World Government Summit launches ‘Climate Neutrality’ report
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Real challenges related to the limited technological solutions and the possibility of their levels of economic and social growth being affected if national priorities and strategies are not aligned. With five urgent measures to support the efforts of the region’s governments to reduce current emissions by 80%.
The report, prepared by the summit in partnership with the consultancy “Oliver Wyman”, entitled “Sustainable Policies for Climate Action in the Middle East”, indicated that the region’s governments realize the importance of reducing emissions, which prompted the UAE to pledge to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, while Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have pledged to reach climate neutrality by 2060.
Mohamed Youssef Al-Sharhan, Deputy Director of the World Government Summit Foundation, stressed that the report reflects the role played by the summit in studying best practices, supporting the creation of innovative solutions and employing modern technologies to meet the challenges of the environment and climate change and reduce carbon emissions, thus contributing to achieving sustainable economic growth for the good of societies and supporting efforts International and government plans to achieve carbon neutrality targets.
He said: The report translates the efforts of the summit in preparing the best studies and research that support effective solutions to the challenges of the sectors most related to human life, and its role in strengthening government work, exploring new opportunities, and developing effective initiatives to keep pace with future requirements and enhance the global development process.
For his part, Matthew de Klerk, partner at Oliver Wyman and one of the authors of the report, said: “Governments in the Middle East have realized the importance of reducing emissions, and green technologies will provide a new platform for economic growth, which can achieve a sustainable economy and help achieve the zero emissions goals that countries in the region are seeking to achieve. ».
“The next decade presents the region with a unique opportunity to shape a bold vision despite the many challenges in reducing emissions in sectors that are structurally difficult to decarbonise, given their heavy reliance on energy-intensive industrial and refining activities,” added de Klerk.
instant action
The report called on the countries of the world to take immediate action to confront the challenges and consequences of climate change, and the resulting environmental disasters that threaten the human future, and pointed out that avoiding the devastating effects of climate change requires limiting global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius. He explained that the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2021 Glasgow Climate Charter indicated that achieving this goal means reducing global emissions by 56 percent by the end of the current decade, which requires bridging the gap between projected emissions and the target levels needed to achieve a sustainable future.
development engine
The report emphasized that the trend of the countries in the region to achieve “climate neutrality” reflects the major shift in their climate policies, especially as they greatly affect economic and social development, while achieving climate neutrality goals represents a special challenge for these countries. Because they largely depend on oil production to finance their spending and economies, especially as Middle Eastern economies are still in a transitional stage in developing industrial and manufacturing capabilities, which presents significant structural challenges to shifting to lower emissions and environmentally friendly technologies.
He pointed out that the declared zero-neutral goals constitute ambitious visions, but the countries of the Middle East face significant challenges in reducing emissions in sectors that are structurally difficult to decarbonize, due to their heavy reliance on energy-intensive industrial and refining activities.
He said: These sectors were at the core of the region’s activities and enabled national plans to diversify industries and economies over the past decades, as governments worked to encourage industrial development, through subsidies and other incentives in terms of energy pricing, logistics and taxes, which led to increased energy consumption and enabled the region. By creating diverse competitive advantages in terms of industrial development.
He said that policy makers are now expected to explore possible options to achieve the goals of “climate neutrality”, which requires restructuring the industry to deal with emissions, noting that the region faces a major challenge, which is how to ensure the continuity of diversifying its economies, building on its competitive advantage, and achieving world expectations regarding Reducing emissions, stressing the importance of enhancing knowledge and access to technology that supports the transition towards low levels of emissions, which requires expanding areas of investment in these technologies over the next decade.
The summit constitutes the gathering platform for more than 30 global organizations, as it hosts in its extraordinary edition this year more than 4,000 participants from senior government officials, experts and leaders of the private sector, to explore the future of governments in more than 110 key dialogue and interactive sessions.
Since its launch in 2013, the World Government Summit has focused on shaping and foreseeing future governments and building a better future for humanity, and has contributed to the establishment of a new system of international partnerships based on inspiring and foreseeing future governments.
5 vital actions
The report indicated that based on current trends, the Middle East is expected to produce more than 3,878 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030, and that to achieve the 2030 target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the region needs to reduce its emissions by 38% , or 1.483 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, stressing that certain activities produce 80% of emissions, such as energy production, which is responsible for 36% of emissions, among which industry and buildings contribute 21%, public consumer uses account for 17%, and transport 10% .
The report recommended focusing on five high-impact measures targeting the four sectors with the highest emissions rates to achieve the best results in terms of emissions reduction, the first of which is: the application of carbon capture storage (CCS) and carbon capture and use (CCU) technologies in the energy and industry sectors, where the impact is expected to be It is to reduce emissions by 22%, and the second is to reduce emissions in heating and cooling buildings, the effect of which is expected to reduce emissions by 20%. The third measure is to increase power generation with low emissions, and its effect is expected to reach a reduction in emissions by 18 %, while the fourth measure is to target emissions in logistics and transportation, which contributes to reducing emissions by 10%, and the fifth measure is to increase energy efficiency in industrial processes, where the impact of this is expected to reduce emissions by 7%.
The report concluded that closing the gap between projected emissions based on current trends and those targeted for 2050 represents a real challenge, and indicated that Middle Eastern governments with ambitious goals to achieve climate neutrality can, through these five measures, close 80% of the emissions gap to reach net zero. by 2050.
The report concluded by noting that the countries of the region will need a careful planning process to achieve this goal, as they transition to a climate-neutral future, to ensure that this transformation does not harm their economic growth, but rather is a catalyst for diversifying the region’s economies and places it in a privileged position, bypassing many of the older industrial economies.
Source: SkTodaysNews