Global Climate Change Agenda Enters “Middle East Moment”

On February 28, 2024, the “Yellow Book of the Middle East: Annual Report on the Development in the Middle East No.25 (2022-2023)” was jointly released by the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) and the Social Sciences Academic Press.

Extreme weather has become more common on a worldwide scale in recent years, causing significant economic and social harm and affecting all countries to differing degrees. Addressing climate change and achieving green and sustainable development matters for a shared destiny and future for all humanity. Between 1980 and 2022, the temperature in Middle East climbed by 0.46°C each decade, far greater than the global average of 0.18°C. The Middle East is one of the areas of the globe most severely impacted by climate change due to its extreme temperatures, water scarcity, desertification, and rising sea levels. 

In the face of increasingly serious environmental problems, the ME countries have become important participants and active contributors to the international governance of climate change. For instance, they have actively organized international climate change conferences, strengthened top-level design and formulated strategies and plans to address climate change, accelerated the process of energy transformation and vigorously developed clean energy, and increased green investment and climate financing to create a variety of climate financing tools.