Here at the COP28 conference in Dubai,
the United Arab Emirates,
almost 200 countries gathered to try to tackle the climate crisis.
What can countries and corporations in the Gulf
do to accelerate their path to net-zero emissions?
And what are the costs,
but also the opportunities, of the green transition?
Governments that are embarking on a net-zero planning process
should mainly have three things in place.
First of all, a dynamic country-specific net-zero model.
We will look at the different decarbonisation levers and solutions
and their costs,
and then find the best possible mix
and the best possible roadmap.
Secondly, identifying green growth opportunities.
What can a specific country in the GCC
do better or do at lower cost than other countries?
And then thirdly, having a clear stakeholder
engagement and policy set up to bring net-zero to life.
It is important that the government sets the direction.
For them, companies and other entities to follow it.
But you also don't want the government to be too prescriptive
because you do want that bottom up input
and the expertise from the different sectors.
So, Nadia, I know you do
a lot of work with non-state
actors on climate action and also nature.
Can you tell us a bit about the importance of non-state actors?
So we could be talking about universities, financial institutions,
of course, private sector, etc.
And they have a really important role
to play in decarbonisation,
but also providing solutions for financing, adaptation, etc.
When we see stronger policies at the national level,
it gives a signal to non-state actors to increase their ambition.
And when they increase ambition,
it gives more ability for the parties
to be able to increase their ambition.
So this is the kind of decarbonisation ambition
loop that we've seen occur in the past,
and we look forward to seeing that happen
as we go forward after COP28.
We have identified three
major types of policies that are required.
And that is first, market based policies.
The most famous example probably is a carbon price.
Second, public investment and subsidies.
A good example of that would be a rail network,
shifting transport from road to rail and thereby decarbonising it.
And third, laws and regulation.
Sometimes the most powerful policy that you can have
is simply telling economic actors what they can and cannot do.
BCG has been supporting the
COP28 presidency for over a year now,
and that has been a BCG team dedicated to this.
I think what's been most exciting for me has really been to shape
the outcomes that the action agenda was going to drive.
We know we need to reduce emissions
globally by 43 per cent by 2030,
looking at a baseline of 2019.
That is a lot to do and economies
and companies in in the Gulf countries have
a lot to do for it.
But what we have seen are some real steps
towards delivering action in the next
not even seven years, but like two to three years.
COP28 has certainly put the GCC in the spotlight of climate action.
The right policies and the right public-private
partnerships could mean a new business as usual,
one that puts the world on a path to a more prosperous, safer
and planet-friendly future.