Middle East Touts Aggressive Renewables Strategy

Although the Middle East is home to some of the largest exports of oil and gas in the world, with a rising population and an 85 percent predicted increase in energy consumption over the next two decades, the region has started to embrace the development of renewable energy. The reason for this is two-fold, as the expansion of renewable resources throughout the Middle East will both decrease its carbon footprint in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and reduce the domestic consumption of oil, thereby increasing profits from oil exports and diversifying the region's energy mix. In recent years, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ("UAE") have been leading the charge in the Middle East in the investment in and development of renewable energy.