Economic Potential of DACCS and Global CCS Progress
POLICY
Most countries in the MENA region have introduced climate policies, but not CCS-
specific policies. Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, Lebanon, Israel, the
UAE, and Yemen pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050, Turkey by 2053, and Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain by 2060. Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Tunisia, and Qatar
submitted more ambitious nationally determined contributions and increased their gas
emissions reduction goals (1).
The trend of CCS growth in the region is driven by the commitments and vision of national
governments, which makes it less dependent on policy incentives than other parts of
the world. The governments in the region are focusing on the environmental impact and
strategic growth of decarbonisation technologies. In addition, the deployment of CCS
in the region could be driven by EOR value, low-carbon hydrogen production and the
potential of the region as a hub for CCUS and carbon trading.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt have announced the establishment of voluntary carbon
market initiatives and fully regulated carbon trading exchange and trading schemes
(15-17). The establishment of such platforms is expected to drive the carbon market in
the region, which benefits all decarbonisation technologies, including CCS.
OUTLOOK
The UN climate change partners organised the first MENA region climate week in 2022,
with the aim of enhancing regional collaboration (18). In addition, the region will also
welcome COP27 and COP28, in Egypt and the UAE respectively in 2022 and 2023.
This will bring outstanding opportunities to push forward negotiations on vulnerability
points for the two countries. From a regional perspective, in October 2021 Saudi Arabia
launched the first Middle East Green Initiative, which gathered leaders from the region
and foreign partners to exchange opinions on regional climate action.
With the current international geopolitical situation, the growth in LNG exports from the
different countries in the region presents an opportunity for low carbon fuels and CCS.
Being one of the major LNG exporters in the region, Qatar has announced the extension
of the North Field capacity to produce 126 Mtpa by 2027 (10). This extension will also
be integrated with CCS to reduce emissions (19).
The Global CCS Institute has been actively monitoring CCS development in the MENA
region. To build on this momentum and future activities, the Institute has established its
presence in the region with a regional office in Abu Dhabi. In addition, the Institute is
working on increasing its MENA-based members.
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GLOBAL CCS
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