The Political Economy of Climate Change in Arab Countries

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Figure 5. The Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity of theMENA Region since 1961Source: Sakman et al. 2011, Figure A-8, p.42 17The problem some decades ago was seen in a neo-Malthusian framework—too many people puttingpressure on too few resources, especially land and water resources. Many Arab countries adoptedpolicies to remedy the threats, if not overcome them. These policies may not have registered thesuccesses that had initially been hoped for, but they are in place, a great deal of learning has goneon, and there is a corps of experts now in place who understand the challenges well.Therefore in approaching climate change one should build upon what is already there. Thisapproach has the advantage that it requires no major adjustments to the existing alignments ofinterest groups and key constituencies, it has low “shock” value, and it minimizes political risk.One is doing what one has done for a long time, only trying to do it better. It does not require theArab world to solve all its accountability problems, or overcome its ‘democratic deficit’ beforemoving forward. It works within the existing incentive structures of political power-holders. 18Let us review challenges for which policy is already in place, areas where new policies can takeoff from older policies, and areas in which new initiatives are needed.AHDR RESEARCH Paper series27
Figure 6. Policy Building Blocs to AdaptationExisting Challenges Building areas New Challengessea level rise regulating private wells renewable energysoil salinity water/ fuel subsidy reform CSSsubsidence water user assoc. no till agricultureeutrophication pricing reforms urban energy efficiencydeclining precipitation drip irrigation pub transp. fuel cellsdeclining snow pack desalination waste mgment./ methanedrainage water re-usewaste water treatmentaquifer over-drafttransboundary watererosion/desertificationruminant managementcarbon sinksbio fuelstrading CERsprecision agricultureEnvironment taxes and abatement subsidiesThe issues listed in the left hand column are subject to existing policies. Systematic assessmentof these policy areas should be undertaken, preferably region-wide, to determine successes andfailures, and then to introduce necessary corrections.The center column contains issues for which there is some policy in place but in which progresshas been minimal. They have significant implications for adaptation and should be greatlystrengthened.Finally, in the right-hand column we have areas for which new policy is needed. This columnrequires some commentary.The major oil exporters are all looking to a post-fossil fuel future, and in the meantime they seerenewables (wind and solar) as tools to increase their export of fossil fuels. Saudia Arabia is interestedin carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) partially because it can help in oil recovery fromexisting wells. Algeria has one project for carbon capture and sequestration (Carbon Sequestration,2009) and Abu Dhabi plans to capture carbon from a steel plant and inject it in an on-shore oil field(Yee, 2012). Egypt has moved into wind farming with a 550 MW farm at Zaafran (Viney 2012)while Desertec, backed by Deutsche Bank and Munich Re, envisages a series of North Africansolar projects to supply up to 15% of Europe’s energy needs. Turmoil in Tunisia and Libya and theeconomic downturn in Europe have disrupted this project (Neuhof, 2011). Syria, prior to the uprisings,committed over $1 billion for developing renewable energy sources. More such initiatives areneeded, and, as we shall see below, may well be affordable and make business sense.A few Arab countries have introduced pollution abatement subsidies (Algeria, Jordan, Morocco)and Algeria, to date is the only Arab country to tax leaded fuels, hospital waste, and storage ofindustrial waste (Maradan and Zein, 2011).28 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE ARAB REGION
Page 1: Arab Human Development ReportResear
Page 4 and 5: table of ContentsExecutive Summary.
Page 7 and 8: What is recommended, therefore, is
Page 9 and 10: II.The Political Universe of the Ar
Page 11 and 12: without lessening Libya’s depende
Page 13 and 14: 2. The Policy Process in the Arab W
Page 15 and 16: III. Learning from Past Reform Effo
Page 17 and 18: 2. Lessons LearnedUnderstanding the
Page 19 and 20: Moroccan economy equivalent to 2% o
Page 21 and 22: Israel and China). In these instanc
Page 23 and 24: IV. The Climate Change Policy Envir
Page 25: Below I present a matrix for assess
Page 29 and 30: Vietnam). This labor is also availa
Page 31 and 32: There may be no region of the world
Page 33 and 34: Report Papers, 2010). There will be
Page 35 and 36: Morocco and the west Delta of Egypt
Page 37 and 38: The deep ambivalence manifested by
Page 39 and 40: Some policy challenges will require
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Page 43 and 44: 11In the MENA region only Iran, in
Page 45 and 46: Beinen, Joel (2012) “The Rise of
Page 47 and 48: Ghoneim, Eman (2009) “A Remote Se
Page 49 and 50: Luciani, Giacomo and Ghassan Salam
Page 51 and 52: Sowers, Jeannie (1999) “Just Gree

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