meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Working towards a common energy-transition goal

28 November 2022

Published in partnership with

In the end, it went right to the wire. Just as it looked like the UN’s 27th Conference of the Parties (Cop27) would conclude without an accord, the weary delegates announced that they had reached a landmark agreement on setting up a fund to help compensate poorer nations for the economic and social destruction caused by climate change. 

The statement, two days after the Sharm el-Sheikh summit’s original 18 November end date, was a culmination of some 30 years of negotiations between developed economies and developing nations. The latter had long argued that the damage they have experienced from global warming should be paid for by richer countries responsible for the crisis in the first place.

Although far from perfect, the global ‘loss and damage’ fund was hailed as an important and symbolic step towards hitting the agreed target of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2030. It also marked the continuing engagement and collaboration by governments across the globe.

“We rose to the occasion,” said Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and president of Cop27 Sameh Shoukry. 

“We worked around the clock, day and night, but united in working for one gain, one higher purpose, one common goal. In the end, we delivered. We listened to the calls of anguish and despair.”

Private sector involvement

While Cop27 has been and will continue to be a policy-setting mechanism negotiated at the highest level, companies played a critical role during the conference. 

Firms representing a broad range of sectors, including Vodafone, Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group and Bloomberg, partnered with the event, and many more participated in the main conference and exhibition areas. 

Ultimately, governments understand that the private sector will lead the drive towards net zero. Without corporates worldwide investing in clean energy projects and technology, there is little hope that targets will be reached.

Five consistency points

A key supporter of Cop27 was Siemens Energy. Sharing its expertise through panels covering subjects as varied as the Mediterranean’s North-South Energy Partnership, improving power access in Africa by unlocking its green hydrogen potential, and overcoming the challenges of decarbonisation, the energy technology company played a pivotal role in discussions and thought leadership.

It also participated in the world leader’s summit at a roundtable discussing green hydrogen, reinforcing its positioning of energy transition at the heart of its strategy. 

Before the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, Siemens Energy president and CEO Christian Bruch outlined five points of consistency that his company considers to be unifying elements in the decarbonisation drive.

The first is the acceleration of renewables. Replacing conventional power generation systems with solar, wind, hydro and other forms of renewable energy is essential to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Despite a considerable increase in the overall share of renewables in the past three years on the back of ever-lowering costs and more efficient technology, more must still be done.

For example, the US needs to triple its share of renewable energy as a proportion of the energy mix by 2050 for the energy transition to succeed. The Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, will have to increase this figure fourfold. 

Regional targets

In the Middle East, every country has now set ambitious targets to increase renewable energy. The likes of Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the UAE are aiming for renewables to account for up to 50 per cent of total production by 2030. To reach these objectives, almost all new power generation projects come in the form of renewables.

However, the impact of greener electricity production could be somewhat offset by continuing demand growth caused by an increasing global population and economic growth. 

In this context, the second point is the requirement for improved energy conservation measures, such as policies to incentivise the electrification of industry and transport. 

Regionally, the industrial electrification of energy-intensive industries is an optimal opportunity to reduce harmful emissions by harnessing electric boilers and/or electricity-based fuels. Future large-scale blue and green hydrogen production will also have a role to play in industrial processes.

Siemens Energy’s third point of consistency is improving electrical efficiency. The increase in renewable energy capacity and the growth in power capacity, in general, require significant investment in transmission and distribution networks. 

This is particularly important in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, where almost 25 per cent of the population has little to no access to electricity. 

The fourth point covers the requirement to use existing conventional power infrastructure to help bridge the gap between the fossil-fuelled economies of today and the net zero of tomorrow. 

Progress cannot be made in one step alone and requires a gradual transition. In the meantime, existing thermal plants can employ measures such as combined-cycle technology and carbon capture to make them as efficient and environmentally friendly as possible.

The energy transition is the biggest investment programme since the dawn of industrialisation. If governments, business and society work together, energy transition is a massive opportunity

Christian Bruch, Siemens Energy president and CEO

Mineral production

Finally, to achieve all of this, it is necessary to improve supply chains and increase the production of necessary minerals and rare earth metals required in net-zero technologies, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and chromium. 

Bruch gives the example of a typical electric car, which requires six times more mineral inputs than one powered by an internal combustion engine. He also cites onshore wind plants, which need nine times more than a gas-fired power plant. 

If mineral production is not increased and geographically diversified, there is a risk of future supply bottlenecks.

In the Middle East, a good illustration of this is the potential future supply gap for electrolyser systems, and the anodes and cathodes typically made from metals such as zinc, nickel and lithium. 

MEED estimates that about 75GW of electrolyser production capacity will be required by 2030 to meet the demand for the raft of planned green hydrogen plants in the region alone, compared with a total global output capacity of just 8GW today.

Industrial decarbonisation alliance

All five consistency points make salient arguments. However, they can only be achieved with close cooperation between the private and public sectors. While the former can spearhead and implement the decarbonisation drive, the latter can provide the regulations and incentives to encourage these initiatives. 

The newly formed Alliance for Industry Decarbonization initiated by Siemens Energy and coordinated and facilitated by the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an example of greater collaboration between the public and private sectors. 

The 28-member alliance – which encompasses a range of global energy, renewable, consulting and manufacturing companies – met for the first time during Cop27 to outline its joint vision and implementation plan. Its strategy focuses on six pillars and enablers that tie into the points of consistency: renewables, green hydrogen, bioenergy with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), heat process optimisation, human capital and finance.

Only through this kind of stakeholder dialogue can the immense and existential challenges posed by global warming be overcome. Governments or companies acting in isolation will only achieve so much on their own. The points of consistency must be considered as a whole and in unison if the world’s climate objectives are to succeed.

As Bruch says: “The energy transition is the biggest investment programme since the dawn of industrialisation. If governments, business and society work together, energy transition is a massive opportunity. There is no excuse for waiting any longer.”

Related reads:

Click here to visit Siemens Energy 
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10387284/main.gif
MEED Editorial

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Projects market goes back to basics

    3 February 2026

    Commentary
    Colin Foreman
    Editor

    Read the February issue of MEED Business Review

    The Middle East projects market is recalibrating. After years of ambitious project launches that aimed to transform economies, 2025 marked a turning point as the regional projects market declined.

    According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the total value of contract awards in the GCC fell by almost a third in 2025 compared to 2024, as spending in Saudi Arabia halved due to challenges with the gigaprojects

    The slowdown in contract awards has forced a return to basics. With budgets under pressure, project spending is now being allocated more selectively. Projects with clear returns on investment, either financial or social, are the ones now moving into construction and towards completion.

    Upstream oil and gas sits within the back-to-basics narrative. Despite decarbonisation targets and the energy transition, oil remains structurally necessary to the global economy, and Mena producers, with low extraction costs, are uniquely positioned to supply it. 

    The second pillar is gas – both a transition fuel and an enabler of diversification. Reflecting that shift, upstream gas and LNG projects have accounted for close to 60% of total upstream spending in the region since 2020, in a pattern that looks set to continue.

    Both trends explain why upstream project spending has continued to rise this decade — reaching about $51.6bn in 2025, even as Brent has softened from its 2022 highs.

    For contractors and suppliers, the opportunity is huge. MEED Projects is tracking roughly $120bn of upstream schemes that have moved beyond the study phase and are expected to be awarded this year. 

    In a market focused on return on investment, upstream continues to stand out as a prospect for 2026 and beyond.

    READ THE FEBRUARY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Spending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15558470/main.gif
    Colin Foreman
  • Qatar heads for a growth surge in 2026

    3 February 2026

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15555212/main.gif
    MEED Editorial
  • Qatar’s strategy falls into place

    3 February 2026

    Commentary
    John Bambridge
    Analysis editor

    Qatar enters 2026 with a rare sense of momentum and confidence, underpinned by the most optimistic growth outlook anywhere in the GCC. With the IMF forecasting real GDP growth of 6.1%, Doha is not just set to improve markedly on its 2.9% expansion in 2025, but to break clear of its regional peers. 

    Nor is this dynamic a surprise, so much as one rooted in unusually well-aligned fundamentals. Global gas markets have turned decisively in Doha’s favour, with demand growth resuming in 2024 and strengthening through 2025. Natural gas prices have held up far better than crude and are being buoyed by surging energy demand. Yet all of this only complements the long-term planning of QatarEnergy, which locked in the next phase of the country’s hydrocarbons strategy back in 2021. Doha’s spending of a further $20bn on energy infrastructure in 2025 merely underscored its existing strategy.

    Developments are also looking bullish in Doha’s non-hydrocarbon economy. Total project awards across all sectors in the past five years have swollen the value of work under execution in Qatar by $39bn. Recent awards in the utilities sector include the 2,000MW Dukhan solar scheme, which will double national solar capacity and boost the clean energy mix. In the construction sector, a pipeline of large infrastructure schemes, including Doha’s expansive plans for its highway and rail networks, promises to restore a more predictable rhythm to the market. Altogether, non-hydrocarbon growth accelerated to a 4.4% year-on-year expansion in the third quarter of last year.

    Geopolitically, Qatar has meanwhile emerged from a turbulent period with its strategic position reinforced rather than diminished. Two brushes with wider regional conflict in the past year might have unsettled a less diplomatically agile state. Instead, Doha has leveraged its indispensability – as an energy supplier, mediator and host to key US assets – to secure stronger security guarantees from Washington. Qatar has also emerged as a winner in Syria, where its long-term support for the anti-Assad opposition has translated into substantial current opportunities. Doha-based construction group UCC Holding is now the anchor for two foreign investment deals: one worth $7bn in the energy sector and another worth $4bn in the aviation sector.

    None of this is accidental. As with its investments in the gas sector, Doha’s successes today are the result of long-term strategy. And what lies ahead is precisely what the government has been telegraphing for years – LNG expansion, ambitious public spending and a focus on converting today’s gas windfalls into economic resilience. If 2026 does indeed deliver Qatar a standout performance, it will not be because of commodity prices, but because the different pieces of Doha’s plans are all finally falling into place.

     

    MEED’s February 2026 report on Qatar includes:

    > GVT & ECONOMY: Qatar enters 2026 with heady expectations
    > BANKING: Qatar banks search for growth
    > OIL & GAS: QatarEnergy achieves strategic oil and gas goals in 2025
    > POWER & WATER: Dukhan solar award drives Qatar's utility sector
    > CONSTRUCTION: Infrastructure investments underpin Qatar construction

    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15512753/main.gif
    John Bambridge
  • Aramco completes $4bn sukuk issuance in London

    3 February 2026

    Saudi Aramco has completed the issuance of a $4bn international sukuk (Islamic bond), spread across four tranches on the London Stock Exchange.

    The transaction, under Aramco’s global medium-term note programme, was priced on 26 January and consists of:

    • $500m senior notes maturing in 2029, with a coupon rate of 4%
    • $1.5bn senior notes maturing in 2031, with a coupon rate of 4.375%
    • $1.25bn senior notes maturing in 2036, with a coupon rate of 5%
    • $750m senior notes maturing in 2056, with a coupon rate of 6%.

    In a statement from Aramco, Ziad Al-Murshed, Aramco’s executive vice-president of finance and chief financial officer, said: “This issuance is part of Aramco’s focused strategy to further optimise its capital structure and enhance shareholder value creation. The attractive pricing achieved on the transaction reflects global investors’ continued confidence in Aramco’s financial strength and resilient balance sheet. We remain firmly committed to maintaining disciplined capital management and delivering long-term value to our shareholders.”

    Prior to its first sukuk issuance in 2026, Aramco made two US dollar-denominated issuances last year. The Saudi energy giant issued its first sukuk of the year in May, totalling $5bn in three separate tranches of five-, 10- and 30-year maturities.

    In September, Aramco completed the issuance of a $3bn international sukuk, spread across two tranches on the London Stock Exchange.

    Aramco raised a total of $9bn from two separate bond issuances in 2024. The world’s biggest oil exporter completed a $6bn bond issuance in July that was listed on the London Stock Exchange and comprised three $2bn tranches of US dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes.

    Aramco then completed a $3bn issuance of international sukuk in October of that year, comprising two US dollar-denominated tranches, also listed on the London Stock Exchange.

    The first tranche, worth $1.5bn, matures in 2029 and carries a profit rate of 4.25% a year. The second $1.5bn tranche matures in 2034 and carries a profit rate of 4.75% a year.

    The two sukuk issuances in 2024 marked Aramco’s return to the debt market after a three-year gap. The last time the state enterprise tapped the global debt markets was in 2021, when it also raised $6bn from a three-tranche sukuk.

    READ THE FEBRUARY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Spending on oil and gas production surges; Doha’s efforts support extraordinary growth in 2026; Water sector regains momentum in 2025.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the February 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15555166/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Aldar acquires land for upcoming developments in Abu Dhabi

    3 February 2026

    Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Aldar Properties has announced the acquisition of several land plots for upcoming developments in Abu Dhabi.

    Aldar said that the plots total over 2.3 million square metres (sq m) across Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

    The developer expects to deliver more than 3,000 new residential units on these sites.

    On Saadiyat Island, Aldar will build villas and mansions; on Yas Island, it will develop masterplanned communities.

    The projects are expected to be formally launched later this year.

    This development follows Aldar’s announcement in October last year of a series of major projects across the residential, commercial and logistics sectors in Abu Dhabi, with a combined gross development value of AED3.8bn ($1bn).

    Aldar has committed to a new residential community in the Alreeman area of Al-Shamkha, to offer over 2,000 rental units.

    On Yas Island, it will deliver 665 residential units to the rental market, including a gated community totalling 217 units.

    Additionally, Aldar will develop 448 new apartments on Yas Island as an extension of Yas Residential Village.

    On the commercial front, the company will focus on developing office spaces in key business districts across the UAE to meet demand for Grade-A office space.

    Aldar will also deliver the UAE’s first Tesla Experience Centre on Yas Island. The facility, spanning more than 5,000 sq m, will include a showroom, service centre, and delivery and operations hall. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15555056/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal