The Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) has announced partnerships with governments of the UAE and Bahrain to expand its efforts in industrial decarbonisation across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This is the ITA’s second region of focus, following the early success of its Brazil programme, announced in a partnership with Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services in July this year.
The industrial sector contributes 40% to MENA’s GDP, surpassing the global average of 26%, and with advantages in both conventional energy and renewable energy generation, the MENA region is well-positioned to lead the global decarbonisation of heavy industry1.
The UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and Bahrain’s Ministry for Industry and Commerce are the ITA’s first partners in the MENA region, with further country partners expected to be announced in the coming months. The ITA will collaborate with regional governments, industry leaders, and financial institutions to bolster the investment case for MENA’s emerging green industries and mobilise the critical capital needed to advance regional and global decarbonisation efforts.
The ITA’s analysis, using the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) Global Project Tracker shows a pipeline of announced green industrial projects in the MENA region. These projects are awaiting billions of dollars of investment to start production of green commodities but require a stronger demand signal from the market to give businesses and investors the confidence to act2.
H.E. Abdulla Bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, said: “We are delighted to be the first partner to join the ITA along with the UAE in the MENA Project Support Programme in this critical initiative to expand green industry in the region. Being part of this reaffirms our commitment towards promoting sustainable manufacturing inline with our Industrial Sector Strategy (2022-2026). The opportunities are vast and exciting and the need to advance this industry is urgent to accelerate our efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.
Faustine Delasalle, Executive Director of the ITA, said: “Unlocking the existing pipeline of green industrial projects in the region would make a significant contribution to the region’s green growth agendas and help the scale-up of green markets globally. This new partnership with the governments of the UAE and Bahrain will showcase how the MENA region can speed up its energy and industry transition.”
The road to Final Investment Decision (FID) in the UAE
The ITA is working to identify and support large-scale industrial projects that can be accelerated toward FID by 2026 and operational by 2030.
To get on track with Paris-aligned climate targets, a critical mass of large-scale projects that have the potential to drive a deep reduction in emissions, must reach FID in the next two years and be brought online by 2030. The MPP Global Project Tracker has identified more than six announced net-zero aligned industrial plants in the UAE which, if brought to FID and combined with those already operating or at FID, would represent a total of approximately 30% of UAE’s 2030 climate target.
Targeted Regional Support
To help mature the project pipeline in the MENA region, the ITA will provide on-the-ground, practical, tailored implementation support. Specifically, the ITA is partnering with project developers to identify and help overcome their barriers to investment by, for example, helping to stimulate demand for green goods by addressing policy and regulatory needs at a regional level, while building low-emissions value chains and identifying mechanisms to de-risk regional project investment.
Corporate partnerships
The following companies from the UAE are the first to sign formal agreements to work with the ITA as part of the MENA program: EMSteel, Emirates Global Aluminium, and Arabian Gulf Steel Industries.
Eng. Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group Chief Executive Officer of EMSTEEL, said: “As one of the largest publicly traded steel and building materials manufacturers in the region, we are honoured to be working with the ITA to accelerate the decarbonisation of heavy industries in the UAE and beyond. EMSTEEL has been actively driving low-carbon products and setting sustainable benchmarks for the region, and our pilot project with Masdar demonstrating the use of green hydrogen to produce green steel is a clear testament to our efforts. It is essential for us to work with the wider ecosystem to effectively address viability concerns of commercial scale decarbonisation projects, and we are confident that our partnership with the ITA will help in overcoming those obstacles and in driving the wider adoption of sustainable solutions.”
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “Many decarbonisation challenges are shared between industries, and we must work together to solve them. The Industrial Transition Accelerator is a forum to advance this cooperation.”
Asam Hussain, CEO of AGSI, stated: “As a signatory to the ITA, and the world’s first carbon neutral steel plant, we are excited to see the opportunities for advancing net-zero goals in the MENA region. We are committed to being an innovation leader in industry on the ground, actively implementing sustainable solutions and driving decarbonisation across the sector. In order to drive progress effectively, we need a clear path to scale demand, clarity in industry definitions and confidence in policy frameworks that support project scalability.”