South Africa and the United Arab Emirates are doing the most to combat climate change in Africa and the Middle East, followed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to a new report that compares government and business sustainability policies, investments and actions.
The Middle East and Africa Environmental Sustainability Scorecard, released Thursday, is the most detailed examination of country performance in environmental sustainability outcomes, government policies, and corporate practices in the two regions.
The report concludes that the 17 countries covered “are relative ‘latecomers’ to global sustainable development but at the same time represent regions that are rapidly stepping up their sustainability strategies, programs and investments.”
Agility, a global supply chain services company based in Kuwait, commissioned the report. It was compiled by Horizon Group, a Geneva-based firm specialising in research and analysis for governments, international organisations, and leading businesses worldwide.
The UAE ranks among the leaders in five of six pillar categories in the report. It is 2nd in Green Investment, Innovation, and tech; 1st in Sustainable Infrastructure and transport; 2nd in Governance and reporting; 1st in Environmental Ecosystems; and 4th in Circularity, the pillar measuring materials footprint and waste management practices.
Like other energy-dependent GCC economies, the UAE trails African countries in the Energy Transition pillar, which looks at fossil fuel production and consumption.
The scorecard uses 48 performance and progress indicators to compare countries. The indicators include data, regulatory frameworks, policy assessments, incentives and corporate practices across six pillar areas: green investment and technology; sustainable infrastructure and transport; Governance and reporting; energy transition; environmental ecosystems; and Circularity. Horizon surveyed 647 business executives in 17 countries to capture corporate practices and progress.
One through 17, the countries rank: South Africa, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Morocco, Qatar, Tanzania, Nigeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Cote d’Ivoire, Oman, and Mozambique.
The report singles out the UAE for a vertical-farming project, the world’s largest, intended to save 250 million litres of water, as well as its investment of $50 billion in clean energy projects in 70 countries. A UAE-US partnership to accelerate the clean energy transition will raise $100 billion to deploy clean energy globally.
The UAE is hosting COP28, the UN-led global climate change conference, in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. The country is “committed to becoming a key player in decarbonisation,” the report says.
The UAE’s goal is to have net-zero emissions by 2050. ADNOC, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy giant, is investing $15 billion in lower-carbon solutions and has developed a roadmap to achieve net zero by 2045. It has a detailed carbon capture strategy and is creating a carbon trading platform. Its goal is to triple the share of renewable energy by 2030 and obtain half of its primary energy from clean sources by 2050.
In addition, “the UAE has applied green and sustainable building standards since 2011, and expects them to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2030,” the report says.
Key Findings
- Business isn’t paying attention to COP. Eighty-two per cent of African businesses and 49% of Middle East businesses are unaware of the UN-led COP process that nations are using to push and measure efforts to tackle climate change. Few companies use COP to set their sustainability targets.
- Climate change is hurting businesses. Ninety-seven percent of companies say climate change has affected their business, and 49% say it has caused “severe damage” or has a “significant and growing” impact on them.
- Governments are leading as businesses play catch up. Regarding climate action, governments are outpacing the private sector in both the Middle East and Africa.
- No one size fits all. Countries have different sustainability priorities based on income, economic strengths, energy dependency, and other factors. High-income, energy-producing Gulf countries generally invest more in sustainable infrastructure and ecosystems. African economies perform best in energy conservation and consumption.
- Green investment is expensive. High- and middle-income countries are investing the most: Qatar, UAE, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
- Africa is focused on green transport. African countries top the scorecard in the move to non-fossil fuels for transport. Hydrocarbon-producing Gulf countries are focused more on green buildings. For Gulf countries, the transition to cleaner energy is complicated by energy-intensive national priorities: the desire to boost manufacturing and desalinated water.
- Waste management, consumption are tied to wealth. High-income countries are doing more to manage waste sustainably. Poorer ones do more to constrain consumption. Overall, Egypt, South Africa, Bahrain and UAE perform best in “circularity” – cutting waste, encouraging recycling and sustainable production, and lowering consumption.
Agility was recently named the No. 3 Middle East “Sustainability Leader” for Transport & Logistics by Forbes Middle East. Vice Chairman Tarek Sultan said the urgency of the climate fight increasingly shapes the company’s strategy and investment decisions.
“As a supply chain operator and investor in the Middle East and Africa, we want to know what governments and businesses are prioritising and where they’re putting resources in the climate change battle,” Sultan said. “We want to know who we can partner with in green infrastructure and transport, alternative fuels, and supply chain services that reduce environmental impact without sacrificing performance.”
Horizon, which compiled the scorecard report for Agility, said it intended to look “beyond the selective characteristics of the Middle East being fossil fuel-dependent with high greenhouse gas emissions per capita, and African countries being low emitters of greenhouse gases but taking relatively little action on the environment.”
The scorecard report comes on the eve of COP28 in Dubai. Its findings largely echo the October World Economic Forum (WEF) report on decarbonisation and energy transition in the Middle East and North Africa.
The WEF report concluded that “MENA countries trail behind comparable regions regarding their sustainability progress. While local governments have pledged in the past 24 months to bring 60% of MENA’s emissions under the net zero ambition, businesses overall have yet to follow suit and bridge the gap with comparable global markets –12% have set up a net zero target, and 6% have established a roadmap to reach net zero.”