Geographical Conditions
Qatar is a peninsula in the East of Arabia, bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia in a strategic location near major petroleum deposits. Most of its surface area is covered by desert with scattered vegetation areas.
Economic Growth and Development
Oil and gas revenues were judiciously invested to raise standards of living at globally unprecedented rates after 2005. Government strategies encouraged social, economic and political liberalization of the country. Oil and gas revenues were invested in developmental projects such as infrasctrure, public utilities, health and education. Also, an extreme social welfare support system was put in place, censorship on the press was eased and municipal elections were instituted. For the first time in their history, Qatari citizens approved a new constitution via public referendum in April 2003.These improvements triggered unprecedented economic growth (average 12.5% in 2007) which benefited overall population with minimal widening in income inequalities among various social groups. The GDP per capita has been steadily growing; it is currently the highest when compared to other Arab countries and among highest in the world. As a way to address the economic risks associated with oil price volatility, Qataris are currently focusing on economic diversification away from oil and gas production activities and investing in infrastructure, heavy and light weight industry, agriculture and fishing.
Main Contributors to GHG Emissions
The energy production sector accounts for around 60% of total emissions, the sector covers electricity and heat production, oil and gas exploration, petroleum refineries, manufacture of solid fuels, coal mining. Other emitters include the manufacturing and construction sectors which accounts for 32% of GHG inventory followed by the transport sector with 8% of total emissions. Also, Qatar has the highest CO2 equivalent emissions per capita in the world, this however, constitutes only about 0.2 per cent of Global GHG emissions.
Potential Impacts of Climate Change
Hazards engendered by climate change on the peninsula are thought to have the potential to reverse progress in human development, and may have severe economic impacts on coastal communities. Expected externalities include: (1) more frequent extreme weather events (flooding, sand storms, erosion of coastal areas) leading to loss of land, (2) Warming and acidification of the Arabian Gulf may lead to potential damage to the marine environment including corals and fish, (3) Rising seawater levels are expected to lead to seawater intrusion which will increase the salinity of already scarce fresh water reserves in Qatar.
Oil and gas
The first oil field discoveries in Qatar were made in the 1940s, and the country has been progressively investing in the expansion and improvement of oil production activities ever since. However, the discovery of the North Gas Field (the largest single field in the world for non-associated gas) and onset of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production in mid 1990s marked the beginning of a new era of prosperity for Qatar. Since then, the government embarked on continuous discoveries and exploitations of gas reserves. Nowadays, Qatar has the third largest world reserves (15 to 20% of world total) and is the single largest supplier of LNG in the world where gas exports account for 70% of export earnings. At the current rates of extraction, oil reserves are expected to last for 100 years while gas field will last for 200 more years.
Total energy consumption in Qatar increased by 57 % between 2001 and 2006. Domestic consumption relies mainly on natural gas (90 per cent) the remaining 10 per cent is gasoline and diesel. Domestic consumption of primary energy was estimated to be approximately 24 per cent of total energy production.
National Climate Change Work
The Qatar National Vision (QNV 2030) was launched in 2008 and explicitly recognizes carbon dioxide emissions among the major environmental challenges. It provides a framework for managing present and emerging risks from climate change. The National Committee for Climate Change (NCCC) was established under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and is the supreme National policy formulating Body.
The Center for Sustainable Energy Efficiency was established at the QSTP (Qatar Science and Technology Park) end of year 2009 with the goal of establishing "a center of excellence" in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable power. Qatar has been exploring the use of desalination technologies powered by renewable energy systems including solar energy. However, the use of solar energy as a main source for desalination is still at an early stage of development. Investment in research: Investment in research and development by Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), and by private-public partnerships was undertaken to create solutions for environmental problems with a focus on emissions.
Mitigation efforts were undertaken by industries and succeeded in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from flaring between 2001 and 2006 from 45 % to 20% of total GHG emissions. Qatar was the first of the GCC states to join the Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) Partnership led by the World Bank in 2009.
The first CDM in the GCC region was registered by Qatar Petroleum under UNFCCC to reduce flaring from gas production.
Position with regards to current negotiations for a new global climate agreement
Qatar has been actively involved in UNFCCC related negotiations. Qatar's position is in favor of the creation and activation of the carbon market and adoption of flexible mechanisms (CDM and JI) as these are more efficient than tax measures. On the other hand, Qatar is not in favor of sectoral approaches since these are thought to create trade barriers especially to GHG-intensive products. Qatar also promotes natural gas as a low-carbon intensive fuel.
Positive Role
In its official submissions, Qatar supports that NAMAs (nationally appropriate mitigation actions) are included within an international registry under the UNFCCC and that both developing countries “voluntary mitigation pledges” and assistance for these actions are fed into this registry.
Qatar proposed solutions that include energy conservation and efficiency, fossil fuel switching to lower carbon fuels, carbon capture and storage, non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases and the flexibility mechanisms as ways for significant market & economic potentials for mitigation that are available at the disposal of Annex1 Parties. They namely mention the process of fuel switching into lower carbon fuels using combined-cycle gas turbines as an example. Qatar will thus be prepared to engage in this switch given its high natural gas reserves.
They also state that all GHGs from all sources should be treated equally. This means that non-CO2 GHGs that have high warming potential are dealt with as well.
Negative Role
Qatar states in its submissions that the global goals “does not necessarily have to include a numerical figure”, which undermines the overall level of ambition necessary to saving the planet from the severe climate change impacts.
They are also for keeping bunker fuels negotiations under ICAO and IMO which are the key entities under which aviation and maritime transport are handled. However, a cooperative process between those entitites and under the UNFCCC would best ensure that emissions from bunker fuels are addressed.
What could be better
Qatar is a political leader in the Arab region, and we would expect it to also lead within the negotiations. Therefore, Qatar needs to strengthen its current delegations, and should put the issue as a top priority.
Qatar, being a low lying peninsula, benefits tremendously from ambitious mitigation action. It is also in Qatar’s economic interest to push for strong global ambition, knowing that natural gas is an important bridging fuel with low carbon intensity.