CLIMATE CHANGE
Challenges from Not Zero to Net-Zero The Middle East is shifting gears and transforming from an obstructionist negotiation bloc to a group of countries with ambitious climate goals
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he Middle East region’s presence on the global sustainability agenda continues to grow driven by the acceleration of climate action-related initiatives and increased international cooperation to mitigate the impact of climate change. The initiatives are part of Middle Eastern oil and gas exporters’ broader strategies to diversify and open their economies with a strong focus on sustainability. The energy-exporting countries are shifting gears and transforming themselves from an obstructionist negotiation bloc to a group of countries with ambitious climate goals. Globally,
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governments and corporates are pledging to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5°C but what would it take to achieve this ambitious target? The hosting of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) by the UAE later this year after COP27 in the Egyptian town of Sharm El-Sheikh last November is expected to translate into fiscal policies to fight against climate change. While addressing world leaders at the COP27, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” Guterres said
Banking and Finance news in the MEA market
that the planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. Governments in the Middle East must balance the potentially profound impacts of climate change with the strategic role the region will play in energy transition, pioneering hydrogen and circular economies and developing sustainable destinations, said PwC. Sustainable financing together with technological innovation and digitalisation in the financial services sector is instrumental to sustainable innovation and growth as well as the transition to a less carbon-intensive economy. The World Bank said that sustainable finance has two major objectives; to manage sustainability-related risks for the financial industry and enable the shift of investments from unsustainable to sustainable economic activities. The financial system must be reoriented to meet the huge financing demands