As part of their efforts to curb carbon emissions and adapt to an evolving energy landscape, many oil and gas-exporting countries in MENA are adopting multiple strategies to confront the challenges of the energy transition including economic diversification and investment in renewables.

Understanding the environmental and economic complexities of this transition—and its regional implications—is crucial for shaping informed public policies by bridging the gap between research and policymakers.

With that objective, LAU hosted a talk by Dr. Bassam Fattouh, director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and Professor at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, titled The Energy Transition and MENA Oil and Gas Exporters: Policies and Challenges, on February 27 at the Beirut campus.

The event was a collaborative effort involving both internal and external entities, including LAU’s Center for Policy Action (CePA), represented by the assistant to the president for public policy, Dr. Leila Dagher, LAU’s Office for Sustainability, represented by its chief sustainability officer, Dr. Nadim Farajalla, and the School of Business and Management at Saint Joseph University (USJ), represented by its dean and former LAU trustee, Dr. Fouad Zmokhol (BS ‘96, MBA ’99).

Such discussions are significant, said LAU President Chaouki T. Abdallah in his opening address, given that “this transition aligns with LAU’s commitment to fostering thought leadership in regional and global policy issues, which is the focus of CePA.”

The talk highlighted the pivotal role Gulf countries continue to play in the energy market despite efforts toward economic diversification. It also explored the challenges of this transition, including the region’s vulnerability to climate change, the heavy reliance on oil and gas revenues and the monetization challenge.

Dr. Fattouh outlined the key strategies MENA oil exporters are adopting to address these issues. Among these strategies, he stressed, were “removing barriers to private sector participation, investing in new technologies within the energy sector, and enhancing the resilience of the oil and gas industry in a carbon-constrained world.”

Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS), added Dr. Fattouh, was one of the technologies that can help MENA oil and gas exporters achieve their climate targets and increase the resiliency of the oil and gas sector. CCUS would allow for diversifying into energy-intensive industries and strengthening industrial competitiveness while creating new sectors and products through CO₂ utilization. He further underscored its role in enabling blue hydrogen and ammonia production. But scaling up such technologies comes at a cost, hence the importance of creating viable business models and adequate regulatory frameworks.

Among the attendees was former Lebanese Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin, who raised the issue of financing renewables projects, particularly for developing countries like Lebanon. In response, Dr. Fattouh noted that compared to GCC countries, which have succeeded largely due to low financing costs and stable policies and the existence of credible off-takers, Lebanon does not yet fully satisfy these conditions for rapid scaling up of renewables.

Former Lebanese Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad expressed concern over recent shifts in US foreign policy on climate change, to which Dr. Fattouh acknowledged the obstacle but remained optimistic, stating that though changes in the policy are certainly a setback for the energy transition, he believed that the momentum gained in previous years will continue especially by the corporate sector.

Highlighting CePA’s mission, Dr. Dagher said that “by fostering collaborations like these between academia, policymakers, and various stakeholders, we translate evidence into actionable policies.”

Dr. Fattouh concluded the talk by emphasizing that the oil and gas industry will remain integral to the MENA oil and gas exporters, hence the importance of increasing the resiliency of this strategic sector by competing on emissions reduction.

He also emphasized that the energy transition will not follow a uniform path. Instead, it will be shaped by each country’s starting position, including its institutional framework, political landscape, and economic structure.