Environment and Governance

Analyzing environment and governance issues and opportunities throughout the region

The Middle East is a region of extremes. It contains both the world’s largest deposits of hydrocarbons and some of the most water-scarce nations in the world. Growing populations challenge governments to supply adequate water, energy, and waste disposal in a manner that is reliable, affordable, and sustainable. The Middle East Program explores innovative ways governments, businesspeople, and civic groups are addressing service provision, energy security, and climate change both within countries and across the region.

Featured Projects

Photo: Giles Clarke for UN OCHA/Getty Images

Photo: Giles Clarke for UN OCHA/Getty Images

Powering Recovery in the Middle East

Investigating opportunities for donors to support politically- and environmentally-sustainable power infrastructure in conflict-affected settings”

Project

Featured Analysis

Photo: AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Redefining Climate Finance for a Troubled World

As funding for climate adaptation dwindles in the face of competing crises, climate financing should be mainstreamed into all investments and aid programs, while confronting the underlying governance issues that are often at the core of vulnerability to climate change.

Commentary by Natasha Hall — February 5, 2024

Featured Podcast

A tall tower stands in front of a desert.

Karim Elgendy: Climate Diplomacy in the Middle East

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Karim Elgendy, an expert on climate and energy policy in the Middle East and North Africa. Elgendy is the associate director at Buro Happold, an associate fellow at Chatham House, and a senior non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. They talk about the geopolitics of climate change, the challenges hindering climate diplomacy, and the factors driving energy production in the region. Then, he continues the conversation with Will Todman and Leah Hickert to discuss climate's role in regional diplomacy and the public discourse around climate in the Middle East.


 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman, Will Todman, and Leah Hickert — June 25, 2024

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Political Instability and Environmental Politics in Postrevolutionary Tunisia

Mohamed Omar Kardous, a member of the CSIS environmental civil society in MENA working group, explores Tunisia's political instability and its impact on environmental policy post-2011 revolution, highlighting the challenges and stagnation under President Saied’s tenure.

Commentary by Mohamed Omar Kardous — April 9, 2024

Redefining Climate Finance for a Troubled World

As funding for climate adaptation dwindles in the face of competing crises, climate financing should be mainstreamed into all investments and aid programs, while confronting the underlying governance issues that are often at the core of vulnerability to climate change.

Commentary by Natasha Hall — February 5, 2024

China’s Essential Role in the Gulf States’ Energy Transitions

China has established itself as an essential partner in Gulf states’ energy transition, serving as an investor and developer in renewable energy projects. Western governments, however, have been reluctant to compete with Chinese enterprises in the region.

Brief by Faris Al-Sulayman and Jon B. Alterman — December 11, 2023

Gaza's Solar Power in Wartime

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, solar power has proved to be a lifeline for Gazans, revealing the resilience of small-scale systems in conflict zones. These systems, however, have also become new military targets.

Commentary by Will Todman, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., and Jennifer Jun — November 21, 2023

Profile: Arab Youth Climate Movement – Qatar

Climate change and environmental issues have only recently become a subject of public discussion in the Gulf. In the run up to COP21 in Paris in 2015, a group of young people formed the Arab Youth Climate Movement – Qatar (AYCM) to address this issue, becoming the first fully independent youth-led association in Qatar focused on youth and climate issues.

Blog Post by Will Todman — September 20, 2023

Roundtable Summary: Civil Society and Environmental Action in the Gulf

As Gulf governments increase their collaboration on environmental issues, CSIS convened a private roundtable with Gulf civil society actors to explore the role that civil society actors can play in bolstering state-level collaboration efforts and driving environmental action. Participants included academics, activists, and analysts from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar. They debated avenues to strengthen regional collaboration, pathways for civil society actors to influence government policy, and ways in which international actors can bolster their efforts. 

Blog Post by Will Todman — September 20, 2023

Guardians of the Nile: No Interstate War, No Peace

Senior Fellow Natasha Hall argues that the ongoing dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam requires prompt water diplomacy to avoid increasing tensions, conflict, and displacement, even if open interstate war is not in the cards.

Commentary by Natasha Hall — July 11, 2023