Saudi Crown Jewels, Green Steel and the Climate Cha-Cha (the Roundup)
All the important stories you've missed (Nov 22, 2025)
👋 Welcome to A World Reconfigured - your guide to a world changed by climate, geopolitics and technology. I write about how climate change is creating a new world with new rules, and often cover topics like the ❄️Arctic, 🤷♂️Rare Earths and 💻Data Centers.
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Hey everyone!
After a small hiatus caused by laziness air travel and a nasty cold, I am back with your favorite anti-FOMO newsletter.
I was able to share a few takes from my latest trip, though:
Anyway, let’s get back to it! 👇
TL;DR
The Bigger Things:
COP30 is a mixed bag (and people are disappointed with China)
Rare Earths make their way to Riyadh (the Saudi Crown Jewels)
DOE shakes things up (climate out, fossil fuels and geothermal in)
The Smaller Things:
Putin is sending his henchman to the Arctic (he really wants Svalbard I guess)
China, Europe set green steel standards at COP30 (this is a first for me)
EU is watering its ESG rules and delays deforestation law (quick, act surprised!)
The Talk of the Town:
Lessons from Rare earths, more China visit, civil discourse on explosive topics
Creator Spotlight:
ChinaTalk (Jordan Schneider covered China before it was cool)
The Bigger Things
The biggest stories you probably missed:
COP30 is a mixed bag
What Happened? COP30 is about to end, after two very packed weeks. I wasn’t there, but from all I’ve read, there seemed to be no shortage of action: Tug-of-war negotiations on fossil fuels phaseout, first ever discussion of rare earth elements (and how bad they are for the environment), fundraising for the Rainforest fund ($5B are in the bag!); protests and one very ironic fire. Finally, everyone seems to be disappointed in China for not being the climate leader we all wanted it to be.
Why Care? 🤷♂️ COP30 took place at a time of growing public fatigue and disinterest in the climate crisis, while the climate itself doesn’t care that we’re tired. COP30 does not seem to tilt the scales nearly enough towards climate action, though it is clear we need coordinated, global action more than ever. Well, at least China gave Panda tote bags 🐼
My Take:✍️ There are plenty of takes out there (and most of them are painting a dim picture), but I had to say something. That something is:
Rare Earths✈️Riyadh
What Happened? President Trump’s welcoming of Saudi Crown Prince MBS took place this week. Everyone seemed to focus on fighter jets, deals and the geopolitics of the whole shindig.
What people missed, in my view, is what happened halfway around the world in Riyadh: The US’s MP Materials and Saudi Ma’aden signed a joint venture to build a rare earth refinery in Saudi. Looks like everyone wins here: US diversifies its REE supply chain, MBS diversifies his economy as part of Vision 2030 and MP materials gets a share bump. Well, everyone except China, that is.
Why Care? 🤷♂️Because Rare Earths are now the linchpin of global trade and geopolitics, and while they don’t always get their fair share of the spotlight, they are becoming increasingly a dominant feature of the current geostrategic landscape.
My Take:✍️ This is an important milestone, with the US, through MP Materials, starting to make serious moves to break China’s dominance over processing and refining, and replacing it with a distributed network of refining capabilities centered around its allies globally.
Big shakeups in US DOE: Climate out, everything else in
What Happened? Everyone is talking about the sweeping overhaul of US environmental protections, overturned this week by the Trump Administration and Congress.
However, the reorganization of the US Dept. of Energy might be equally important. Focusing on fossil fuels and Nuclear, the recent shakeup disbanded Biden-era offices dedicated to clean energy (like Demonstrations and Renewable Energy), renamed the LPO to Office of Energy Dominance Financing (okay…), and created new offices related to Hydrocarbons and critical minerals. Heatmap News published an excellent recap and takeaways!
Why Care? 🤷♂️ Because this shakeup is the latest signal by the Trump Administration that it cares mostly about Fossil Fuels, Nuclear, Geothermal and critical minerals. This is a clear indication of where the financing and regulating power of the department will turn in months and years to come.
My Take: ✍️ The critical minerals office is a pleasant surprise
The Smaller Things
The stories you should have on your radar:
Putin sent his henchman to the Arctic
What Happened: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev spent some time this week in Svalbard, deep in the Arctic Circle. He visited Arktikugol, the firm representing Russia in Svalbard. Trutnev said “Today, amid the rising international tensions, it is of fundamental importance to us that none of the rights that Russia has acquired […] should be lost”.
Why Care? 🤷♂️ Because Putin is amping up his rhetoric over Svalbard and the Arctic Circle, slow but steady. Trutnev’s words should be taken in the context of the growing military buildup of the Northern Fleet and attempts to present Russia as a victim of Western aggression in the Arctic. Oh boy.
My Take: ✍️ I dunno, but every time Putin talks about historical rights I get the jitters and a weird feeling that he’s going to invade.
Europe and China set green steel standards
What Happened: One of the good things coming out of COP30 has to do with Green Steel. In a landmark agreement, ResponsibleSteel, China’s Iron and Steel Association and Europe’s Low Emission Steel Standard have reached an agreement to allow interoperable standards.
Why Care? 🤷♂️ Steel is responsible for 7-9% of global emissions, so any acceleration of its decarbonized variant will pack a big punch. This new agreement will help solve a lot of headaches and will ease green steel trade. It also sets the stage for further EU-China collaboration on the topic.
My Take: ✍️ I love green steel, and like everything new, we need to have the mechanisms in place to accelerate its adoption. Overall, I find it to be one of the more helpful announcements coming out of COP. I know, I’m a bit of a nerd.
Europe needs to make up its mind on climate
What Happened: This week, while EU leaders are at COP, member states are pushing to delay the Deforestation Law (EUDR) by one year and the Commission has unveiled a very watered down version of the ESG disclosure rules for asset managers.
Why Care? 🤷♂️ Because these two announcements put the EU at an awkward position, as its leaders try to negotiate stronger fossil fuel phaseout deal at COP30. Readers of this newsletter will not be surprised to see Europe’s confused and complex climate policy, which can only be described as the climate version of the Cha-Cha
My Take: ✍️ This isn’t the last of the European climate Cha-Cha that we’ll get to see. The EU faces strong dilemmas that are hard to square and pressures from all directions, so we can expect more confusing policy that is trying to keep everyone happy, but manages to please no one.
Talk of the Town:
I read way too much Linkedin, Twitter and Substack for my own good. Here are a few of my favorites this week:
✍️
continues his foray into Data Centers and tells the story of silicon time.✍️
of gives a very helpful and illuminating overview of the moments of capital this past month in the climate tech space✍️
continues to demystify rare earth elements critical minerals. This week: Tellurium and Titanium🎥
interviewed Emerlad AI’s CEO on the two paths Data Centers can take: the Villain or Hero path🎥
and hashed it out on the Doom Debates podcast. I listened to the entire thing and have a lot of takeaways. Mostly I salute🫡 both for the civil and thoughtful debate! (I might share my thoughts about this one later)🖇️ CTVC published the full recap their CEO’s visit to China. Excellent and important read!
🐣
and engaged in a very public and very civil debate over Data Center water usage. Regardless of the tweetstorm, impact of DCs on communities is a topic worth following! (https://x.com/AndyMasley)Creator Shoutout
Every week I’m going to highlight a writer/creator I am inspired by.
This week’s shoutout goes to:
ChinaTalk
, and team were China experts before it was cool. I first started to listen to while I was a wee little Chief of Staff, trying to get a sense of the growing tensions between China and US and how it will impact the global business landscape and became a fan ever since.
Jordan and his team do a fantastic job in decoding China and unpacking the complex relationship it has with the US and the rest of the world, while bringing a nuanced view of the topic. Their reporting spans across geopolitics, tech, culture and more
ChinaTalk is full of great interviews with both prominent figures and professionals with a smaller media profile. If you’re new to their stuff, I recommend the Jake Sullivan interview, which I found thought provoking in particular.
Check it out here!
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See you next week!