The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made great strides in the energy sector, which includes both the performance in the energy system as well as the readiness for energy transition.
According to the latest edition of the World Economic Forum’s (WEFs) Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 report, UAE is at 63 in the global rankings out of 115 countries.
The UAE has improved 4 positions from the previous year’s rankings, which can be marked as a significant improvement especially due to the increasingly challenging times.
There are a total of 40 indicators which sets 115 countries apart and assigns them a ranking. These indicators include readiness for transition to secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive future energy system.
Massive Improvements
Although UAE only improved 4 places but the improvements made in the sub-indicators were massive as the country landed itself in the top-10 in several of them.
Here is a list of some of the indictors where UAE improved:
- 24 point increase in Energy Access and Security
- 13 point increase in Capital and Consumer Participation
- 8 point increase in Capital and Investment index
- 7 point increase in Economic Growth and Development Index
- 7 point increase in Infrastructure and Innovative Business Environment index
The report also stated that the future improvements can be made through “investment in future ready energy infrastructure.”
Threat of COVID-19
Like with everything, the coronavirus pandemic has the potential to wipe out all the progress that has been made with unprecedented falls in demand, fluctuation of price amongst other factors.
Speaking about this, the Head of Energy and Materials, WEF, Roberto Bocca said:
The coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to consider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets and global collaboration to support a recovery that accelerates the energy transition once the acute crisis subsides.
“This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way,” he further added.
Top Three
Leading the charts was Sweden for the third successive year, followed by Switzerland and the Finland. These three countries were ranked as top-three respectively.
