RIYADH: As almost every country in the Middle East and North Africa has reduced its per capital emissions from 2015 levels, EY has launched a climate change readiness index to supplement regional efforts to fight climate change.

EY, one of the world’s largest professional services networks, aims to help MENA region assess, evaluate and boost its efforts using the innovate tool.

It measures the readiness of the six Gulf Corporation Council members — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — as well as Egypt and Jordan across various areas such as the efficiency of their adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as their ability to finance and implement these strategies.

The new index also offers scorecards to assist governments, investors, and citizens in tracking their performance relative to the global benchmarks on as much as 37 quantitative and qualitative indicators of global warming readiness.

“Climate change is a global challenge and addressing it requires collective action. The index is designed to be flexible, responsive, and personalized, allowing countries to monitor their progress over time and identify areas for improvement,” said EY MENA Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader Yasir Ahmad, according to a statement.   

It said that in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, the UAE outshone all the countries in the MENA region.

“The MENA region is already a global leader in carbon capture utilization and storage and planning for the future of circular economies. Together, with the leadership the region is taking in energy transition, the use of renewables, and development of hydrogen, MENA is on track to become a forerunner in the development of a low-carbon economy,” said EY-Parthenon MENA Leader Richard Paton.

Saudi Arabia is driving its climate change commitments by upping the ante of its environ- mental protection and energy transition programs, such as the Saudi Green Initiative and the
Middle East Green Initiative.

The Kingdom plans to apply a circular carbon economy model, further invest in green transitions, enhance cooperation and

knowledge transfer efforts and activate partnerships between the public and private sectors. As part of the Saudi Green Initiative, the first package of ongoing initiatives includes investments in the green economy worth more than SR700 billion ($186 billion).

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund aims to elevate its assets to over $1 trillion by 2025 and invest more than $10 billion by 2026 in qualified green projects, including renewable energy, clean transportation and sustainable water management.

The Kingdom has also raised its stake in the Middle East Green Initiative, hoping to create massive growth opportunities in the region, facilitating economic diversification, generating job opportunities and stimulating private sector investments.