According to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s (WEFs) Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 report, The UAE has made notable strides in both the current performance of its energy system, as well as the readiness for the energy transition in the future.
The UAE is ranked 63 in the global ranking of 115 countries, improving 4 positions from the previous year’s ranking. The World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index is a composite score of 40 indicators that benchmarks 115 countries on the current performance of their energy system, and their readiness for transition to a secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive future energy system.
Overall Improvements
The report pointed the UAE made several developments in various sub-indicators landing itself a spot amongst the top ten in many of them. The UAE performance witnessed an increase of seven-points in the Economic Growth & Development index and an eight-point increase in the progress in the Capital & Investment index.
Moreover, the Infrastructure & Innovative Business Environment index saw an improvement of seven points, enabling the UAE to secure itself a place for among the top 5 globally (landing at 4th place), while the Human Capital & Consumer Participation, saw an appreciation of a whole 13 points, the Energy Access & Security progressed at a rate of 24 points, bringing the UAE to seventh globally.
The ETI report remarked that the development of economic growth and energy security components remain firm in the UAE. The country leads to the stability of institutions and regulatory frameworks, which remain critical enablers of the energy transition.
The report also suggested further improvements can be unlocked through investment in future-ready energy infrastructures- such as negative emission technologies, green hydrogen, and smart grids.
Other Regional Milestones
Morocco ranked first among the Arab countries, followed by Qatar, the UAE, and Oman.
Despite landing 8th among its Arab neighbors, Saudi Arabia’s performance saw a notable increase from 98th in last year’s report to 86th this year. The changes mainly come from increased levels of capital and investment in the energy transition, and a steady policy environment. The Kingdom has launched aggressive plans to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, prioritization innovation and Fourth Industrial Revolution.
