mainland policy. The following day, Carrie Lam announced that she will not seek re-election. Unfortunately my letter (scroll down to “How to open up while remaining aligned with mainland”) was […]
China’s first high – speed rail PPP opens – what is the agenda?
Mainland China’s first high – speed rail Public Private Partnership opened for business last month. Built at a cost of ¥45 billion / US$7.1 billion under a 30 – year concession, it is now serving nine stations between Hangzhou – Shaoxing – Taizhou in Zhejiang province with trains traveling at up to 350 kph over […]
Revisiting the sale of MoD homes in the UK – the government is introducing political risk
The FT reports that the UK government wants to buy back the properties still remaining from the Ministry of Defence housing portfolio that it sold back in 1996. Commenting on LinkedIn, Andrew points out that trying to exit a bad bargain adds political risk to the UK as an investment destination. Having pioneered so many […]
Laos’ Chinese – built rail link opens: whose problem is it anyway?
The FT reports ahead of tomorrow’s opening with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn where the link is no longer current so here are both pieces: FT re Laos rail 2 Dec 21 Laos will open a $6bn Chinese-built railway on Friday, the biggest public works project in its history, which analysts warn could expose the […]
COP 26: Mark Carney’s $130 trillion, whilst welcome, does not address the underlying issue.
The FT reports on COP 26 with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn. Energy transition involves acknowledging a loss. This falls to national governments which need to share risk and responsibility. In order to do so, they should invoke project finance techniques – even if it means adding a few zeros.
Andrew in the SCMP: Ocean Park should convert into a fully – fledged, cutting – edge zoo
Writing in the South China Morning Post, Andrew argues that, rather than calling for the private sector to develop three new zones, Ocean Park should think much more ambitiously and convert into a government – funded, fully – fledged cutting – edge zoo to rival Sydney (pictured) or Singapore. Note that in its editing, the […]
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