Futaim Bani Malek
The United Arab Emirates announced a net-zero strategic initiative by 2050 with plans to invest $163 billion in renewable energy. Not only does this make it the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region to launch a concrete initiative to address climate change, it has also encouraged neighboring countries to follow suit.
The MENA region is cited as one of the most vulnerable to climate change, so such initiatives are essential to ensure the habitability of the region in the next 100 years.
The initiative that was announced at Expo 2020 aims to ensure a dynamic economic growth while maintaining a positive environmental impact.
To commemorate the initiative, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed stated, “We are committed to seize the opportunity to cement our leadership on climate change within our region and take this key economic opportunity to drive development, growth and new jobs as we pivot our economy and nation to net zero.” He emphasises that the UAE “vision for a clean future is clear.”
Climate change has demonstrated that credible action can be very difficult to implement and monitor. Therefore, such bold initiatives are important as they give third parties a benchmark to monitor sustainable behavior and ensure credible action when it comes to climate change.
This announcement came a few weeks before the United Nations Climate Change Conference also known as COP26. Additionally, the UAE has also expressed interest in hosting the global climate summit COP28 earlier this year which underscores the nation’s longstanding commitment towards a sustainable future.
According to the Climate Council, net-zero emissions refers to “achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere.” In other words, the net-zero emission initiative taken by many countries aims to limit the amount of greenhouse emissions per nation depending on how much of those emissions will be captured through natural and technological ways.
Although the UAE has invested $40 billion in the past 15 years in clean energy locally and $16.8 billion in renewable energy ventures across 70 countries, it only plans to reduce fossil fuels consumption within its borders while increasing oil-production capacity for export. Even with the increase of oil-production in the UAE, its initiative remains compatible with the net-zero goal defined by the United Nations that only accounts for emissions generated within a nation’s borders.
Before October of this year, the U.S was the only big oil producer with a 2050 net-zero goal. Russia, on the other hand, has resisted pressure from international institutions to set a realistic target. Similarly, Norway, a country that is already climate-forward, is yet to set a clear strategy on reaching net-zero emissions. If anything, this symbolizes the UAE’s strong commitment towards a green economic development.
Fortunately, two weeks after the UAE announced its commitment towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, Saudi Arabia followed.
Saudi Arabia is considered the world’s biggest oil exporter and the 10th largest carbon-dioxide emitter globally. Such an announcement is considered historical given Saudi’s extensive dependency on fossil fuels. However, like the UAE, Saudi Arabia does not plan on cutting oil production for export.
Multiple Gulf States have begun implementing plans to diversify its oil driven economies which also gained a renewed urgency after the economic slowdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company, announced that it would reduce emissions from its operations to net zero by 2050 following the government announcement.
Alongside Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain has also announced its plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2060. As with the UAE, Bahrain has already adopted clean and green sustainable growth as part of their 2030 vision.
Cooperation and green diplomacy is needed now more than ever in oil dependent Gulf States to forefront on climate change challenges, and radical measures are necessary. If anything, this joint announcement on the implementation of the net-zero emissions initiative by gulf countries showcase their capability of inducing impactful change by setting shared benchmarks.
