In an exclusive interview with Gulf Business, Dharmendra Hiranandani, Senior Manager at Bain & Company Middle East shares what steps are being taken by the private sector for enhancing the region’s solar energy and sustainable fuel initiatives.

How do you think COP27 has helped countries, particularly in the Middle East, align with UN Sustainable Development Goals and Net-Zero 2050 targets? 

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is one of the most vulnerable places to the impacts of climate change. The region is warming at twice the global average and is projected to be up to 4°C warmer by 2050. This would also have a compound effect on food and water security of the region. To mitigate this, some of the largest economies in the region have announced net-zero ambitions (UAE and Oman by 2050, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by 2060), and have mobilised significant resources towards the effort. 

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27 and associated events have been instrumental in driving climate awareness and action from governments in the MENA region. For example, during COP27, the UAE unveiled its pathway to net zero, which sets the timeframe, targets and mechanisms for achieving it by 2050. It envisages the scale up of various technology-based solutions (TbS) such as renewables, industrial carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) systems, direct air capture (DAC) alongside nature-based solutions to travel the net zero journey. Similarly, Egypt announced an agreement for clean hydrogen production with Europe and launched the ENACT initiative with Germany to protect land and ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss through nature-based solutions (NbS). 

During the Saudi Green Initiative in Sharm Al Sheikh, Saudi Arabia announced 840MW of solar PV projects would be completed by 2023, with an additional 13 renewables projects with 11 GW capacity under development. It also announced the creation of one of the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) hubs in the world in Jubail, expected to be operationalised by 2027. 

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