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Singapore and Gulf countries can be partners in fight against climate change

Singapore and Gulf countries can be partners in fight against climate change

SINGAPORE – Rising sea levels, higher temperatures and threats to water and food security are some of the climate change challenges faced by Singapore and Qatar as well as other countries in the Middle East.

They can thus work together particularly in the areas of climate mitigation, clean energy and green growth, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Tuesday (May 25).

She was delivering the opening remarks for an online panel discussion jointly organised by the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and the Doha Forum, a global dialogue platform.

Ms Fu pointed to three opportunities for partnership between Singapore and the Gulf countries towards a more sustainable future.

First, they should exchange expertise and best practices. “For instance, Singapore and Qatar have invested in solar energy as part of our energy mix. Singapore is building one of the world’s biggest floating solar farms and Qatar is working on the Al Kharsaah project, which will be one of the world’s largest solar plants,” she said. “At the same time, Qatar’s electric bus project could offer useful lessons as Singapore moves towards greener public transport networks.”

Second, they could work together in transitioning to a low-carbon future. Ms Fu observed that Gulf nations had been actively investing in what she dubbed as “needle-moving” clean energy solutions such as hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) technologies.

 

 

Qatar commissioned a carbon storage plant in 2019 – the largest of its kind in the region – which aims to capture over five million tonnes of CO2 per year from the emirate’s liquefied natural gas industry by 2025.

“In Singapore, clean energy research is a core part of our investment of US$18 billion (S$23.8 billion)  in the next five years to strengthen the research and innovation capabilities of our companies,” said Ms Fu.

A third and prime area for cooperation lies in green growth and resilience, she said while praising Gulf countries for making “great strides” in renewable energy, circular economy, green cities and other aspects.

“On our end, we aim to develop Singapore as a carbon trading and services hub, and a leading centre for green finance to facilitate Asia’s transition,” said Ms Fu. “As a founding member of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund initiative, which builds climate change into financial decision-making, the Qatar Investment Authority would boost green finance as it explores opportunities in Asia.”

She also noted that Singapore and Qatar share similar concerns around food security.

 

“We would be keen to learn more about Qatar’s strategies and share best practices. Singapore’s economic ties and relationship with the Middle East, and particularly the Gulf region, are on the upswing. Green growth and resilience have the potential to be new pillars of cooperation to deepen our ties further.” she Ms Fu.

 

Earlier, Ms Fu pointed out that Singapore has been an active member of international efforts to tackle climate change – by taking part in key negotiations, co-facilitating ministerial discussions, showing strong support for the Paris Agreement, and collaborating with global partners like the United Nations.

The Paris Agreement, reached in 2015, is a historic legally binding treaty which saw nearly 200 countries pledge to fight global warming and greenhouse-gas emissions.

The Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment’s permanent secretary, Mr Albert Chua, said Singapore would be involved in “some of the more delicate diplomatic manoeuvres” at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.

Asked by panel moderator and former diplomat Bilahari Kausikan what he expected from COP26, Mr Chua said there were outstanding issues to be resolved, including on Article 6 under the Paris pact – which revolves around how countries can reduce emissions using global carbon markets.

“In the case of countries like Singapore, where we have no natural resources, the ability to secure carbon credits from elsewhere becomes very important,” he explained.

 

Indonesia’s former special envoy on climate change, Mr Rachmat Witoelar, said he hoped the landmark COP26 summit would lead to funds distributed to states making an effort to tackle climate change.

Fellow panellist and Nikkei senior staff writer Kiyoshi Ando said he expected more ambitious targets from the world’s biggest source of carbon dioxide – China.

“What I fear is that all the countries are raising targets… and in the next couple of years, most will find that these are unrealistic,” he added. “I hope the Paris Agreement is not going to break up.”

 


 

By Justin Ong Political Correspondent

Source The Straits Times

Is A Renewable Energy Boom Coming To The Middle East?

Is A Renewable Energy Boom Coming To The Middle East?

The coronavirus pandemic has raised awareness among GCC countries of the importance of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards. If current trends continue, then ESG could become a valuable element of the region’s recovery from Covid-19.

ESG standards are used by investors to evaluate potential investments, as well as enabling business leaders to formulate responsible and sustainable corporate strategies.

Environmental criteria take into account a company’s environmental footprint, as well as the actions it takes to offset it. Social criteria evaluate how it manages relationships with its various internal and external stakeholders. Lastly, governance criteria evaluate the inner mechanisms of a company’s management and operations.

Demand for investments that are ethical and sustainable has been increasing in recent years. Globally, more and more investors are turning to businesses that embrace ESG, and this tendency has been boosted by Covid-19.

As phrased in a report published by S&P Global in April last year, “strong ESG performers with stakeholder-focused and adaptive-governance structures are likely to remain resilient amid these rapidly changing dynamics”.

ESG standards have become a central focus of the world’s major financial bodies. In January this year, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, it was announced that a coalition of multinationals and business leaders had signed up to the “Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics”, a set of ESG standards released by the WEF and the International Business Council in September 2020.

“Stakeholder capitalism [has become] mainstream,” Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, told international media at the time. “The public commitments from companies to report not only on financial matters but also their ESG impacts are an important step towards a global economy that works for progress, people and the planet.”

Meanwhile, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation is moving forward with its plan to develop a single set of internationally recognised sustainability standards. In early February the foundation announced the goal of producing a definitive proposal by September this year.

In the GCC region, ESG has likewise become a hot topic in recent months.

For example, at the end of last year the CFA Institute – a global investment association – announced the results of a study which found that 94% of retail investors in the UAE were interested in or applied ESG principles in 2020, up from 90% in 2018.

Meanwhile, 74% of investors in the UAE with values-based objectives said they would be willing to give up some profit in exchange for meeting their values objective.

 

Green shoots in the GCC

Significant steps have been taken by major regional players towards a more ESG-oriented future.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) set up its Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Framework in February last year.

 

Related Video: Fukushima’s Radioactive Wastewater Disaster Then, in September last year, QNB launched its $600m green bond, for which it received subscriptions of more than $1.8bn. These proceeds will be used to “finance and/or refinance assets in verified Eligible Green Projects”, the bank said.

This was only the second such issuance from a commercial bank in the GCC, following the green bond of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, as it was then known, in 2017.

In a further sign of the growing interest in such instruments in the region, in April last year the Dubai Financial Market launched the UAE ESG index, while in August Tadawul – Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange – announced that it planned to launch its own ESG index in 2021.

This was followed in September by Saudi Electricity’s $1.3bn green sukuk (Islamic bond) issuance, which was five times oversubscribed, a result that was driven by growing regional demand for ESG-compliant investments.

Saudi Arabia recently reinforced its commitment to ESG and sustainability during the Saudi Future Investment Initiative in January, at which Tadawul and the Future Investment Initiative Institute signed a memorandum of understanding to advance ESG awareness in the Kingdom.

At the same conference Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, the minister of energy, told media that Saudi Arabia was set to become “another Germany when it comes to renewables”.

 

Related: How Oil Could Go To $100 Per Barrel

Despite these promising indications, however, the Saudi ESG index has yet to be launched.

Elsewhere in the region, in early February the Abu Dhabi Investment Office launched an ESG policy, which it will deploy in relation to different operations, among them public-private partnerships.

 

ESG key to GCC recovery?

The growing focus on ESG standards dovetails with development priorities shared by countries in the GCC region.

On the one hand, it ties in to different diversification strategies. Last year’s slump in oil prices served to underline the importance of a more broad-based economy. Investments guided by ESG – for example, in renewable energy – offer a way to augment diversification.

On a related note, the Gulf is on the front line of climate change, and ESG can boost resilience as well as reducing emissions.

Lastly, globally speaking, ESG-guided companies have proven remarkably resilient in the face of Covid-19. An increased focus on ESG may thus constitute a way to drive a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.

 


 

By Oxford Business Group

Source Oil Price