On the sidelines of COP27, the United Nations announced a catastrophic acceleration in global warming and signalled that our window to act is closing, unleashing climate chaos and panic across the planet. While no region will evade the consequences of a warming planet, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA) is among the most vulnerable to its effects.
Warming at twice the global average, it is projected to be up to 4°C warmer by 2050. Compounded by food security, droughts and pollution, this threat is a major risk to human inhabitability in many cities by the end of the century.
To mitigate this, we know that many countries across the region have begun integrating climate commitments into their strategic planning, with the UAE and Oman setting goals to achieve net zero by 2050, and the Saudi Green Initiative aiming for net zero by 2060.
If there’s a message I’ve taken away from COP27, and something I’ll carry into the new year, it’s that we cannot continue to work in silos to save the planet, and we need to pull in the same direction and be decisive.
Sustainable investment must be prioritised if we are to successfully meet climate goals in the Middle East, and this is where cross-sector cooperation comes into play. A robust regulatory framework for climate action accompanied by strategic action from non-governmental stakeholders is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s a must.
Mutual benefit hiding in plain sight
Activating imminent collaborations between the public and private sector, and rallying towards a common goal, will be the recipe for success for effective climate action in 2023 and beyond. While the government is the foundation of a country’s climate ambitions, the private sector is its engine of innovation and project development.
What’s promising is that the UAE is no stranger to the benefits of public-private partnerships, and recently announced a new law in order to help regulate them and increase the investment going into such projects.
With the new law in full swing in 2023, the PPP (public-private partnership) model in the UAE can be used to address funding gaps and allow finite governmental resources to be reallocated where they are really needed. In my opinion, funding innovative solutions that directly tackle climate related issues is where the government’s attention needs to be going. This is especially relevant ahead of the UAE hosting COP28, later this year.
However, there’s still a funding gap to be addressed, and it’s clear that more funding into startups and digital innovation is needed for climate adaptation as risks mount. A recent report by McKinsey on financing the transition to net zero by 2050 said that achieving the net zero transition would require an additional $3.5 trillion of capital a year.
The government and the private sector will mutually benefit from increased access to funds, and this will contribute to the growth of innovation hubs. The investors and startups operating within these networks need the support of the public sector to unlock government funding and capital networks, while the government needs to work with such innovators to help reach their sustainability goals.
Another route towards net zero is by introducing regulatory mandates that reduce collective carbon emissions from various industries. For example, the UAE’s agritech sector has been catapulted to the top of the nation’s priority list following food security concerns brought about by the Covid pandemic, and commodity prices rising due to the impact of recent global events on food distribution and supply chains. In line with the UAE National Food Security Strategy, the goal is to have 50 percent of the food consumed in the Emirates to be locally produced by 2051, compared to 20 percent in 2022.
The role of climate-focused startups
As the powerful role traditionally played by governments in fostering private-sector innovation is expanding, startups need to be taking full advantage of a wide range of governmental support, both traditional and new.
Climate-consciousness has an essential role to play here, and startups everywhere need to be ideating based on solutions towards climate change. At hatch & boost Ventures, we have built our venture-building model around this tenet. Focusing on a sector-agnostic venture building model to breed and scale climate tech and sustainable startups and environmental considerations form part of everything we do.
In ideating concepts and boosting them into early-stage startups, we can support government initiatives that are working hard to make sustainable ambitions a reality. For example, we recently launched our first portfolio agritech startup to help governments in the Middle East region enhance food security, fight emissions, and meet net-zero targets – and we are by no means the only ones helping to facilitate public-private success stories.
Looking to the future
Climate change can only be solved by the mobilisation of all sectors of the economy. As we look towards COP28, we must collectively increase the number of public-private partnerships already taking place within the UAE and the wider region, such as those within the food, transportation, waste, and energy sectors. We’re fortunate to have a government committed to innovation, growth and supporting startups which are helping our nation to fulfil its climate commitments sooner.
The only challenge left now is to get everyone else on board.