The EU should use its forthcoming CCUS strategy, due to be published at the end of 2023, to focus on the commercial viability of the captured or recycled CO2 by promoting research and development. For example, the EU should encourage the GCC countries to become much more involved in projects such as the Innovation Fund and invest meaningfully in th

to develop green hydrogen, within its borders and abroad. In 2021 the UAE inaugurated the largest hydrogen plant in the Middle East and North Africa, a joint initiativebetween Siemens Energy and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and started building the region’s first dedicated export terminal in Fujairah. ADNOC targets 1 megatonne of green

As part of their CO2 strategy, the Gulf monarchies have also bet on nature-based solutions, such as: restoring wetlands, conserving mangrove forests, protecting salt marshes, restoring forest habitats, and planting trees. In March 2021, as part of its Green Initiatives, Riyadh announced that it aimed to plant 50 billion trees across the Middle East

Indeed, there is a global shortage of dedicated climate finance frameworks, including in the GCC monarchies. Some promising initial projects include the 2021 Sustainable Finance Framework in the UAE, which has pushed dozens of financial institutions to lend and invest in environmentally sound activities; a 2019 scheme from Oman’s Bank Muscat to e

The EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network, which brought together stakeholders and experts from the two regions to foster clean energy partnerships, reached the end of its mandate in June 2022; its replacement – the EU-GCC Cooperation on the Green Transition and De-Carbonisation – has not yet come to fruition, leaving a most untimely vacuum. N