UAE CLIMATE TECH: Leveraging technology and partnerships to accelerate the journey to net-zero

In 2022, global investments in clean technology surpassed $1 trillion. Reflecting on the historic milestone during a speech in May this year, COP28 President Designate, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, said: “By leveraging climate technologies, we can build a new economic development model based on putting an end to emissions, while breathing new life into economic growth.”

Building on this positive momentum, companies around the world are presented with an unprecedented opportunity. Technology can accelerate their net-zero goals, yet crucial questions remain over how to best identify, develop, and deploy the innovations that will effectively eliminate emissions.

The UAE CLIMATE TECH Roundtable, Leveraging technology and partnerships to accelerate the journey to net-zero, explored these core questions. The roundtable served as a platform for sharing knowledge, identifying best practices, and finding fresh solutions to help us decarbonise, faster, together.

Ministerial Roundtable: Accelerating the pace of policy innovation to a secure, affordable, lower carbon energy future

The shocks to energy markets in 2022 and the geopolitical events in 2023 have ensured energy security, affordability and the need to transition to a low carbon energy system continue to dominate the global agenda. Governments have responded with transformative initiatives such as the US Inflation Reduction Act, the EU Green Deal, UAE’s National Hydrogen Strategy, China’s latest five-year plan and India’s drive to incentivise investment across its energy system and a new energy manufacturing industrial base.

As the world takes stock of the energy transition, on the eve of COP28, questions remain regarding the pace of progress and how the transition can move forward whilst simultaneously meeting the disparate energy needs of nations around the world.

How NOCs can contribute to a lower carbon global energy system

With around 80% of the world’s proven oil reserves under the management of OPEC members, national oil companies (NOCs) have a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But decarbonising operations will require effort to upgrade traditional business models as well as investment in, and deployment of, climate technologies including carbon capture and storage (CCS), methane emission reduction and hydrogen supply chains. Indeed, many OPEC members have made significant achievements on these fronts while others are building capacity to reduce emissions. The roundtable focused on how stakeholders and partners can devise a sustainable pathway for NOCs to lower carbon footprint?

Delivering rapid scalability to triple renewable capacity by 2030

As a low-cost option for power generation, renewables must be scaled up as fast as possible. Significant progress has already been made, with the share of renewables in the power mix having increased by 10 percentage points since 2010 (Source: Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy). Achieving net zero will require accelerated deployment to increase the share of renewables in power generation to around 60% by 2030 (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2022). In March 2023, the COP Presidency called for the ambitious target of triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. To achieve this vision, supportive policies and regulatory mechanisms will be required to incentivise the investment in and enabling of the rapid scaling of renewable energy projects through enhanced collaboration between governments, industry players, and local communities. Beyond policy, further research into and the development of critical technologies and grid infrastructure is needed to mitigate the limitations of renewable energy sources including longer duration battery storage technologies, greater efficiency from wind and solar components along with swifter and more seamless grid integration. Furthermore, secure access to the minerals required for batteries manufacturing and supply chain integrity remains a barrier to scalability.

Cross-sector partnerships: Accelerated pathways to industrial decarbonisation through strategic collaboration

The industrial sector is responsible for 40% of global energy consumption and more than 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it the second largest emitter of CO2 after power generation. With the potential to accelerate the elimination of CO2 emissions across many of the hard-to-abate industries, success, or otherwise, will depend on an organisation’s ability to collaborate with others on a common vision of a green future and alignment with government policy around these industries to facilitate transition.

Establishing the hydrogen economy and ecosystem required to achieve 180mt by 2030

To achieve the 180mt ambition of low carbon hydrogen set out by COP28, power producers, renewable developers, oil and gas companies, production technology manufacturers, governments and policymakers must be well prepared for the evolving hydrogen economy and ecosystem. This will require all stakeholders to carefully identify and mitigate emerging hurdles such as potential feedstocks, land and infrastructure limitations. This specifically includes:

• The steps needed to mega-scale green production (over 100 GW) including sharing basic infrastructure across projects, local grid and market design, and local buy-in as hydrogen drives local job creation.
• Localistion requirements of hydrogen projects, including specific parts of the hydrogen value chain (e.g., electrolyzer manufacturing) and connected downstream industries (e.g., green steel).
• Trading corridors, industry certifications, and fuel standards to enable long-term market access of low carbon hydrogen and derivatives in key markets.
• Capital provider engagement in further industry development.

The role of energy companies in accelerating a just transition for Africa

Climate change poses a significant threat to the African continent. Although Africa was responsible for only 4% of global CO2 emissions in 2021, it accounts for 35 of the 50 countries worldwide that are at greatest risk from the effects of climate change, according to a BCG report “Building a Climate-Resilient, Low-Carbon, Job-Rich Africa”. Over the next two decades, rapid population growth and industrialization are expected to drive strong energy demand growth across the continent. At the same time the Africa needs to limit emissions and accelerate the transition towards a low carbon future. As African countries embark on a just energy transition, they will need to reconcile a complex array of issues, including decarbonization imperatives, potential trade restrictions, jobs, energy costs, availability of financing, and equal access to green energy. Africa energy companies will play a leading role in the transition – one by driving their own decarbonization to support domestic policies and protect exports but also driving the green economy. It is time to explore the role of energy companies, policy makers, organizations in Africa in driving the energy transition.

Delivering lower carbon capital projects in times of uncertainty

As the global energy industry embraces the energy transition, project financing is a critical factor. A diverse range of projects, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation and enabling infrastructure will require significant investments to achieve climate goals and ensure energy security.

However, there are many challenges to financing global-scale energy projects, including policy and regulatory hurdles, supply chain disruptions, technology limitations and emissions reduction actualisation.

From consensus to concrete action: Next steps to realise near zero methane emissions from oil and gas by 2030

According to the IEA, an estimated 570mt of methane is emitted globally each year. The oil and gas industry accounts for around a quarter of global methane emissions. Reducing emissions of methane is critical for limiting global warming in line with Paris Agreement goals. The reduction of oil and gas industry methane emissions to near zero would eradicate at least 30% of human-caused emissions by 2030 compared with 2020 to meet two thirds of the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) target.

Collaborative action is urgently required among key stakeholders in the energy industry to address methane emissions comprehensively. Accurate measurement and reporting along with the deployment and refinement of effective methane abatement technologies and regulatory solutions will be essential to faster abatement. The oil and gas industry and oil and gas producing nations are well positioned to drive near zero methane emissions by 2030.

ADIPEC Youth Council: Energising the future: Incorporating the vision of the next generation of energy sector talent in the transition blueprint

As we navigate the energy transition, governments and business are seeking to engage with and inspire young people, not just as climate champions but also as active architects of the future energy system.

The ADIPEC Youth Council convened the brightest minds in energy from around the world to cultivate and share a vision for a decarbonised energy future with industry leadership and to discuss how to involve the next generation of energy sector talent in today’s energy transition dialogues and decisions.