Coverage of Gulf Cooperation Council Side Events at COP 22 - Issue #3

[IISD Reporting Services]

Title: IISD Reporting Services Coverage of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Side Events at COP 22 - Issue #3

Having trouble viewing this email? Please try our Browser Version     Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Side Events Issue No. 3 - Monday, 14 November 2016 Events convened on Saturday, 12 November 2016 Visit our IISD Coverage for Saturday, 12 November 2016, at: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop22/gcc/12nov.html GCC and European Institutes Collaboration on Economic Diversity Presented by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) This event was moderated by Bader Al-Harbi, National Center for Environmental Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Saudi Arabia. Mustafa Babiker, Saudi Aramco, presented on prospects of economic diversification in Gulf countries. He noted this diversification will include: development of green oil technologies; increasing market access and technology diffusion; and scaling up and commercialization of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Ali Ali-Maashi, Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), presented on SABIC’s initiatives in business collaboration to showcase what can be manufactured locally, and expounded on how to enable business growth through innovation. He explained that enabling a knowledge-based economy should include building and construction innovation hubs, as well as hubs for energy and water management. He drew attention to his company contributions to enabling downstream industry by its collaboration with 46 industry leaders. Jon Price, University Sheffield, presented on knowledge exchange and innovation in manufacturing in the automotive and aerospace sectors. He explained how European universities could collaborate with GCC countries in enhancing robotization, innovation and digitization in their economic diversification. Drawing attention to a case study in Sheffield of an Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) with Boeing UK, he explained how some rural areas in the UK are transitioning from the manufacturing sector to a knowledge-based economy. Tony Ryan, University of Sheffield, presented on deploying solutions for food security in GCC and in the Middle East and North Africa. Stressing the need to decouple fossil fuel from food production, he urged the use of special derivatives of oil like polyolefin rather than burn oil to produce food. He explained methods of using the sun to desalinate water in future desert farms in the region. He also stressed the importance of applications arising from the petrochemical industry in preventing food waste. During discussions, participants addressed, inter alia: energy efficiency certification in existing buildings; quantification of savings in water and energy; impact of present low oil prices on the region’s petrochemical industry; and use of digitization and programming jobs to engage the high proportion of the unemployed youth in the region. More information: www.kacst.edu.sa/eng/about/Pages/About.aspx Contacts: Badr Alharbi (Coordinator) balha...@kacst.edu.sa This issue has been written by Bo-Alex Fredvik. The Digital Editors are Mike Muzurakis and Diego Noguera. The Editor is Leila Mead <le...@iisd.org>. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <k...@iisd.org>. Funding for coverage of GCC COP 22 Side Events has been provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The opinions expressed in this issue are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funder. Excerpts from this issue may be used in non-commercial publications only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <k...@iisd.org>. An electronic version of this issue can be found on the IISD Reporting Services website at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop22/gcc/ You are currently subscribed to enb as: arch...@mail-archive.com View enb Forum            Membership Options / Unsubscribe Subscribe to all other IISD Reporting Services' free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm