2 L.-C. SIM AND R. MILLS
four times the number in 2005 had adopted at least one type of renewable energy target, including those in the Middle East and North Africa
or MENA (see Table 1.1). Electricity generation from renewables has
grown substantially; it supplied 27.3% of global power production in
2019 up from 18% in 2000. 2 Its share is expected to rise to 38% by 2030
according to the International Renewable Energy Agency and to over
50% by 2035 as projected by McKinsey. 3 Anthropogenic climate change,
negative externalities of fossil fuel energy, falling prices of equipment
for renewable energy production, international funding for renewable
projects, and electrification of transport, industry, work processes, buildings, and households underpin the global momentum in favor of low
carbon energy.
The second trend is stagnant oil demand growth. This is driven in the
short term by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic fallout; and in the longer term by increasing energy efficiency, uptake of
electric and hybrid passenger vehicles, the rise of a ‘sharing’ economy,
falling prices of renewable energy, the limits of China’s export-led growth
model, and the possible introduction of a carbon tax regime. Oil will
continue to play a major role in the global energy mix but most likely at
sustained prices far lower than $100 in a ‘new normal’ scenario of lowerfor-longer prices. 4 This is because reduced oil demand will be coupled
by abundant oil supply from relative newcomers like Brazil and Guyana
as well as from stalwarts like Norway and Canada, while established oil
producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE seek to monetize
hydrocarbon resources lest they become ‘stranded’ assets.
As a major stakeholder in the current energy system, the MENA
region will be greatly impacted by the transition to a low carbon world.
While energy is the sine qua non of any state’s economy, ‘this is more
pronounced in the MENA region than perhaps anywhere else in the
world, as energy is central to political power, economic development, and
foreign relations.’ 5 Challenges abound but so do opportunities. Changes
include geopolitical re-alignments 6 but also shifts in state-society relations
and the distribution of influence among groups in society. This introduction will outline the main issues addressed by chapters in this volume and
in so doing highlight their contributions to the extant literature.
four times the number in 2005 had adopted at least one type of renewable energy target, including those in the Middle East and North Africa
or MENA (see Table 1.1). Electricity generation from renewables has
grown substantially; it supplied 27.3% of global power production in
2019 up from 18% in 2000. 2 Its share is expected to rise to 38% by 2030
according to the International Renewable Energy Agency and to over
50% by 2035 as projected by McKinsey. 3 Anthropogenic climate change,
negative externalities of fossil fuel energy, falling prices of equipment
for renewable energy production, international funding for renewable
projects, and electrification of transport, industry, work processes, buildings, and households underpin the global momentum in favor of low
carbon energy.
The second trend is stagnant oil demand growth. This is driven in the
short term by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic fallout; and in the longer term by increasing energy efficiency, uptake of
electric and hybrid passenger vehicles, the rise of a ‘sharing’ economy,
falling prices of renewable energy, the limits of China’s export-led growth
model, and the possible introduction of a carbon tax regime. Oil will
continue to play a major role in the global energy mix but most likely at
sustained prices far lower than $100 in a ‘new normal’ scenario of lowerfor-longer prices. 4 This is because reduced oil demand will be coupled
by abundant oil supply from relative newcomers like Brazil and Guyana
as well as from stalwarts like Norway and Canada, while established oil
producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE seek to monetize
hydrocarbon resources lest they become ‘stranded’ assets.
As a major stakeholder in the current energy system, the MENA
region will be greatly impacted by the transition to a low carbon world.
While energy is the sine qua non of any state’s economy, ‘this is more
pronounced in the MENA region than perhaps anywhere else in the
world, as energy is central to political power, economic development, and
foreign relations.’ 5 Challenges abound but so do opportunities. Changes
include geopolitical re-alignments 6 but also shifts in state-society relations
and the distribution of influence among groups in society. This introduction will outline the main issues addressed by chapters in this volume and
in so doing highlight their contributions to the extant literature.