What should Tunisia do?
- Increase efforts in economic diversification away from fossil fuel extraction and develop low carbon sectors
- Communicate the BAU scenario of the NDC targets
- Clarify the contribution of exported oil and gas to Kuwait’s local GHG emissions
- Clarify Kuwait’s role as an international actor in the fight for global diversification away from fossil fuel
- Transform Kuwait’s energy mix through more ambitious targets for renewables despite lower incentive to do so because of low oil prices and strengthen implementation
- Optimize cooling and district cooling through a green building code and building retrofits as well as using recycled water for district cooling instead of desalinated water
What you need to know about Tunisia?
- Most emissions from this sector stemmed from electricity and desalinated water production (58%), transport (18%) and the oil and gas industry (11%).
- Like other GCC countries Kuwait struggles in diversifying its economy away from fossil fuel extraction, and as stated in its NDCs its objective is to make greener its extractive activities, not decrease its extraction rates
- Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabah is the director of the Environmental Public Authority (EPA) which is the national focal point for the UNFCCC and part of the Supreme Council for the Environment which is chaired by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait, Kuwait’s EPA does not have political independence or power
- Hamad Al Matar, who has been a member of parliament for over 20 years and is the head of the Environmental Committee at the National Assembly, is well known for bringing discussions of climate change to the fore.
- Out of the 326 candidates who ran in the 2020 elections, only five candidates touched upon environmental concerns (broadly conceived) during their campaign: Alia Al Khaled, Shaikha Al Jassim, Hamad Al Ansari, Anwar Al Fikir, and Tariq Al Dowaisan.
- Several Kuwaiti political figures, such as Abdulaziz Al Saqoubi and Hamad Al Matar, who have previously raised environmental issues and climate change specifically, did not do so during the 2020 election.
- Several NGOs focus on environmental issues in Kuwait, these include: the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, Trashtag Kuwait, Green Line Kuwait, Al Manakh Kuwait, Sustainable Living Kuwait, ENVearth, and Basta Kuwait. Most of these groups do not focus on climate change.
- While the Government of Kuwait has committed the country toward moving to a ‘low carbon equivalent emissions economy’, there is an absence of discussion as to what this pledge means or how it should be implemented.
- Experts expressed their frustration at the lack of understanding among government officials about climate change and the levels of seriousness with which they approached the issue
Recent developments, threats and levers for action
Recent developments
- Kuwait launched its environmental strategy within the 2035 New Kuwait vision
- Kuwait’s PM Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah affirmed Kuwait’s keenness to adopt a national low carbon strategy with targets for 2050. He said the national strategy is based on a circular carbon economy to promote the reduction, disposal, reuse and recycling of greenhouse gases.
Strengths
- Analysis of mitigation and adaptation measures reported in NDCs across the Arab world shows that Kuwait reports the highest percentage of projects (56%) in the region that are either completed or being implemented (Salpie Djoundourian 2021)*
Weaknesses
- CO2 emissions have increased 140% from 1994 to 2016, and according to a recent UN technical assessment, this trend will continue
- Kuwait’s economy is a carbon economy: oil accounts for 90% of the country’s revenue and more than half of GDP;
- It holds one of the largest reserves of oil and gas in the world and has some of the lowest production costs.
- Climate change is not covered in detail by Kuwaiti media or in school curriculums, government officials lack substantive knowledge on the topic, and the general awareness amongst the public remains weak
Threats
- Kuwait is facing a significant rise in energy demand in the residential sector due to the high consumption of water and use of air conditioning
- All fresh water is from high energy consuming desalination plants and the country has among the highest per capita water consumption rates in the world
- Air conditioning accounts for 65 percent of the electric peak demand in a building and residential buildings consume about 60% of national power
About Climate Diplomacy Snapshots
The data is clear. Accelerated and enhanced action is needed now to build resilience and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As they seek to address the ongoing health, economic and social impacts of COVID-19, governments should seize opportunities to invest in a recovery that will build social, economic and climate resilience on the long-term. The Climate Diplomacy Snapshots aim to provide the climate community with a clear overview of what each country should do, on climate and recovery, to pursue these joint objectives and keep the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C. Each has been prepared with the help of national experts, and will be regularly updated. The snapshots aim to support climate advocacy in the lead up to COP27.
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