Bahrain and its neighbours in the Arabian Gulf are looking to the US for leadership in the fight against climate change, according to Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain’s Special Envoy for Climate Affairs.
The Gulf is now looking across the Atlantic for help in achieving the goals outlined in the Paris Climate Accords, while at the same time working with the local private sector to accomplish the necessary projects, bin Daina said.
Since 2006, Bahrain has implemented a number of economic and environmental policies in an effort to address climate change, with the diversification of the country’s economy away from oil and gas forming a key pillar of its Economic Vision 2030.
As part of the Paris Climate Accords, the Gulf kingdom has also committed to a number of renewable energy, biodiversity and energy efficiency projects.
In a recent conference organised by the Washington DC-based Arab Gulf States Institute of Washington, bin Daina said that Bahrain is “counting on the US to take the lead in the world and help the Paris Agreement see the light.”
In the US, President Joe Biden took action on his first day in office on January 20 to return the United States to the Paris Agreement after former President Donald Trump announced the country would pull out of the climate pact in 2017.
“We’re working closely with the US government. We’re in the process of having a workshop with the US government and the region [that will] address the technical issues we do have and how to resolve then,” he said.
At the moment, however, bin Daina said that the UK is leading, particularly in galvanizing international leaders to participate in COP26, the United Nations Climate Change conference scheduled to be held from November 1 to 12 in Glasgow.
“They’re doing a great job getting everybody on board,” bin Daina added. “You need everybody in the world on board to agree on these goals.”
Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain’s Special Envoy for Climate Affairs
On April 22 and 23, 40 world leaders – including those of Saudi Arabia and the UAE – were invited to a ‘Leaders Summit on Climate’, a key milestone on the road to COP26. Among the key themes of the summit will be efforts to reduce emissions during this decade to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In his remarks, bin Daina warned that the potential economic and social impact of climate change that exceeds the 1.5 degree mark would over time vastly exceed that of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
“We can’t afford, as a world, to go beyond his temperature. Catastrophe will happen,” he said. “We are now suffering from Covid. We will suffer more and more by having a higher temperature.”
Other goals of the upcoming summit and COP26 include the mobilization of both public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and help countries cope with climate impacts.
In the case of Bahrain, bin Daina said that “the private sector is the machine that’s going to do all the projects related to climate change.”
Bahrain’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan – which was first endorsed by the kingdom’s cabinet in January 2017 – sets a renewable energy target of 5 percent by 2025 and 10 percent by 2035, with a proposed ix of solar, wind and waste-to-energy technologies.
In October, Bahrain announced a commitment to cooperate with the US – and Israel – to coordinate efforts on boosting renewable energy, with the help of financial institutions and the private sector to enhance international investment in research and the development of new technologies.
“If we set up a national adaptation and investment plan, the private sector is going to do it,” he added.
“But we have to find the financial mechanism to make it economically feasible for them to do these projects….this goal will not be achieved if it’s not from the private sector.”
Additionally, bin Daina said that the human impact on the environment was starkly highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which also caused many countries to face financial issues that have refocused efforts away from battling climate change.
The human impact on the environment was starkly highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, bin Daina said
“From an environmental perspective, air quality was improved during the pandemic because everyone was at home,” he said.
“That tells us that humans are the main sources of pollution. That’s why we need to work hard to mitigate that pollution and [find] a more environmentally friendly way to deal with those issues.”
In a statement sent to Arabian Business, the White House said that by the time of the summit the US will announce a new and “ambitious” emissions target as its new “nationally determined contribution” under the Paris Agreement.
“In his invitation, the President urged leaders to use the summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition,” the statement added.
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