Middle Eastern Countries Are Speeding Up The Process of Energy Transformation And Vigorously Developing Clean Energy

In recent years, the temperature in the Middle East has risen by 0.46 ° C per decade, much higher than the world average of 0.18 ° C. Climate change is not only causing severe water shortages and land salinization problems in the Middle East, but also triggering a series of extreme weather. Extreme temperatures, water shortages, spreading desertification, and rising sea levels make the Middle East one of the most affected regions in the world by climate change. The Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Academic Press jointly released the Middle East Yellow Book: Middle East Development Report No.25 (2022-2023), pointing out that in the face of increasingly serious environmental problems, Middle East countries have become important participants and active contributors to the international governance of climate change.

First, Middle Eastern countries have actively hosted international conferences on climate change, demonstrating their strong commitment to global governance. In November 2022, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) was successfully held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, thereby establishing Egypt as a pioneer and leader in green development in the Middle East. During COP27, Egypt and Saudi Arabia co-hosted the second "Green Middle East" Initiative Summit, calling for regional cooperation among Middle Eastern countries to reduce carbon emissions in the region, carry out afforestation and restore cultivated land. Egypt also signed a new energy cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and the two countries will cooperate in Egypt to build the world's largest continental wind power plant with an installed capacity of 10 GW.

In addition, the first MENA Climate Week will be held in Dubai in March 2022, and the 2023 Middle East Climate Week will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October. In November 2023, the UAE hosted the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The convening of two successive climate change conferences and the Middle East Climate Week International Conference in Middle Eastern countries not only shows that Middle Eastern countries have become important participants in global governance on climate change and leaders in addressing climate change, but also marks the "Middle East moment" that the international community attaches great importance to the issue of climate change in the Middle East and international cooperation on climate change.

Second, Middle Eastern countries should strengthen top-level design and formulate strategies and plans to deal with climate change. With the Green Agenda 2015-2030, the UAE is the first Gulf country to publish a national climate strategy and align its climate strategy with its economic development plans. Kuwait released its National Adaptation Plan 2019-2030 in 2019, and Morocco developed its National Climate Plan 2030 in 2019. In March 2021, Saudi Arabia unveiled the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, which aim to plant 10 billion trees in Saudi Arabia in the coming decades, increase tree cover by 12 times compared to current levels, reduce carbon emissions by 130 million tons using renewable energy by 2030, and plant 40 billion trees in the Middle East.

In 2021, Qatar's Council of Ministers approved the National Climate Change Action Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. In 2021, Egypt announced that it would implement the Egyptian National Climate Change Strategy 2050. In addition, some Middle Eastern countries have developed their own "carbon reduction" road maps. At the end of 2021, for example, the UAE announced that it would become "carbon neutral" by 2050, becoming the first Middle Eastern oil producer to propose a carbon neutral strategy. Since then, Israel and Morocco have also proposed to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050, Turkey has announced to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2053, and Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries have announced to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060.

Third, Middle Eastern countries should speed up the process of energy transformation and vigorously develop clean energy. The UAE has emerged as a regional frontrunner in solar PV development and is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of more than 31% in the country's renewable energy capacity by 2025, with the share of renewable power generation increasing from 7% in 2020 to 21% in 2030. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are gradually promoting carbon capture, utilization and storage technology to reduce carbon emissions. Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and other countries have increased solar energy and other clean energy production projects, Morocco's flagship renewable energy project - Nuao solar power park has been completed and fully put into operation. The Egyptian government has vigorously developed solar and wind energy, and plans to increase renewable energy production to 42 percent of total energy production by 2035. In order to attract and increase investment in renewable energy, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Jordan and other countries have gradually eliminated subsidies for gasoline and fuel oil.

Fourth, we need to increase green investment and climate finance and diversify climate finance instruments. The amount of climate finance currently available to the Middle East is still small, about $16 billion per year, which is far from enough for Middle Eastern countries to tackle climate change. In 2021, the International Renewable Energy Agency and the UAE launched the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing Facility (ETAF), which aims to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in developing countries and provide the necessary financial support to address global climate issues. Under the agreement, ETAF plans to raise an initial $1 billion, of which the UAE has committed to inject $400 million into the platform through the ABU Dhabi Foundation for Development. In 2020, Egypt launched the Middle East's first green sovereign bond worth $750 million with a yield of 5.25%. In 2022, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) released its Green Finance framework, which aims to raise funds to support the green transition from 2021 to 2025 and has already issued two green bonds. In January 2023, Saudi Arabia said it would invest up to 1 trillion riyals ($266.4 billion) to produce "clean energy."