From Cop 26 to Cop 28- It’s time for Action!

What we have witnessed over the past year should be an eye opener to all those who still believe we have the luxury of time in the face of climate change. In 2021 we have seen some of this decade’s worst climate disasters sweeping away belongings and lives and causing losses worth billions of dollars.

This year was a stark reminder to the world that climate change is not on its way. It’s already here, picking up speed, and no country is immune to it. The IPCC report warns that unless greenhouse gas emissions are scaled back massively, it will not be possible to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

Global communities must band together to mitigate this threat. During Cop 26 everyone understood that real change starts with us but so far we have seen plans, agreements, and many non-binding pledges. We spent enough time on planning and now we must implement and act stringent.

Far short of what is needed

It is obvious that our efforts to mitigate climate change have fallen short. However, there are clear steps that can be taken to show progress. We must focus on what we can do now and address any bottlenecks that stand in the way of our decarbonization targets. The call for decisive actions to avoid climate catastrophe is louder than ever before.

We have already taken good steps in the right direction by launching green hydrogen pilot projects here in the Middle East, such as the region’s first solar-driven hydrogen electrolysis facility with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), demonstrating the potential of hydrogen commercialization as a carbon-free solution. In Chile, our Haru Oni project is the world's first integrated plant to produce climate-neutral fuels.

We need to see more projects like these around the world. That will take time and since time is our scarcest resource then we need to adopt transitionary solutions that will support us in cutting emissions. Natural gas is one way to do that as generating electricity from natural gas cuts the CO2 emissions by two-thirds compared to coal.

Going green with hydrogen

The Middle East has a leading role to play in ensuring the security of affordable gas supplies to the world while also reducing its carbon cost by improving efficiency and cutting emissions. The technologies used for that industry could then be leveraged for the green hydrogen industry when it is ready.

Renewable energy is key when it comes to setting up a green hydrogen industry. We have the right plans in place and have made good progress over the past year. But to see an increase in large scale renewable projects, we must address serious bottlenecks in the supply chain. ?We must put an end to the geographical dominancy of solar PV products that is currently driving market volatility, resulting in uncertainty regarding project development and on-time execution. Some multi-gigawatt projects in the region have slowed down or frozen altogether due to this bottleneck.

Bring out the tax

One way to address this issue is to have more solar technology and manufacturing hubs around the world to ensure the competitive pricing and availability of solar PV products. That will require investors and regional entrepreneurs to develop a competitive landscape for regional manufacturing.

On another front, companies and countries need to take swift action to ensure that the world commits to carbon cutting targets. One measure to ensure that happens is through introducing a carbon tax. If implemented properly, such a tax will spur investment and innovation in clean technologies, as well as play an important role in making investments viable for the future.

Most importantly, we need to find new alliances within companies and stakeholder communities that will band together to save our planet. Large CO2 polluters need to put their differences and their competitive ambitions aside and work together, share best practices on how to decarbonize their industry as quickly as possible. Only when we stop thinking in competitive silos and start to think together as a community will we be able to move forward.

In two years, the United Arab Emirates will be hosting Cop 28 and I am hopeful that by then we will have seen better progress than we have seen in the last few years. It is possible to surpass our targets. We just need to start taking the steps to implement our plans.

This OpEd was previously published in Gulf News on 23 Dec 2021