The EU should consider launching talks with their GCC counterparts on a preferential trade agreement for decarbonisation and the circular economy. A comprehensive EU-GCC free trade agreement is likely to run into the same obstacles that have plagued these discussions for the past 30 years, further complicated by the CBAM. But a specific agreement t

pre-existing (export) infrastructure, short construction times, and advanced know-how in the hydrogen sector, thereby allowing them to implement pilot projects quickly. Their location, in the centre of the heavily travelled EU-China transport corridor, is ideal for the production of hydrogen derivatives, especially those that can be used as maritim

Going one step further, EU member states are undertaking several projects to permanently lock CO2 into building materials. These projects include some that have even reached the commercialisation stage: for example, the first pavement made out of CO2-based bricks was installedin Belgium in 2020. To date, concrete products containing reused CO2 are

All of this suggests that there will likely continue to be significant divergences in the parties’ perspectives at COP28. However, there is also a substantial convergence of interests in several domains that could advance the green transition. The most effective way to address this challenge is to look beyond the ideological divide and focus on t

The green transition will be a given in the region, but the GCC states want that transition to be slow and gradual.[3] They would first scale up their renewable energy capacity to deploy it domestically, freeing up more fossil fuels for export. (All the GCC countries are currently investing in more fossil fuel production capacity.) Later, they woul