The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region sits at the frontline of the climate crisis. Intensifying heatwaves, water scarcity, desertification, and economic dependence on fossil fuels have made sustainability not just an environmental priority, but a social, economic, and political imperative.
Against this backdrop, Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been pushing for climate action rooted in justice, regional realities, and people-powered change. In this exclusive email interview with Sustainability Middle East, Ghiwa Nakat, Executive Director of Greenpeace MENA, shares how the organization is adapting global climate advocacy to local contexts, evaluating the credibility of net-zero pledges, empowering youth movements, and advancing a just energy transition across one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Greenpeace adapts global climate advocacy to the Middle East by rooting it in the lived realities of the region — including severe water stress, rising temperatures, recurrent droughts, and high dependence on fossil-fuel-based economies. Our work also recognizes cultural contexts and existing socio-economic models, ensuring climate solutions are fair, practical, and locally relevant.
We believe that fair climate finance is essential for real progress, particularly in a region among the most vulnerable to climate impacts. This requires direct, grant-based support from northern industrialized countries — historically responsible for the majority of emissions — to countries of the Global South, which bear the greatest burdens despite contributing least to the crisis. Such financing must cover not only mitigation, but also adaptation to escalating impacts like drought, desertification, and extreme heat, as well as loss and damage from increasingly frequent climate disasters. Mechanisms must be transparent and equitable, rooted in the polluter-pays principle, and ensure major emitters are held financially accountable.
Building on the historic “UAE Consensus” achieved at COP28, we also call on all countries to prioritize stronger emission-reduction commitments aligned with the 1.5°C target, while accelerating a just energy transition away from fossil fuels that safeguards the rights and livelihoods of affected communities. In addition, the periodic review of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) should be activated to ensure they remain consistent with scientific targets and reinforce climate justice through an equitable distribution of historical responsibilities between the Global North and South.
In the MENA region, some sectors can deliver faster emissions reductions because the needed technologies and policies already exist and can be deployed at scale. Although the region’s historical contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions has been pales in comparison to that of industrialized nations, its role in fossil fuel production has grown significantly: the region now accounts for around 30% of global oil production and 18% of natural gas production, and fossil fuels remain central to energy systems and emissions profiles. Diversifying the economies and energy mixes of oil- and gas-rich MENA countries is essential to ensuring their economic and environmental sustainability. Ramping up investment in renewables is imperative to achieve these goals, while also contributing to governments’ climate commitments.
The construction and building sector also presents quick opportunities. Implementing and enforcing energy-efficiency standards and building codes can significantly reduce energy use in both new and existing structures. Promoting sustainable design, low-carbon materials, and integration of local renewables further shrinks the sector’s footprint without requiring major technological breakthroughs — primarily political will and regulatory enforcement.
This approach echoes the strategic framework outlined in the “Blooming Futures: Supporting the UAE’s Journey Toward a Wellbeing Economy” report that we recently launched, which calls for learning from nature and applying biomimicry and biomimetic design, alongside commons-based stewardship, to adapt to climate change while improving energy efficiency. Examples of this vision already exist. The Al Bahar Towers in Abu Dhabi, inspired by traditional mashrabiya architecture, use an adaptive façade that reduces energy consumption while enhancing comfort — a symbol of how design grounded in heritage and nature can power the future. These examples, however, remain isolated and now need to be scaled up.
Agriculture and food systems have substantial mitigation potential over the medium to long term, but meaningful change generally requires deeper shifts in land use, production practices, and economic incentives. Governments can support reductions in food loss and waste, promote regenerative and climate-smart farming, and reorient subsidies toward sustainable production, though these measures unfold over years rather than months.
Across all sectors, governments can accelerate emissions reductions by setting clear, science-aligned targets, mandating robust energy and emissions standards, providing financial incentives for clean technology, and ensuring a just transition for workers and communities.
Greenpeace MENA sees youth and grassroots communities as the torchbearers of change, driving progress towards a sustainable and just future. They act as innovators, advocates, and local problem-solvers who drive climate action from the ground up. We recognize that empowering young people is essential, as they disproportionately face the consequences of climate change — ranging from health impacts and resource scarcity to displacement and conflict.
By engaging youth and communities, we foster a powerful movement that advocates for climate justice, influences adaptation and policy strategies, raises awareness, and implements local solutions. Young people in the region are reshaping civic engagement, driving policy reform, and ensuring that climate and environmental priorities are integrated into decision-making at all levels.
Over the past few years, Greenpeace MENA has strengthened this movement through multiple platforms and initiatives, including the SAWT open campaigning platform, petition campaigns, Ummah for Earth initiatives, Climate Justice Camps, youth delegations at COPs, and workshops and training sessions for local organizations.
Amid overlapping crises in the Middle East and North Africa — from climate and economic turmoil to political and social instability — the shift toward a fairer and more sustainable energy model is no longer a luxury. A just energy transition is an economic, social, and political project that strengthens sovereignty and places human health and dignity at the center of priorities.
Fossil fuel exporting countries face price volatility and uncertain demand, while energy-importing countries struggle to finance renewable pathways under heavy debt. Expanding domestic renewable energy can reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel import costs and strengthen energy security. Conflict-affected countries face additional barriers, yet these challenges also create opportunities to rethink energy models, demand fair climate finance, and secure technology transfer.
Despite the region’s dependence on fossil fuels, it possesses immense renewable energy potential. A just transition must align emissions reductions with the 1.5°C target, while wealthy countries fulfil their responsibilities through grant-based finance, technology transfer, and capacity building — not debt-based loans. These historical polluters must move first and fastest in reducing emissions.
Achieving this transition requires investment in decent jobs, retraining programs, income guarantees, economic diversification, and environmental restoration efforts that protect livelihoods in fossil-fuel-dependent regions.
Greenpeace evaluates climate pledges not by dates alone, but by whether they are backed by transparent, concrete, science-aligned plans and real action. We welcome ambitious net-zero commitments — such as the UAE and Oman targeting 2050, and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait targeting 2060 — but these must be supported by clear roadmaps, short- and medium-term targets, sector-specific plans, and transparent reporting.
Ultimately, credibility depends on alignment with the 1.5°C limit, inclusion of fossil fuel phase-out plans, transparency in implementation, and tangible benefits for communities and energy sovereignty.
Collaboration is at the heart of Greenpeace MENA’s work. We partner with local NGOs, grassroots groups, frontline communities, academic institutions, the private sector, and governments to develop practical climate solutions.
We encourage companies to contribute through genuine corporate reform — embedding sustainability into core operations and values — and by going beyond compliance to support a just transition and advocate for stronger climate regulations. Events like the World Future Energy Summit play a critical role in aligning ambition with action across sectors.
The World Future Energy Summit provides a unique platform to bring together governments, businesses, NGOs, and innovators to accelerate climate ambition and action. For Greenpeace MENA, it is an opportunity to highlight regional challenges, showcase solutions, and demonstrate how collaboration can drive meaningful change.
At the Summit, Greenpeace MENA will participate in high-level panels on circular economy design, agrivoltaics, and the role of Islamic finance in ethical renewable investment. We will also host a three-day Greenpeace Cinema, using storytelling and visual media to connect people emotionally to the climate crisis and inspire action.
As the MENA region navigates a decisive moment in its sustainability journey, this conversation underscores a central truth: climate action must be just, inclusive, and grounded in regional realities. From scaling renewable energy and rethinking urban design to empowering youth and holding polluters accountable, the path forward demands both urgency and equity.
With climate ambition rising across governments and industries, the challenge now is delivery. As Greenpeace MENA continues to push for accountability, collaboration, and people-centered solutions, the region has a rare opportunity to lead — not just in energy transition, but in redefining what a truly sustainable future looks like.