The Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) has published an extended second version of its latest report, presenting eleven peer-reviewed lifecycle assessment (LCA) case studies that examine the carbon footprint of materials and products made from renewable carbon compared with fossil-based alternatives.

The case studies represent what RCI describes as the highest possible scientific standard and have all been peer-reviewed by external, independent experts. They assess products developed by RCI members Avantium (Netherlands), BASF (Germany), Braskem (United States), Econic (United Kingdom), Fibenol (Estonia), IFF (United States), LanzaTech (United States), Lenzing (Austria), Neste (Finland), Peter Greven (Germany) and Primient Covation (United States).

According to the report, the carbon footprint of chemicals and materials has become one of the most critical indicators at a time when the United Nations continues to issue “Code Red” warnings on climate change. Fossil resources are identified as the primary driver of human-induced climate change, accounting for more than 70% of global warming. While sectors such as energy can decarbonise by shifting away from fossil fuels, carbon-dependent industries face a different challenge.

For the chemical and materials sectors, carbon is an essential feedstock that cannot be eliminated. Instead, the report argues that defossilisation is required to prevent further influxes of fossil carbon into industrial carbon cycles and the atmosphere. This involves replacing fossil feedstocks with renewable carbon sources, including bio-based, CO₂-based and recycled carbon.

However, the report also stresses that alternative production pathways cannot be assumed to be automatically better for the climate. Transparent and robust evaluation is required, taking into account process emissions, energy demand and current production scales. Without this, claims of environmental superiority risk being misleading.

The eleven peer-reviewed LCAs presented in the report provide what RCI describes as conclusive proof that renewable carbon products already available on the market can deliver substantial greenhouse gas reductions. Across the case studies, GHG savings range from 30% to as much as 90% when compared with fossil-based counterparts. The findings also indicate that, as technologies mature and scale up, there is significant potential for further emission reductions in the future.

RCI said the evidence base created by the report is intended to inform both policy-makers and investors, countering concerns that the climate benefits of renewable carbon remain theoretical. A central conclusion is that reducing the introduction of additional fossil carbon today will lessen the future reliance on costly atmospheric carbon removal technologies.

By enabling more circular carbon loops, the report concludes that renewable carbon feedstocks already represent a proven and viable pathway for defossilising chemical industries in line with global climate targets.

As the UAE accelerates its national sustainability agenda, climate action is shifting from voluntary pledges to formal regulatory expectation. Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 on the Reduction of the Effects of Climate Change marks a turning point, introducing enforceable obligations around emissions management, alongside administrative penalties for non-compliance.

While the finer details of implementation and reporting pathways are still evolving, the direction of travel is clear.

Organisations are now expected to show real progress in measuring, managing, and governing their climate impact.

For many businesses, this represents more than a compliance update. It is a signal that sustainability data is moving into the same category as financial data, something boards and executives must understand, trust, and use to make decisions.

Against this backdrop, companies across sectors, from industry and real estate to logistics, finance, and investment, are reassessing how ESG data is generated and validated. We spoke with Jomy Joseph, Director at CoralDune Partners and former Regional Director for UL Solutions in the Middle East and Africa, about what Decree 11 means in practice and how organisations can respond without turning sustainability into a box-ticking exercise.

According to Joseph, adoption of the new law is already under way, but not in a uniform manner. “What I see on the ground is a phased adoption, rather than a single switch being flipped,” he says. Large groups, particularly those with international investors, lenders, or global customers, are leading the way. Many have been reporting emissions in some form for years, and Decree 11 is pushing them to tighten governance, improve data quality, and clarify accountability.

Assessing supply chains

The next wave, he explains, will come through supply chains. Contractors, manufacturers, logistics providers, and service companies are increasingly being asked to provide credible emissions data by customers who are themselves responding to regulatory and investor pressure.

For the mid-market, awareness is still uneven, but Joseph expects that to change quickly. “The UAE has made it clear through its Net Zero 2050 commitment and wider sustainability agenda that climate action is no longer optional. Decree 11 turns that ambition into a structured expectation.”

While the law allows for significant financial penalties, ranging from AED 50,000 up to AED 2,000,000 and rising for repeated violations, Joseph believes the earliest impacts will often be commercial rather than regulatory.

Companies may find themselves excluded from tenders where sustainability disclosure is part of the qualification process, subject to greater scrutiny from banks and insurers, or exposed to reputational risk if their figures cannot be supported with evidence. “Even before enforcement is felt directly, the market itself is already moving in the same direction as the regulation,” he notes.

^{The UAE has supported initiatives to reduce emissions over the decades}

At CoralDune Partners, Joseph and his team focus on helping boards and CEOs embed ESG reporting as a core governance and performance management function. Drawing on his background in testing, inspection, certification, and enterprise sustainability, he stresses that effective ESG reporting is not a marketing exercise. Instead, it starts with clarity around what actually matters for a specific business, sector, and geography.

That means defining a measurable baseline, agreeing on calculation methods, and ensuring consistency year on year. It also requires clear ownership, internal controls, and audit trails, so that reporting is defensible and repeatable.

Crucially, it involves building a practical roadmap that links emissions reduction to real operational levers, such as energy use, procurement, logistics, product design, and buildings. For mid-sized companies, the challenge is doing this without unnecessary complexity. “The goal is not to copy large enterprise reporting, but to build a credible, scalable foundation that leadership can rely on,” Joseph says.

Technology, and particularly AI, has a growing role to play. While spreadsheets remain familiar tools, Joseph argues they were never designed to support long-term, regulated reporting under investor scrutiny. AI can help automate data capture from invoices, fuel logs, utility bills, and ERP systems, classify it correctly, and flag anomalies before numbers reach management.

It also enables faster scenario planning, allowing companies to see how changes in suppliers, equipment, or logistics routes affect both emissions and cost. “The real issue is not the tool, but the outcome,” he says. “Can the organisation produce numbers that are consistent year after year, backed by evidence, and ready to be checked?”

Importantly, Decree 11 does not only apply to large enterprises. The focus is on activities and emissions sources, not company size. Smaller businesses and startups should not assume they are automatically out of scope.

For them, compliance does not mean producing lengthy reports. A basic emissions baseline, clear calculation records, and a short list of practical actions that reduce both cost and emissions are often enough to start. Many will first feel the impact through customer and supply chain requirements. Being prepared early puts them in a far stronger position.

Challenges ahead

One of the biggest issues Joseph sees is trust in the data itself. Many organisations can produce a sustainability statement, but far fewer can clearly explain where the numbers came from and whether the same approach will be used next year. This is where ESG reporting becomes a board-level issue, as weak data translates directly into regulatory, commercial, and reputational risk.

To reduce greenwashing risk, Joseph points to the importance of moving from claims to evidence and assurance. Structured measurement, reporting, and verification processes, independent assurance under standards such as ISO 14064-3, product-level tools like life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations, and recognised built environment frameworks all help convert intent into measurable performance. “If a claim cannot be supported with data and documentation, it should not be made,” he says.

Globally, Joseph sees useful benchmarks in the European Union’s focus on structure and comparability, Singapore’s practical and business-friendly approach, and the UK’s emphasis on transition planning. The UAE, he believes, has the advantage of speed. With strong digital government infrastructure and clear national targets, it has the potential to move rapidly from policy to execution.

Ultimately, credible ESG reporting is becoming inseparable from competitiveness. As sustainability data increasingly shapes access to capital, insurance, and investment, Decree 11 is not just about compliance. It is about how companies position themselves for the next phase of growth in a low-carbon economy.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could emerge as a global leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and trade, according to a new white paper examining the region’s feedstock, infrastructure and policy advantages.

While SAF production is currently concentrated in Europe and North America, the paper, published by the SAF MENA Congress, argues that MENA has a unique opportunity to scale both biobased and synthetic fuels at pace, driven by abundant renewable energy, established hydrocarbon infrastructure and strong domestic aviation demand.

A central pillar of this potential lies in synthetic SAF, produced via power-to-liquids (PtL) pathways using green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide. The region benefits from some of the world’s highest solar irradiation levels and growing wind capacity, enabling access to low-cost renewable electricity. This, combined with large-scale electrolysers and emerging carbon capture infrastructure, positions Gulf states in particular as highly competitive producers of e-SAF.

Unlike many regions facing land constraints and grid congestion, MENA can deploy renewables at scale and co-locate projects with industrial hubs, export terminals and aviation infrastructure. The paper highlights that existing refining, storage and pipeline assets can be repurposed for SAF, reducing costs and shortening project timelines.

The report also challenges assumptions that the region lacks viable biobased feedstocks. Urban waste, used cooking oil, animal fats and agricultural residues are identified as underutilised resources, particularly in Egypt and Turkey. In addition, desert-adapted biomass such as algae, halophytes and wastewater-grown crops could provide non-competitive feedstock options suited to arid climates.

Geography is another strategic advantage. Situated at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, MENA already hosts some of the world’s busiest aviation hubs. Short shipping distances, established fuel trading ecosystems and high volumes of long-haul refuelling make the region well placed to become a global SAF bunkering and export centre as international mandates tighten.

Policy alignment and access to sovereign capital further strengthen the region’s position. Several governments have adopted net-zero targets, hydrogen strategies and state-backed aviation offtake, creating conditions for large-scale investment and accelerated deployment.

The white paper concludes that SAF leadership will be determined not by technology alone, but by scale, cost and speed. With rising global demand and regulatory pressure, the question is no longer whether MENA can play a major role in aviation decarbonisation, but how quickly it chooses to do so.

MENA solar wind power transition analysis

The report Rise of Renewables in the Gulf Region, unveiled at the World Future Energy Summit, forecasts a dramatic expansion of variable renewable energy across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), projecting capacity to grow roughly tenfold by 2040 and continue rising through 2060.

The study emphasises that this growth will occur even as the region maintains its position as a major oil and gas producer.

According to the analysis, renewable energy is set to become a central component of MENA’s electricity system. By 2060, electricity is expected to represent around 35% of the region’s total energy demand, with most of it sourced from renewables. Solar and wind are projected to account for roughly 85% of electricity generation, with solar contributing about 45% and wind approximately 40%.

“The rapid rise of renewables in the Gulf, and MENA more broadly, is not replacing hydrocarbons overnight, but it is reshaping the power system,” said Ditlev Engel, Energy Systems CEO at DNV. “GCC countries are building some of the world’s largest solar and storage projects while still supplying global oil and gas markets. This development is driven mainly by economics. Renewables now provide low-cost electricity, and clean power is becoming necessary for competitive industry and future hydrogen production.”

DNV notes that this shift is being driven by both growing renewable supply and increasing electricity demand. Across the region, large-scale projects—including mega solar farms, hybrid solar-and-storage plants, and wind installations—are under development. Demand is rising due to data centres, electric transport, and green hydrogen initiatives, while traditional industries are moving toward low-carbon electricity in response to policy measures such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The report identifies 2040 as a turning point when renewable generation growth is expected to outpace total electricity demand, boosting the share of clean energy in the regional mix.

Solar energy remains dominant, with installed capacity projected to rise from 76GW in 2024 to 340GW by 2029, supplying nearly one-fifth of electricity by decade’s end. Battery storage will increasingly complement solar projects, ensuring stable power delivery. Wind capacity, currently less developed, is forecast to triple each decade until 2060, complementing solar by providing electricity during nighttime and seasonal variations. Overall, combined solar and wind generation is expected to expand fourteenfold by 2040, alongside a tenfold increase in installed capacity.

“The Gulf is moving from discussion to deployment,” said Jan Zschommler, market area manager for Middle East & Africa, Energy Systems at DNV. “Utility-scale solar, wind, and storage projects are now being built at a pace that changes the regional power mix. Our modelling shows that renewables growth will exceed demand growth after 2040. That is when the transition in the region’s power mix starts to accelerate.”

The report also highlights energy storage and grid flexibility as essential enablers, with storage capacity forecast to rise from 36GWh today to nearly 9,500GWh by 2060, supported by stronger regional interconnections. DNV’s 2025 Energy Industry Insights survey indicates strong optimism among Middle East energy executives, who point to renewables expansion and infrastructure investment as key growth drivers.