The Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) announced that the UAE and Bahrain have joined the ITA initiative, which supports green industrial projects, as the first two countries in the Middle East and North Africa region to expand the scope of carbon emission reduction efforts in the industrial sector in the region. This came in the presence of Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Technology, and Abdulla Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
This regional expansion comes after the success achieved by the initiative through the launch of a program to support industrial projects in Brazil, which was announced in July of this year in cooperation with the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services in Brazil.
More than six announced industrial facilities in the UAE have been identified as being aligned with the climate neutrality targets according to the Mission Possible Partnership’s global project tracker, and if these facilities reach the final investment decision stage and are added to those currently operating or already in operation, they will contribute nearly 30% of the UAE’s 2030 climate target.
Among the first companies to sign formal agreements to work with the UAE’s Industrial Transition Accelerator under the MENA programme are Emsteel, Emirates Global Aluminium, and Arabian Gulf Steel Industries. Additional countries are expected to be announced in the coming months.
The Industrial Transition Accelerator initiative will work in collaboration with regional governments, industry leaders, businesses, and funding agencies to support investments in emerging green industries in the region and mobilise the capital needed to drive regional and international carbon reduction efforts.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the second destination for the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) initiative in its global efforts to accelerate the reduction of emissions from industrial projects. The industrial sector contributes 40% of the MENA region’s GDP, exceeding the global average of 26%. With its potential, the sector is ideally positioned to lead the global effort to reduce carbon emissions from heavy industries, in light of the current global environmental challenges.
The ITA analysis, which draws on the Mission Possible Partnership’s global project tracker, shows a number of green industrial projects announced in the MENA region. However, the future of these projects depends on receiving billions of dollars in investment to start producing green goods. This requires stronger market demand to boost confidence among companies and investors and motivate them to take action in this area.
Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, said: “We are pleased to be the first partner to join ITA with the UAE in the MENA Project Support Programme in this important initiative aimed at expanding green industries in the region. This partnership confirms our commitment to promoting sustainable manufacturing in line with our Industrial Sector Strategy (2022-2026). We have a great and promising opportunity to promote and advance this industry to accelerate our achievement of carbon neutrality.”
Faustine Dela Salle, Executive Director of the Industrial Transition Accelerator, said: “The current green industrial projects in the Middle East, if implemented, will enable the ability to make tangible contributions to the ambitious green growth programmes at the regional level, in addition to their effective role in reducing carbon emissions.”
“As one of the largest listed national companies in the steel and building materials sector in the region, we are honoured to work with ITA to support the decarbonisation of heavy industries in the UAE and beyond,” said Eng. Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group CEO of Emsteel. “Emsteel has been instrumental in developing low-carbon products and setting sustainable standards for the region, and our pilot project with Masdar to produce sustainable steel using green hydrogen is a clear demonstration of our efforts. It is essential that we work with the wider ecosystem to effectively address the challenges of commercial-scale decarbonisation projects, and we are confident that our partnership with ITA will support our efforts to overcome these obstacles and drive the adoption of sustainable solutions more widely.”
