After the Paris Climate Agreement, oil-rich countries must also commit to making their energy mix more sustainable. The question is to what extent they are making progress here and what obstacles...Show moreAfter the Paris Climate Agreement, oil-rich countries must also commit to making their energy mix more sustainable. The question is to what extent they are making progress here and what obstacles they will encounter. In my thesis, I look at the cases of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from a political economy lens on how they deal with the energy transition in their country. The research question I formulated: Why are Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates failing to meet the renewable energy expectations created after the Paris Climate Agreement in the period 2015-2019? In my thesis, I first describe the current state of the literature on the energy transition in these countries. I predict the bureaucracy, the undesirability for the political elite of these countries and the energy subsidies for fossil fuels that are pushing renewable sources away from the energy market. Then, based on the available data and literature, I will actually look at the goals set and the results achieved in the field of renewable energy. Then I will discuss the concrete political and economic obstacles that have been created for the aforementioned countries to shape the energy transition. Ultimately, I conclude that the targets set are unclear from mainly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but that the United Arab Emirates has set a clear target and can perceive that they are also the only country that has set significant targets in the period 2015 – 2019 . There are also clear political and economic obstacles shaping the energy transition in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. My hypothesis that there are mainly political and economic obstacles is therefore confirmed in my conclusion. At the end I recommended further research about the development in these countries the coming period.Show less
