MENA’S first Climate Change Readiness Index launched
KEY CRITERIA: Oman’s National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change by 2040 and diversification agenda to spur climate action
Leading professional services firm EY has announced the launch of its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Change Readiness Index (CCRI), a pioneering tool designed to help countries in the region assess and improve their resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The Index measures the readiness of the six members of the GCC as well as Egypt and Jordan across several areas such as the effectiveness of their adaptation and mitigation strategies and their ability to finance and implement these strategies.
It provides scorecards that can assist governments, investors, and citizens in tracking the performance of the included countries compared to global benchmarks on 37 quantitative and qualitative indicators of climate change readiness.
The Index also offers a comprehensive overview of the regional and global context in which these countries operate, including the economic, political, and social factors that can influence their outcomes.
The EY MENA CCRI highlights Oman’s National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change by 2040 and its exclusive support for sustainability focused startups in the Vision 2040 plan.
It is intended to be a catalyst to spur local climate action and facilitate Oman’s shift from a fossil-fuel based economy.
The strategy is focused on short and long-term development and a combination of public-private support for project investments in both scopes.
The vision lays out the main directions for both parts of the climate change response with three areas of focus: regional climate change, vulnerability of key sectors and systems, and increase of GHG emissions.
Yasir Ahmad, EY MENA Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader, says: “Climate change is a global challenge and addressing it requires collective action. To support these efforts, we are delighted to launch the MENA region’s first Climate
Change Readiness Index that will serve as a valuable tool for governments, businesses, and civil society organisations as they work to evaluate and enhance their readiness to tackle environmental challenges and impacts.
The index is designed to be flexible, responsive, and personalised, allowing countries to monitor their progress over time and identify areas for improvement.”
The CCRI is based on two pillars:
Adaptation: Adjustments made in response to existing climate change impacts; for example, building environments that are flood-resistant or can withstand higher temperatures.
Mitigation: Steps taken to curb future emissions; for example, reducing energy consumption and adopting renewables. The CCRI shows that almost all participating countries have substantially reduced their per capita emissions from 2015 levels as they continue to fulfill their ambitions to diversify their economies away from fossil fuels through large capital investment.
The carbon capture and renewables revolution has complemented this trend, with nearly every country in the region introducing a long-term net-zero strategy.
Richard Paton, Ey-parthenon MENA Leader, says: “The MENA region is already a global leader in carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and planning for the future of circular economies.
Together, with the leadership the region is taking in Energy Transition, the use of renewables, and development of hydrogen, MENA is on track to become a forerunner in the development of a low carbon economy.”