OpEd: Big picture vital to drive energy investment

OpEd: Big picture vital to drive energy investment

High oil prices certainly boost the Middle East's financial outlook, but this is far from the whole story. Inevitable economic peaks and troughs mean borrowers with a diverse toolkit and attitude of adaptability will be able to quickly capitalise on investors' appetite during the global energy transition – the most significant challenge in modern history.

The financing yardstick to release capital is surer than ever: proof of concept and the project's validity must be extremely robust. For example, Mashreq has committed to provide or deploy $30 billion of sustainable financing by 2030 – a vast sum in a very short amount of time in a very ambitious space. Yet, our challenge is echoed by others in the financial ecosystem: finding the right commercial and environmental destinations to justify allocating the credit. Essentially, money is available across the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), but borrowers need to elevate the strength of their proposals.

Streamlining the sell

Momentum to craft a mixed energy basket is undoubtedly moving fast, but more can be done. For one, more clarity is needed on the follow-through of climate commitments made at recent COPs – the world's biggest annual climate gatherings. This applies to COP27 in Egypt last November and COP28