Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa : Carbon Intensity

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Karim Elgendy

Following the  UNFCCC’s 23rd Conference of Parties in Bonn (COP23), Carboun has released a visual guide to climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region. The visual guide comprises two infographics covering carbon emissions in the Middle East and North Africa and climate change impact. The aim of this infographic is to explain carbon emissions from the Middle East and North Africa  and the Arab World regions in the global context, especially the relationship between total emissions, per capita emissions, and emissions per unit of GDP. This infographic is the second of two representing the visual guide to climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region. The first part can be viewed here. The guide, which was researched and designed by Karim Elgendy, was based on raw data provided by a variety of sources and datasets (all of which are listed on the infographics). It represents an update of a previous visual guide published in 2011, which also aimed to contextualize regional carbon trends. Copyrights for all infographics are reserved for Carboun. No republishing or reproduction of this infographic or part thereof is allowed in digital, print, or other formsts without prior written consent from Carboun.

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Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa : Carbon Emissions

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Karim Elgendy

Following the  UNFCCC’s 23rd Conference of Parties in Bonn (COP23), Carboun has released a visual guide to climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region. The visual guide comprises two infographics covering carbon emissions in the Middle East and North Africa and climate change impact. The aim of this infographic is to explain carbon emissions from the Middle East and North Africa region in the global context, especially how they relate to economic development, climate change, and climate committments under the Paris Agreement. This infographic is the first of two representing the visual guide to climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region. The second partcan be viewed here.The guide, which was researched and designed by Karim Elgendy, was based on raw data provided by a variety of sources and datasets (all of which are listed on the infographics). It represents an update of a previous visual guide published in 2011, which also aimed to contextualize regional carbon trends. Copyrights for all infographics are reserved for Carboun. No republishing or reproduction of this infographic or part thereof is allowed in digital, print, or other formsts without prior written consent from Carboun.

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An Introduction to Climate Change

Wissam Yassine

UPDATED – Climate change refers to the current changes in the Earth’s climate patterns due to the increase in greenhouse gases emitted by human activities. The driving force behind this pattern is an increase in the Earth’s surface and water temperature. In fact, over the last 130 years, the global average temperature of the planet rose by 0.8 °C.  However, the impacts of this temperature increase on climate patterns in different regions varied widely (Figure 1).

National scientific bodies in all major countries agree that the cause behind global warming and climate change is the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and growing livestock. Climate models have been created to forecast the expected increase in the average global temperatures over the coming years based on current and expected emission levels. These models show that the global average temperatures are expected to rise by up to 6 °C by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise as they have in recent decades.

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A Visual Guide to Energy and Emissions in the Middle East

Karim Elgendy

Following on Carboun’s recent article discussing the two trends of energy and carbon emissions in the Arab World. Carboun has recently released a visual guide to energy and emissions with the goal of explaining the fundamentals of energy use in the region and how it relates to carbon emissions, economic development, climate change, and renewable energy. The guide, which was researched and designed by Karim Elgendy, was based on raw data provided by the World Bank and the World Resources Institute. It aims to explain the regional trends in local details but within the global context. Copyrights for all infographics are reserved for Carboun. No reproduction or republishing of any infographic or part thereof without prior written consent from Carboun.

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Two Trends of Energy and Carbon Emissions in the Arab World

Karim Elgendy

Discussions on the environment in the Arab World have traditionally been limited to the negative impact of region’s fossil fuel exports on climate change. In recents years, a more regional discourse has emerged that also addressed the region’s water scarcity, rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and the expected impact of global climate change and sea level rise on its most vulnerable regions.

Map showing emissions in countries of the arab world as percentage of global emissions. Copyrights: Carboun

However, such discussions often overlooked the region’s own energy and ecological footprints and the impact of its own energy use on climate change. In the past , such disregard may have been justified by the fact that the region had not yet experienced the kind of economic development and prevalent consumerism that was common in most of the developed world. Such justification was supported by the region’s historically low rate of energy use and carbon emissions. In fact, the Arab world which constitutes 5% of the world’s population, emits just under 5% of global carbon emissions according to World Bank data, and except for Saudi Arabia, no single Arab country is responsible for more than 1% of global emissions. The energy use of an average Arab person is still below the world average and less than half that of an average european.

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