Qatar is more ready than ever to embrace energy transition, according to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s ‘Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020’ report, which was published yesterday. According to the report, Qatar, the second highestranking country in the Middle East and North Africa region after Morocco, has made significant progress in the energy transition advancing a full 11 points in ranking.
The Qatari positive performance over the past 12 months allowed the country to land itself podium position, landing first globally in the Economic Development & Growth indicator. The country also witnessed a fivepoint increase in the Infrastructure & Innovative Business Environment indicator, landing 19th globally. Additionally, the Energy Access & Security indicator saw a leap of 18 points, while the Human Capital & Consumer Participation indicator saw the country landing sixth globally. Qatar leads the global ranking table on the “Economic Development & Growth” component of energy transition, which is an evidence of the strong role played by the energy sector in Qatar’s economy.
Affordability and security are the key strengths of the Qatari energy sector. The country has been achieving gradual reductions in the energy intensity of the economy and carbon emissions per capita, though the carbon intensity of the energy mix remains high. Moreover, the enabling environment for energy transition remains strong, with stable institutional and policy environment. Additionally, recent commodity price volatilities have exposed vulnerability of fuel exporting countries, calls for economic diversification to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for long term economic growth, therefore, investing in energy efficiency, and new energy infrastructure such as negative emission technologies and clean hydrogen can help in targeting improvements in sustainability of energy system in Qatar.
Morocco ranked first among the Arab countries, followed by Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. Globally, the coronavirus pandemic risks cancelling out recent progress in transitioning to clean energy, with unprecedented falls in demand, price volatility and pressure to quickly mitigate socioeconomic costs placing the near-term trajectory of the transition in doubt.
The report added that energy access and security policies, roadmaps and governance frameworks for energy transition at national, regional, and global levels need to be more robust and resilient against external shocks. COVID-19 has forced companies across industries to adapt to operational disruption, changes in demand and new ways of working, and governments have introduced economic recovery packages to help mitigate these effects If implemented with longterm strategies in mind, they could also accelerate the transition to clean energy, by helping countries scale their efforts towards sustainable and inclusive energy systems.
Roberto Bocca, Head of Energy and Materials at the World Economic Forum, said: “The coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to consider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets and global collaboration to support a recovery that accelerates the energy transition once the acute crisis subsides.
This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way.” The report draws on insights from Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2020, which benchmarks 115 economies on the current performance of their energy systems across economic development and growth, environmental sustainability, and energy security and access indicators; and their readiness for transition to secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive energy systems.
