Balancing Priorities

In May, soaring temperatures in Qatar prompted the government to expand protections for outside workers, halting outdoor work in the summer between 10AM and 5PM. In response, one local online food delivery service, Snoonu, announced that it would become the first local delivery company to provide cars to its drivers, in order to protect them from Qatar’s extreme summer heat. Any order delivered during the company’s new extended protection hours will be delivered by a Snoonu employee driving an air-conditioned Snoonu car, rather than one of the motorbikes that employees regularly use. 

While many social media users lauded the company’s initiative to protect its employees, others criticized the move, arguing that putting more cars on the road undermined the country’s sustainability efforts, many of which are tied to the 2022 World Cup.  

Another regional delivery service, Talabat, took the opposite approach to the same set of challenges. It announced in early June that it was moving toward an all-electric scooter fleet in Qatar. The head of Talabat Qatar called it “one step toward sustainability.”  

Snoonu and Talabat are both seeking to align themselves with two of Qatar’s goals: implementing migrant labor reforms and building environmental sustainability. While the two are not incompatible, some approaches to one undermine approaches to the other.  

Scorching summer temperatures in Qatar sometimes prompt heat mitigation measures like massive outdoor air-conditioning and giant coolers. They are powered by the same fossil fuels that contribute to rising temperatures, as are the cars that Snoonu is introducing. Much of the cooling infrastructure is built by foreign workers, whose health may be endangered by summer temperatures. 

Qatar’s challenge is not merely establishing its priorities, but also prioritizing between them. 

This article is part of the CSIS Middle East Program series Mezze: Assorted Stories from the Middle East.