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Daily Update — Decemeber 02, 2025

Takeaways from COP30; The Big Picture; and Road Map for Energy Sector AI Adoption

Today is Tuesday, December 2, 2025, and here's your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.

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Energy Transition & Sustainability

Sustainability Insights: Adaptation Advances: Five Takeaways From COP30

 

The 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) took place in Belém, Brazil, on Nov. 10 –22. Despite difficulties such as declining multilateralism, logistical issues and fires, governments made incremental progress, primarily in the areas aligned with their mandates, such as allocating public funds for climate adaptation and addressing barriers to implementing past agreements. According to S&P Global Ratings, this could foster public-private investment initiatives, positively affecting sustainable finance markets.

 

Carbon market policies and their implications for global trade were discussed, particularly with concern to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. While there was no global consensus on transitioning from fossil fuels, a "just transition mechanism" was agreed on for COP31. Brazil also launched its Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which aims to secure $25 billion to protect forests and generate profits through sustainable finance.

 

Overall, COP30 underscored the need for enhanced adaptation efforts and innovative financing strategies, despite ongoing challenges in achieving global consensus on climate action.

Artificial Intelligence

Listen: Next in Tech | Ep. 245: The Big Picture Reports

 

This year has been an "un-fun" year for supply chains, with uncertainty the new norm. Tariff policy changes have inadvertently brought affected countries closer together, spurring reshoring efforts, especially within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A key complexity of this shift is that labor forces are competing against manufacturing automation and robotics, rather than simply varying skills and costs across regions. Agentic AI’s acceleration of operational efficiency is intensifying pressure on infrastructure and energy supplies.

 

Urgent demand for AI infrastructure is straining energy resources and the materials needed to construct data centers. As companies prioritize AI deployment, their sustainability strategies are evolving. While renewable energy remains essential, the focus has shifted to a comprehensive strategy to meet AI-driven consumption demands.

 

In this episode of the "Next in Tech" podcast, Lindsey Hall and Chris Rogers joined host Eric Hanselman to discuss the interconnectedness of sustainability, supply chains and AI, and its geopolitical implications. Hall and Rogers are among the authors of S&P Global Market Intelligence's latest Big Picture reports, which cover topics from financial markets and supply chains to technology and AI.

Oil & Gas

Listen: The road map for the energy sector as it embraces AI

 

AI adoption in the energy and shipping sectors is steadily increasing, reducing operational costs, enhancing productivity and lowering emissions. However, challenges such as skill shortages, complex data integration and trust issues remain.

 

One of AI’s many uses is in exploration, where it analyzes complex subsurface data and improves success rates. In midstream logistics, AI helps optimize complex route planning. Additionally, by deploying AI across refinery operations, oil companies can achieve greater yields in high-value fuels while reducing energy consumption.

 

In this episode of the "Oil Markets" podcast, IBM Consulting for Asia-Pacific’s Arun Biswas talked with S&P Global Energy President Dave Ernsberger and editor Sambit Mohanty about how AI will influence the production, trade and distribution of energy in the years ahead.

In case you missed it

  • Deliveries of Russian crude to foreign ports peaked in late November but have declined since US sanctions targeting Russia's two largest oil companies — Lukoil and Rosneft — took effect Nov. 21.
  • Tariffs have posed challenges that slowed cross-border M&A, but deal activity is starting to increase, according to Paul Aversano, practice leader for Alvarez & Marsal's global transaction advisory group. In a recent episode of “The Pipeline” podcast, Aversano highlighted that uncertainty is the main obstacle to these deals.
  • S&P Global Ratings Credit Research & Insights expects the European trailing-12-month speculative-grade corporate default rate to decline to 3.25% by September 2026, driven by easing interest rates, slowing inflation and resilient — if modest — economic growth and corporate earnings.

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