Low-Carbon Energy Transitions in Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council Region

Abstract

Global climate change will have environmental, eco­nomic, and potentially even political and security impacts on Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Combined with rising population levels, climate change will ag­gravate existing challenges regarding water scarcity and food security and raise new challenges through adverse impacts on human health, economic develop­ment and the environment. In addition, the economic importance of oil and gas makes Qatar and other GCC countries economically vulnerable to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

While addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions presents challenges for Qatar and the GCC, it is also an opportunity which could underpin a diver­sification of Qatar’s economy and lead to the devel­opment of low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), energy efficiency tech­nologies and alternative energy technologies.

This report reviews a wide variety of consid­erations for low-carbon transformation and energy reform in Qatar and the GCC region. The report con­tains four chapters focusing on climate change, CCS, energy ef­ficiency, and solar and other alternative energies. Each chapter contains specific recommendations for actions that Qatar and the GCC could take to address concerns about greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time support the development of a range of new energy sources and technologies that would provide environmental and economic benefits for the region and the world.

Keywords: climate change, Qatar, GCC, low-carbon, CCS, energy efficiency, solar energy