25/12/04
Qatar presents 2040 climate target to UN
Edinburgh, 4 December (Argus) — Qatar has pledged to reduce its emissions by
42mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2040 from a 2019 baseline, with the oil and
gas sector "at the forefront of national mitigation efforts". Qatar does not
provide its total greenhouse emissions for 2019, but said its climate plan
encompasses CO2, methane and nitrous oxide gases. It covers the energy sector —
oil and gas, power and water — construction and industry, transport, waste and
agriculture, forestry and other land use. Parties to the Paris Agreement were
required to submit climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions
(NDCs), for 2035 to the UN climate body UNFCCC this year. Qatar had previously
targeted emission reductions of 25pc, or 37mn CO2e, by 2030, compared with a
business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. BAU scenarios typically assume emissions based
on current policies, leaving room for potential increases. The country's
emission cuts in its oil and gas sector will rely on "deploying cleaner fossil
fuel technologies, developing engineered sinks to store emissions, diversifying
the energy mix, and driving operational excellence across existing facilities
and infrastructure", according to its climate plan. Qatar is the world's largest
LNG producer, with a production capacity of 77mn t/yr, according to QatarEnergy,
and its economy is heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues. The country's
climate plan highlights the country's vulnerability to response measures to
mitigate climate change, resulting from its economy's reliance on hydrocarbons.
"Qatar is actively working to reduce the socio-economic effects of global
climate action," the plan said, adding that it seeks to balance climate goals
with national sustainable development. "Despite many efforts and considering its
role as a leading producer and exporter of natural gas, Qatar remains
significantly vulnerable to climate response measures," it said. Qatar is part
of the Arab Group, a negotiating group in UNFCCC climate talks, which is seeking
to focus on cutting emissions from fossil fuels, rather than hydrocarbon
production and consumption, through increased adoption of carbon capture
technologies. The country said it plays "a pivotal role" in supporting other
countries' targets by "reliably supplying them with a cleaner alternative to
coal and oil and providing a critical backup for intermittent renewables".
Qatar's climate plan sees the secure and affordable supply of lower-carbon
energy as well as the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the
management of emissions of energy production as the focus to pursue sustainable
development and climate action. The country considers itself to be among the
leaders in CCS with its Ras Laffan project, and aims to capture 11mn t/yr of CO2
by 2035. Engineering firm Samsung C&T was recently awarded a contract to build a
4.1mn t/yr CO2 facility to process and store emissions from Qatar's LNG
liquefaction plants. Qatar, in its climate plan, highlighted the country's water
supply vulnerability to temperature increases and heat. The power and water
sector accounts for a large share of the country's emissions. Water scarcity is
also responsible for increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Bahrain
through desalination, although its energy sector remains the main source of
emissions, according to the country's new climate plan. The country is heavily
reliant on fossil fuels for its energy and revenues, while "limited land
availability and competing land-use demands constrain large-scale deployment"
for the development of solar energy. Rising demand over the peak summer months
this year meant that Bahrain had to import LNG for the first time since
commissioning its 800mn ft³/d onshore LNG receiving and regasification terminal
in 2020. But it is looking at renewables options and is in talks with Saudi
Arabia for a link to a large-scale solar facility. Bahrain said that response
measures to climate change "may lead to economic losses that, in turn, hinder
Bahrain's ability to pursue effective climate action and achieve broader
sustainable development objectives." By Caroline Varin Send comments and request
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