meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

The journey towards net zero

26 October 2022

Published in partnership with

The most pressing concern in the race to net zero is the need to reduce carbon emissions. According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for 76 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, of which 65 per cent is a direct result of fossil fuel and industrial processes.

Lowering CO2 output would therefore have the biggest impact on global warming.

The Middle East is central to this process. Although the region accounts for only 7 per cent of total global CO2 output, its emissions are some of the world’s highest on a per capita basis. 

In 2021, for example, per capita emissions in the Middle East were 8 tonnes, compared with 2.3 tonnes in South America, 4.1 tonnes in Asia and 5.6 tonnes in Europe. These figures exclude the environmental impact of oil and gas exports from the region. 

It is also an issue the region can no longer afford to ignore as it is particularly prone to climatic changes including reduced rainfall, heatwaves and increasingly severe weather events, such as the cyclones that have hit Oman in recent years. 

Reality bites

The subject was a key talking point at the Siemens Energy Middle East & Africa Energy Week event in June, where attendees discussed decarbonisation and the government targets – 2050 for the UAE and Oman, and 2060 for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain – set as deadlines to reach net zero. 

A startling finding from the event was the gap between perceptions and reality regarding what has been achieved so far in cutting emissions.

As part of Siemens Energy’s survey for its Middle East & Africa Energy Transition Readiness Index, when asked to quantify CO2 reductions in their country today and what they will be in 2030 compared to 2005, participants estimated that total emissions had fallen by 23 per cent on average over the past 17 years. Only one-third correctly answered that emissions had not fallen at all.

In fact, the opposite has taken place. Between 2005 and 2020, total global CO2 emissions increased by 50 per cent to almost 3.5 billion tonnes, according to the authoritative BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021.

“This year, many reports were issued of which the most important is the IPCC report,” said Mohamed Nasr, director of the Environment & Sustainable Development Department at Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and lead negotiator for Egypt at Cop27, speaking at the Energy Week.

“All [of the reports] stressed that we are not on track to keep climate change below 2 degrees, or even keep the 1.5 degrees target within reach. More work needs to be done.”

Between 2005 and 2020, total global CO2 emissions increased by 50 per cent to almost 3.5 billion tonnes

BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021

Work in progress

A second poll revealed that attendees expected emissions to fall to 39 per cent of their 2005 levels on average, a figure that is highly unlikely to be reached in just eight years. 

This is especially the case given that carbon emissions must be cut across the board. Although the region is making good progress on the development of renewable energy production, there has been much lower momentum in other areas. 

For example, cement production is estimated to account for between 7 per cent and 10 per cent of total carbon emissions, but despite this, there has been little in the way of new regulations on government cement output in the region. 

Overall, in 2021 the industrial sector directly accounted for about a quarter of total global greenhouse emissions equivalent to 9.4 gigatonnes, a rise of 193 megatonnes on the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Iron, steel and cement production comprised more than half this figure.

The industry itself recognises more needs to be done and is implementing a range of policies and agreements to act co-operatively on reducing its climatic impact.

In early September for instance, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) and international companies including Siemens Energy as a co-founder, Tata Steel, Enel Green Power, Technip Energies, Taqa and Eni launched the global Alliance for Industry Decarbonisation. The new alliance is aimed at accelerating net-zero ambitions and the decarbonisation of industrial value chains in accordance with the Paris Agreement. To date, 20 members have joined the alliance to work towards the same vision.

“Climate action needs industry leaders,” said Francesco La Camera, Irena director-general. “This Alliance stands for the growing commitment of global industry to act on decarbonisation and unlock opportunities that come with a green industrialisation through renewables and other transition-related technologies like green hydrogen.

“By standing together we send a clear signal of solidarity ahead of Cop27 and we invite new partners to join our common vision.”

Ultimately, we must remember that every tonne of CO2 we emit into the atmosphere will need to be removed

Dietmar Siersdorfer, Siemens Energy Middle East and the UAE

Renewables focus

Closer co-operation is a step in the right direction, but is just one element in a range of measures that need to be implemented. 

When ranking the energy initiatives to reach net zero as part of the Transition Readiness Index, the Energy Week participants identified three other priorities with the highest beneficial impact: accelerating the development of renewable energy projects; reinventing energy business models; and implementing energy storage solutions. 

The focus on renewables reflects the raft of utility-scale solar, hydro and wind schemes across the Middle East and Africa. In all, there are more than 500 projects planned or under way, with a total capital investment value of more than $510bn. 

But there has been less progress on the other two main priorities. Energy storage solutions have gained little traction to date in the region, although Dubai’s innovative 250MW pumped hydro energy storage project in Hatta could become a template for others to follow when it comes to grid-connected storage capacity. 

Nonetheless, with grids operated by centralised state utilities and renewable projects at a stage where they support conventional energy production rather than replace it, there is still some way to go before storage systems become more widespread.

For now, the principal opportunity for energy storage systems is for captive use at off-grid demand centres – for example, at Saudi Arabia’s gigaprojects along the Red Sea coast, such as the Red Sea Project and Neom. Entirely dependent on renewable energy production, the projects may require stored energy when weather conditions are unfavourable or during periods of peak demand. 

Diversifying the energy business model is unsurprisingly a key priority given the region’s reliance on hydrocarbon exports. Over the past 18 months, the development of a hydrogen industry has emerged as the pre-eminent trend to enhance the Middle East’s position as the leading source of global energy supplies. 

Today, there are some 46 world-scale hydrogen projects across the Middle East and Africa worth well in excess of $50bn. Although only two are under construction, the hydrogen industry is expected to grow massively in the region over the next decade.

This is just as well as time is fast running out if the world is to avoid a climatic emergency. 

As Dietmar Siersdorfer, managing director of Siemens Energy Middle East and the UAE, puts it: “Ultimately, we must remember that every tonne of CO2 we emit into the atmosphere will need to be removed.”

Related reads:

Click here to visit Siemens Energy 
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10118445/main.gif

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

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Diriyah tenders conference and exhibition centre

    4 November 2025

     

    Saudi Arabia’s gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has issued a tender inviting contractors to bid for the construction of a conference and exhibition centre in the second phase of the Diriyah project.

    MEED understands that the main contract tender was issued in October.

    Technical bids are due on 9 November, while commercial bids must be submitted by 17 December.

    The project covers an area of 29,000 square metres in Diriyah’s Northern Community.

    The Diriyah masterplan envisages the city as a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination. Located northwest of Riyadh’s city centre, it will cover 14 square kilometres and combine 300 years of history, culture and heritage with hospitality facilities.

    This year, the company has awarded several main construction contracts worth over SR18bn ($5bn).

    Just days after Webuild announced that it had won the $600m contract for package three of the Diriyah Square project, Beijing-headquartered China Harbour Engineering Company won a SR5.7bn ($1.5bn) contract to build the Arena Block assets in the Boulevard Southwest section of the second phase of the Diriyah Gate development (DG2).

    In April, Diriyah awarded an estimated SR4bn ($1.1bn) contract for a utilities relocation package for the King Saud University project located in DG2. The contract was awarded to a joint venture of Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation and China Railway Construction Group Central Plain Construction Company.

    Earlier in the same month, a SR5.1bn ($1.3bn) construction deal was awarded to a joint venture of local firm El-Seif Engineering & Contracting, Beijing-headquartered China State Construction Engineering Corporation and Qatari firm Midmac Contracting to build the Royal Diriyah Opera House.

    Also in April, a consortium of Saudi Arabia-based contractors Almajal Alarabi and Man Construction won an estimated SR915m ($244m) contract to build King Salman Grand Mosque in Diriyah.

    Once complete, Diriyah will have the capacity to accommodate 100,000 residents and visitors.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15013053/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Bahrain unveils $17bn of new projects at Gateway Gulf

    3 November 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Bahrain announced $17bn of new projects at the Gateway Gulf investment forum on 2 November.

    The investment pipeline matches the $17bn in foreign direct investment (FDI) the kingdom has successfully attracted since the first Gateway Gulf forum in 2018. The 2025 event includes 61 announcements and 33 signing ceremonies.

    In his keynote address, Sheikh Salman Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, the finance and national economy minister, said the GCC is no longer just a capital hub and is emerging as a centre of creativity, sustainability and technological excellence.

    In particular, he emphasised the role of artificial intelligence (AI) as Bahrain positions its economy for the future. “More profoundly, and perhaps even more transformational than the industrial revolution, we have entered the age of intelligence,” he said.

    He highlighted the shift of AI “from the margins to the core, shaping how factories operate, how banks serve their customers, how ports and logistics networks move goods around the world”.

    The new wave of investment projects aligns with this focus. At Gateway Gulf, Beyon Solutions and Bahrain’s Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) signed an agreement to launch Bahrain’s first AI-ready Sovereign HyperCloud, built with Oracle Alloy. Hosted entirely in Bahrain, the platform provides secure, locally governed cloud and AI services for government and enterprises.

    Another announcement at Gateway Gulf on 2 November was the signing of a deal by steel producer Foulath Holding and Yellow Door Energy to develop a 123 MWp solar project under a power purchase agreement. It includes the world’s largest single-site rooftop plant at 50 MWp. The rooftop installation will feature 77,000 panels across a new 262,000-square-metre stockyard shed.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15004385/main.jpg
    Colin Foreman
  • L&T wins Tennet offshore contract after Petrofac termination

    3 November 2025

    India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been selected for the offshore electricity transmission contract that was previously awarded to UK-based Petrofac by Netherlands-based Tennet.

    Tennet’s termination of the contract with Petrofac led to the derailment of Petrofac’s planned restructuring and its subsequent collapse.

    At the time of the contract termination, Tennet said that Petrofac had not met contractual obligations.

    When it entered administration, Petrofac was actively working on projects in the UAE, Algeria, Kuwait and Bahrain.

    Its projects in the UAE were worth a total of $2.87bn and include an engineering, procurement and construction management contract awarded by Adnoc Gas in June.

    Now that L&T has been awarded the high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) offshore wind programme contract with Tennet, it will deliver HVDC converter stations in partnership with Hitachi Energy.

    This project is designed to facilitate the integration of extensive renewable energy sources into the European power grid, especially in the German and Dutch regions of the North Sea.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15002009/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Dubai extends bid deadlines for key drainage projects

    31 October 2025

    Dubai Municipality has extended the bid submission deadlines for two key drainage projects under the $8bn Tasreef programme to develop, rehabilitate and expand Dubai’s stormwater drainage network.

    The first project, listed as TF-05-C1, involves a stormwater drainage system in Jebel Ali and the surrounding areas.

    The new deadline is 10 November, a source close to the project told MEED.

    The project covers approximately 27 kilometres of stormwater network and will serve major transport routes, including Sheikh Zayed Road and Al-Jamayel Road.

    The bid submission date for the tender, was initially 2 October before being extended to 30 October.

    The second project, listed under TF-11-C1,  is for the development of a stormwater pond, evacuation line and pumping station.

    The project includes a comprehensive stormwater drainage system, featuring a tunnel ranging from three to four metres in diameter along Dubai–Al Ain Road and the D54.

    The new deadline is 4 November.

    The bid submission date for the tender, was initially 25 September.

    The schemes are being procured by the municipality’s Sewerage and Recycled Water Projects Department as part of the Tasreef programme.

    In October, Dubai Municipality awarded contracts for two other major projects under the initiative.

    Local firm DeTech Contracting won the main contract for the construction of a stormwater drainage system on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and Al-Yalayis Road in Dubai.

    The municipality alos awarded a contract to Greece/Lebanon-based Archirodon for the construction of the Resilient Future Flow Outfall project. 

    The $25m project involves the construction of a 4-kilometre subsea pipeline with a 2-metre diameter and a discharge capacity of 9 cubic metres a second.

    The Tasreef masterplan that will serve key areas across the emirate, including Nad Al-Hamar, the vicinity of Dubai International airport, Garhoud, Rashidiya, Al-Quoz, Zabeel, Al-Wasl, Jumeirah and Al-Badaa. The initiative aims to expand Dubai’s rainwater drainage capacity by 700% by 2033.

    DeTech Consulting previously won the $136m contract to upgrade the West Deira stormwater system.

    This project was the first of the five planned Tasreef projects to enter construction, earlier this year.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14993856/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Gas demand reshapes priorities

    31 October 2025

    Commentary
    Colin Foreman
    Editor

    Read the November issue of MEED Business Review

    Gas has increasingly been regarded as a crucial transition fuel over the past decade as governments race to cut carbon emissions and meet climate pledges – including the Paris Agreement’s aim to keep warming well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

    Those commitments have driven the demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) globally and this has reshaped investment priorities across the region, with Qatar, Oman and the UAE eyeing future export growth.

    QatarEnergy’s North Field expansion is the largest investment. The estimated $40bn programme will push Qatar’s LNG output towards 142 million tonnes a year by the end of this decade, almost doubling its present position and consolidating its role as a market anchor.

    Abu Dhabi is also committed to expanding its capacity. Its downstream strategies include a major greenfield LNG terminal at Ruwais, due to enter service in 2028 with two 4.8 million t/y trains adding 9.6 million t/y to the UAE’s export capability.

    These programmes are keeping contractors busy. Over the past five years, more than $44bn of LNG-related contracts have been awarded in the region – which is more than eight times the $5.3bn recorded in the previous five year period.

    At the same time, there are ample opportunities for contractors as other countries in the region build import infrastructure. Projects are already under way in Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco – and more are expected.

    With base load concerns remaining for many countries when it comes to completely switching to renewables, gas is expected to be a fuel of choice for the decades to come. The investments made in production capacity mean the region will play a pivotal role in delivering the world’s energy needs.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14992876/main.gif
    Colin Foreman