Hi, I am Caroline Doyle, an associate editor at Horizon Engage. This week, we’re covering emerging players in different institutions across the globe:
- Houthi authorities in Yemen announced a new “Change and Construction” cabinet, but not much has changed at all.
- Elmar Nascimento has emerged as the frontrunner for Brazil’s next speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
- Indonesia’s new energy minister could accelerate the rollout of new ministerial CCS regulations.
This week’s quote of the week are from Serbian activists protesting lithium mining, an issue that has become central to the EU’s green transition agenda. Read more below.
Houthis Form New Cabinet
Last week, Houthi authorities announced a new “Change and Construction” government led by Ahmad al-Rahwi from the General People’s Congress (GPC). While there are some newcomers, don’t expect power to shift away from the Houthis in Sanaa. The cabinet will focus on streamlining state bureaucracy in Houthi-held areas.
This comes almost a year after the last cabinet was dismissed. Forming a new one was reportedly delayed by the conflict in Gaza and ongoing disputes between the Houthis and the GPC in Sanaa. While the GPC did score some important wins, including the premiership, the Houthis have made it clear that they’re playing the long game in controlling and reforming state bureaucracy — a couple of concessions now won’t sway their plans too much.
Frontrunner Emerges in Brazil’s Speaker Race
Federal Deputy Elmar Nascimento was elected to lead the Chamber of Deputies’ largest voting bloc, making him the favorite to replace Arthur Lira as lower chamber president in 2025. Both Nascimento and Lira are relentlessly ambitious and conservative and take a quid-pro-quo approach to politics.
Nascimento has some negotiating ahead of him if he is to secure a majority before voting begins in February 2025. Many in President Lula’s Workers Party blame him for the 2016 impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff, but Nascimento is a much more palatable option than, say, a Bolsonaro ally. Thus, we expect Nascimento to go about building support with little interference and perhaps even some praise from the administration.
Indonesia’s New Energy Minister & CCS
On 19 August, Bahlil Lahadalia replaced Arifin Tasrif as the head of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM). This came just after Tasrif announced new ministerial regulations on CCS covering licensing, upstream oil and gas, operational safety, and more. Currently, CCS is regulated by an ESDM framework exclusively for the oil and gas sector and a presidential regulation much broader in scope.
Under Arifin, we expected the regulation to go into effect within two to three months, but the process could be faster under Bhalil. The latter has a track record of proactively removing investment obstacles, so we expect him to iron out the details with his team as quickly as possible.
Quote of the Week
In Serbia, activists are protesting the effects of lithium mining (led by minerals giant Rio Tinto) on their environment and standard of living. Western eagerness to capitalize on the country’s lithium for their green transition efforts has inflamed opposition. As one activist put it:
“Let the Germans save the planet. We need to save ourselves.”
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