Gulf nations lost in responding to climate change

MANAMA, Bahrain: Gulf countries don’t know how to properly respond to challenges posed by climate change, according to a visiting expert.

The lack of technical know-how in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was highlighted by United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNCCS) mitigation and transparency support manager William Kojo Agyemang-Bonsu.

He is in Bahrain for a workshop that aims to help countries in the region adopt the correct policies.

“Technical ability to assess the impact of climate mitigation efforts of other countries on their own economies is the major challenge to the GCC [states],” said Agyemang-Bonsu.

“The impact of the legitimate efforts of one country to combat climate change can affect another country – and developing countries like the GCC face this situation.

“When countries are moving away from fossil fuel, oil and gas – which are predominantly from this part of the world – the economies of these nations can be affected.

“The GCC cannot address the situation from solely an energy-based aspect, they need to look at it holistically.

“Here comes the need for technical know-how, which is currently lacking and is a major challenge.”

He made the comments on the sidelines of a workshop held at the Wyndham Grand Bahrain.

It is organized by UNCCS and the International Labour Organisation under the patronage of Bahrain’s Supreme Council for Environment chief executive Mohammed bin Daina.

“Our goal is to help countries understand what opportunities are out there for them to make use of, in terms of building their own national level capacities to how to address the issue of response measures,” explained Agyemang-Bonsu.

“Response measures are always - tries take to address emission reduction in their countries.

“These actions could have more negative, but also positive impacts, which could be not only at national level but also cross border.

“An action taken by one country somewhere could impact another country elsewhere.

“How does the latter receive the impact and address it is the question, because it is not its own policy and action.

“Our aim is to expose the developing countries, especially the GCC, to the tools available.

“This will help them assess impacts and quantify over time what the impact could mean.

“This is not only on economy, but also the impact on social systems – including jobs and the environment in general.

“The workshop aims to understand these measures, what actions are taken by countries and its impact.”

Delegates from approximately 30 countries are taking part in the workshop, which also covers issues related to the workforce.