Introduction - issue 102

Journal article

‘When large-scale oil reserves were first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938, who would have believed that growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) would ever have been oil led?’ This question comes up in one of our articles in this special issue of the Oxford Energy Forum. The question is very well timed; for while MENA continues to play a pivotal role as the world’s supplier of oil and, to a lesser extent, gas the collapse in global oil prices since mid-2014 has refocused the debate on the region’s ability to use oil revenues to build sustainable economies that can one day function without oil, or at least reduce their dependence on the export of only a single commodity. The Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 will provide an opportunity to the global community, including MENA countries, to contribute new vision and perspectives to the debate, and to engage proactively in leading regional green policy efforts. In this issue, we ask the question directly: can the MENA economies use this time to initiate the switch from fossil fuels to renewables, from wasteful energy consumption towards energy efficiency? Can the region re-invent itself? Can it ‘grow green’?

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Journal: Oxford Energy Forum
• Issue: 102
• Pages: 1-3
• Publication date: 2015-11-01
• ISSN: 0959-7727
• Keywords: Oxford Energy Forum; OIES; OEF