Europeans should view the summits taking place in Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the coming months – the second Middle East Green Initiative Summit, the UN’s Climate Week, and COP28 – as catalysts to upgrade their energy relations with the GCC monarchies into a more strategic engagement on green transition and decarbonisation. The focus of thi

As a way to compensate for its delayed set-up, the EU’s engagement under this framework should focus on rapid delivery. It could start by arranging dialogue on electrification between transmission system operators and distributors, as well as regulators. The EU could also use the initiative as a vehicle to offer specialised technical and policy a

clearly laying out an intention to import 10m tonnes of hydrogen by 2030 from a number of sources, including the Gulf monarchies. The GCC states also cooperate closely with European energy giants, medium-sized companies, and even start-ups in the hydrogen production process Among the GCC capitals, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh are particularly acti

cost-competitive and compatible with the GCC environment, where peridotite is abundant. The EU recognises mineralisation as a permanent sequestration method, which can be excluded from the obligation to report emissions under the ETS Going one step further, EU member states are undertaking several projects to permanently lock CO2 into building mate

Energy efficiency and electrification, alongside the development of renewable energy sources and emissions reduction, have been at the core of several EU-GCC projects. These include: the 2010 joint action programme for the implementation of the GCC-EU Cooperation Agreement; a policy document covering 2010-2012 followed by scientific diplomacy proje