11 July 2026 6:49 pm
How MENA Is Reshaping the Global Energy Future Today

How MENA Is Reshaping the Global Energy Future Today

Jul 11, 2026

A striking solar power tower illuminated under the clear blue sky in Morocco. by pierre matile via Pexels

.

From Oil to Renewables: How MENA Is Reshaping the Global Energy Future

.

By Saptakee S

.

.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is rapidly transforming from a fossil fuel-dominated region into one of the world’s fastest-growing clean energy markets. Governments are investing heavily in solar, wind, and green hydrogen while setting ambitious climate targets that are reshaping their long-term energy strategies.

The region’s combination of abundant sunshine, strong wind resources, competitive project costs, and supportive government policies is attracting billions of dollars in investment. As renewable projects move from planning to construction, MENA is positioning itself as a global leader in the clean energy transition.

Renewable Targets Are Driving a Regional Energy Shift

Climate ambition across MENA has accelerated significantly over the past few years. According to the International Energy Forum’s (IEF) Progress Report for MENA NDCs and Climate Action, most countries in the region have strengthened their renewable energy commitments under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

As of 2024, 14 MENA countries had included explicit renewable energy targets in their climate plans. Twelve countries expressed these goals as a share of electricity generation, with many aiming for renewable electricity to account for at least 30% of their power mix by 2030. Four countries instead adopted capacity-based targets measured in gigawatts (GW).

Beyond their 2030 commitments, many governments have also introduced long-term strategies extending to 2050. These plans include net-zero emissions goals and higher renewable energy shares, signaling that clean electricity is becoming a central pillar of national economic development rather than simply a climate initiative.

Although each country follows its own pathway depending on its resources and existing energy system, the overall direction is consistent. Governments are working to diversify electricity generation, improve energy security, reduce emissions, and create new industries that support long-term economic growth.

Together, these commitments represent a structural shift in how the region plans its future energy system.

mena renewable outlook
Source: IEF

Solar Leads an Unprecedented Expansion

Solar power has become the engine behind MENA’s renewable energy growth.

  • The IEF estimates the region could install between 220 GW and 450 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity by 2035, allowing solar to provide roughly 25% of regional electricity generation.

This rapid expansion is supported by some of the world’s most competitive renewable energy markets. Public auctions held across the region have consistently produced record-low electricity prices.

In 2024, utility-scale solar projects achieved prices between $10 and $13 per megawatt-hour, while onshore wind projects secured bids ranging from $16 to $17 per megawatt-hour.

Several factors explain these exceptionally low costs:

  • Excellent solar irradiation across desert regions
  • Large-scale project development
  • Long-term power purchase agreements
  • Strong government support that lowers investment risk

The region is also home to several of the world’s largest renewable energy developments. Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, for example, is expanding toward 5 GW of installed capacity, demonstrating how MENA countries are building renewable projects at a scale rarely seen elsewhere.

Solar MENA
Source: IEF

Project Pipeline Shows Strong Momentum

Recent data from Dii Desert Energy indicates that the region has entered what it describes as an “exponential growth phase.”

Operational renewable capacity reached 43.7 GW by the end of 2025, while the total development pipeline climbed to approximately 202 GW. This growing pipeline places the region much closer to achieving its renewable energy ambitions for 2030.

Renewable energy mena
Source: dii-desertenergy

Solar continues to dominate the expansion.

Installed solar PV capacity increased to 34.5 GW by the end of 2025, representing a sharp rise compared with previous years. Even more impressive is the development pipeline, where solar accounts for roughly 130 GW of future capacity.

Together, these figures suggest that renewable deployment across MENA is accelerating rather than slowing, with utility-scale projects driving most of the growth.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE Are Setting the Pace

Several countries are emerging as regional leaders, but Saudi Arabia has become the primary growth engine.

  • The kingdom nearly tripled its renewable capacity within a single year, increasing operational capacity to 11.7 GW.
  • Massive investments, supported by the country’s Vision 2030 strategy, continue to drive renewable deployment at an unprecedented pace.

Saudi Arabia also boasts some of the world’s lowest renewable electricity costs, helping attract both domestic and international investors.

The United Arab Emirates remains another major clean energy leader.

Construction is underway on a groundbreaking 5.2 GW solar project paired with 19 GWh of battery storage, designed to provide 1 GW of continuous baseload renewable electricity. The project demonstrates how large-scale battery storage is becoming an essential component of the region’s renewable energy strategy by improving grid reliability and reducing dependence on conventional power generation.

Wind Energy Continues to Gain Ground

Although solar dominates new installations, wind energy is steadily expanding across the region. Operational wind capacity reached 7.4 GW, while another 65 GW remains under development.

 

  • Egypt currently leads MENA with more than 3 GW of installed wind capacity, followed by Morocco with approximately 2.4 GW.

Much of the recent growth came from Egypt, where two major projects entered operation during 2025.

The Amunet Wind Farm added 505 MW, while the Red Sea Wind Energy Phase II project reached its full 650 MW capacity. Morocco also expanded its renewable portfolio by completing the 60 MW Dakhla Desalination Wind Farm.

  • Looking ahead, Saudi Arabia is expected to become one of the largest wind markets in the region. Several major projects have already secured financing, including the 2 GW Starah Wind Project and the 1 GW Shaqra Wind Project. Both developments are expected to begin operations between late 2027 and early 2028.

Although wind deployment is progressing more slowly than solar, the growing pipeline indicates that it will remain an important part of MENA’s diversified renewable energy mix.

solar and wind mena
Source: dii-desertenergy

Green Hydrogen Is Becoming the Next Growth Opportunity

Beyond electricity generation, MENA is increasingly positioning itself as a future global supplier of clean hydrogen.

The International Energy Forum notes that hydrogen has become a central feature of regional climate strategies since 2022. Governments increasingly view hydrogen as both a decarbonization tool and an opportunity to build entirely new export industries.

Hydrogen can help reduce emissions in sectors that are difficult to electrify, including steel production, chemicals, aviation, shipping, and heavy industry. It can also improve energy storage and strengthen long-term energy security.

Green hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity and electrolysis, dominates regional plans. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), more than 85% of announced hydrogen capacity across MENA involves green hydrogen projects.

However, several Gulf countries are also investing in blue hydrogen, which combines natural gas with carbon capture technologies. Policymakers see blue hydrogen as a practical transition pathway that can generate export revenues while renewable electricity capacity continues expanding.

Today, 17 MENA countries have launched hydrogen-related initiatives through national strategies, pilot projects, partnerships, or memoranda of understanding.

  • Many governments envision producing between 5 million and 10 million tonnes of clean hydrogen annually by 2040, aligning these plans with broader net-zero commitments extending to 2050.
Green hydrogen mena
Source: dii-desertenergy

Projects Are Advancing, but Challenges Remain

Despite ambitious announcements, commercial hydrogen deployment remains in its early stages. According to Dii Desert Energy, only two pilot projects are currently operational across the region. Both are located in the UAE.

DEWA Green Hydrogen Pilot Plant

The first is the DEWA Green Hydrogen Pilot Plant, which operates a 1.25 MW PEM electrolyzer. The second is the Masdar–Emirates Steel demonstration project, which uses green hydrogen to produce low-carbon steel.

By the end of 2025, only five hydrogen projects had reached financial close and moved into construction or early implementation.

NEOM Green Hydrogen Project

The flagship project remains Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, currently about 80% complete. Scheduled for commissioning during the first quarter of 2027, the facility will become the world’s largest green hydrogen project.

The project combines 4 GW of dedicated solar and wind power with 2.2 GW of electrolyzers to produce approximately 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia annually, creating one of the largest renewable-powered industrial complexes ever developed.

saudi arabia neom
Source: IEF

Ambition Is High, but Execution Must Accelerate

While long-term goals remain impressive, implementation has not kept pace.

Current estimates place MENA’s planned electrolyzer capacity between 200 GW and 230 GW, although much of this is concentrated within a handful of mega-projects. The 17 largest projects alone account for approximately 118 GW of proposed capacity.

Developers are also scaling back some of the earliest announcements to improve project feasibility. Mauritania’s Project Megaton Moon, for instance, was originally proposed at 35 GW but has since been reduced to 6 GW, reflecting more realistic financing and construction timelines.

Regional hydrogen strategies still target around 10 million tonnes of annual clean hydrogen production by 2030, with green hydrogen expected to contribute the majority of output.

However, progress has been slower than expected. Limited final investment decisions, financing delays, regulatory uncertainty, and infrastructure challenges have pushed back several projects. As each year passes without significant construction activity, achieving the 2030 production target becomes increasingly difficult.

Even so, MENA’s overall clean energy trajectory remains firmly upward. Rapid solar deployment, expanding wind capacity, competitive renewable electricity costs, and growing hydrogen investments are steadily reshaping the region’s energy landscape.

.

Climate Resilience Emerges as Private Equity Strategy

Climate Resilience Emerges as Private Equity Strategy

Jul 10, 2026

Aerial view of a coastal city with skyscrapers, streets, and sea at sunset, showcasing urban life.  by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels

.

Climate resilience emerges as private equity value driver

.

by Piyasi Mitra
Funds Europe – 10 July 2026
Climate resilience emerges as private equity value driver

.

Improving physical climate resilience across portfolio companies can help protect earnings, expand EBITDA and support stronger exit outcomes as traditional buyout strategies become less effective, according to the findings.

Operational disruption caused by climate-related events is becoming a financial risk for investors. Unwritten has estimated that unplanned downtime costs the world’s 500 largest companies almost $1.4tn each year.

The researchers have identified six operational areas where firms can improve financial performance while reducing climate-related risks. These include carrying out site-level risk assessments to improve insurance terms, reducing operational downtime through targeted adaptation measures, strengthening ESG reporting to help companies meet customer procurement requirements, improving supply chain resilience through diversified sourcing, using climate data to access more favourable sustainability-linked financing, and demonstrating climate resilience during vendor due diligence to support higher exit valuations.

Climate adaptation strategies could contribute to a 6-7% uplift in exit multiples by providing buyers with greater confidence in the long-term resilience of portfolio companies, according to the findings.

cScientific Climate Ratings launches sovereign climate risk framework

Many firms struggle to turn climate risk assessments into operational improvements because traditional fund-level analyses often lack the detail needed by portfolio company management teams. Differences in operational maturity, resource constraints and limited site-specific data have also slowed implementation.

To address these challenges, the firm has introduced a decentralised operating model through its cloud-based Unwritten Workspaces platform. The system aims to give portfolio companies access to site-level climate risk assessments. It includes assessments covering 18 physical climate hazards, AI-generated adaptation recommendations and automated data collection to accelerate the development of mitigation plans.

The report cited private equity firms Hg and Oakley Capital as examples of investors using ongoing climate risk assessments to monitor portfolio companies and support operational resilience planning.

“Our customers are increasingly engaging their deal teams and value creation colleagues in discussions about preventative investments that safeguard portfolio company revenues. Strengthening operational resilience to climate risks belongs firmly in the value creation plan” said Phillip Marks, CEO of Unwritten.

.

An Environmental Catastrophe Has Also Wrecked Iran’s Economy

An Environmental Catastrophe Has Also Wrecked Iran’s Economy

Jul 9, 2026

View of Tehran cityscape featuring the Milad Tower surrounded by hills under hazy skies. by Masih Shahbazi via Pexels

.

Iran’s environmental catastrophe has also wrecked its economy

.

Nima Shokri, United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg

.

For several decades, Iran has devoted substantial financial, institutional and political resources to military expansion. It has invested heavily in supporting its regional partners, as well as in pursuing geopolitical influence across the Middle East.

Previously, the Islamic Republic has shown few signs of swivelling its resources toward fixing its ever expanding environmental problems.

And those problems are considerable. Around 11% of deaths and 52% of the burden of diseases across the country are attributable to environmental risk factors, according to the World Health Organization.

Excessive groundwater extraction has caused buildings and roads to crack and sometimes collapse. Iran’s capital Tehran is often ranked as having the worst levels of air pollution in the world. In 2025 local media reported 350 deaths caused by poor air quality within a ten-day period. Hospitals at the time reported rising numbers of cases of respiratory and cardiac complications across Iran.

Lake Urmia – once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake – has dried out, leaving salt-laden dust plumes were capable of travelling hundreds of kilometres and even crossing national borders in less than 12 hours.

The peace agreement that is being hammered out between the US and Iran’s leaders could hand Tehran a significant financial asset. It may unfreeze Iranian assets in foreign banks that they were previously unable to access due to US sanctions. This will give the government access to billions of dollars. Iran is also now exporting millions of barrels of crude oil that had been held in storage during the conflict.

The question then is where will all this money be spent.

Many analysts suggest a massive reconstruction project is needed to rebuild damaged factories, roads, and other essential infrastructure. While it thought highly unlikely that Tehran will see environmental investment as its top priority, the approach could provide major economic benefits.

Iran is now using its groundwater far faster than it can be naturally replenished. As a result, major lakes and wetlands are drying up. Water shortages are undermining agriculture, and forcing some rural communities to leave their farms. Studies indicate that approximately 56,000 km2 (3.5%) of the country’s area is subject to land subsidence, caused by excessive groundwater extraction.

Air pollution imposes significant public health and productivity costs. This contributes to thousands of premature deaths each year, and reduces labour productivity through illness and absenteeism. Dust and salinity storms continue to hit many parts of the country. They damage crops and soils, increase respiratory disease, disrupt daily life, and make already vulnerable regions harder to inhabit.

Rich rewards

When a state destroys its basic natural resources, it is not merely experiencing an ecological downturn. Natural systems (water, soil, ecosystems) are the foundations of any country. Without them, a nation has severely undermined its long-term economic output: farms disappear, road and rail systems crack and break, and people struggle to live.

A peace dividend from the US deal could therefore present Tehran with a rare moment of strategic re-evaluation and a chance to fix its long-term environmental problems. A different approach could generate long-term value, economic stability and, potentially, improved public health outcomes.

A serious national investment, and reconstruction, programme needs to focus on repairing leaking urban water networks, restoring wetlands and forests that regulate water and reduce dust storms. It could also upgrade ageing water and energy infrastructure, and redesigning cities to better withstand drought, extreme heat, and air pollution. It would also create jobs and mobilise high-skilled labour across engineering, science, manufacturing and technology sectors. This would begin reversing decades of damage to the natural systems on which Iran’s economy depends.

Iran is struggling with extreme levels of air pollution.

What needs work?

Restoring depleted aquifers, rehabilitating degraded land and modernising water and energy systems would increase the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services while reducing the long-term costs associated with environmental degradation.

Iran should see environmental restoration as its most important long-term growth strategy. A national investment programme could be centred on modern irrigation networks, wastewater recycling and reuse. These alongside renewable energy, and ecosystem recovery, would be a massive economic engine.

More efficient water use would strengthen food security. Investments in infrastructure would continue generating economic returns long after the initial capital has been spent.

Legal caps on groundwater abstraction, and economic diversification away from water-intensive crops are essential. Improved irrigation and wastewater reuse plus adjusting water pricing to reflect scarcity would also help.

This approach could not only be a valuable peace dividend for the Iranian people, but also a massive economic boost. Those financial benefits may have some appeal to a government which has ignored many of these environmental problems for so long.The Conversation

.

Nima Shokri, Executive Co-Director, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg

.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Cities Can’t Afford to Keep Treating Trees Correctly

Cities Can’t Afford to Keep Treating Trees Correctly

Jul 8, 2026

A quiet urban street corner with sunlit trees and scattered autumn leaves. by Pexels User via pexels

Cities can't afford to keep treating trees like decoration
07-03-2026

Cities can’t afford to keep treating trees like decoration

Andrei Ionescu
Earth.com staff writer
GoogleFollow Earth on Google

Stand under a big old tree on a sweltering afternoon and you’ll understand something city planners are only now starting to take seriously: that shade isn’t decoration. It’s doing a job.

Trees are cooling the block, catching stormwater before it floods the street, and scrubbing pollution out of the air a person’s actually breathing.

A new study, written by more than 60 scientists spanning dozens of countries, makes the case that most cities still can’t quite bring themselves to treat trees like the infrastructure they clearly are.

The team behind it is led by Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez from Western Sydney University and Bangor University, with Mark G. Tjoelker from Western Sydney University as senior author.

Trees need time to grow

You can plant a sapling in twenty minutes. Growing an actual canopy, the kind that meaningfully cools a neighborhood though, takes decades.

So when a mature tree comes down, a city doesn’t just lose a tree. It loses thirty or forty years of accumulated shade, habitat, and carbon storage, and there’s no fast way to buy that back.

And yet trees keep losing these fights. Developers clear them because it’s cheaper and faster and penalties for illegal removal are often too weak to sting.

City budgets tend to fund the planting photo-op but not the years of watering, pruning, and pest management that actually keep a tree alive.

The researchers want stiffer enforcement, real tax incentives for landowners who keep mature trees standing, and minimum canopy requirements written into law rather than left to goodwill.

They even suggest big infrastructure projects, the kind that usually flatten everything in their path, could be redesigned to grow canopy instead of erasing it.

Not every neighborhood gets the shade

Wealthy neighborhoods, almost everywhere researchers have looked, tend to be noticeably leafier than poor ones.

Meanwhile, it’s the low-income neighborhoods that usually catch the worst of the heat and the dirtiest air.

The trees, in other words, tend to show up exactly where they’re needed least.

Closing that gap takes more than a citywide average that quietly hides the worst blocks.

Greening neighborhoods without displacing residents

The authors want targets set neighborhood by neighborhood.

They also want the people who actually live there, including Indigenous communities, involved in deciding what gets planted and where – rather than having greenery imposed on them from a planning office.

There’s a warning too: planting lots of trees without a plan can trigger green gentrification, raising rents and pushing out the very residents the trees were meant to benefit.

The only real fix, the researchers argue, is tying tree policy directly to housing policy instead of treating them as two separate departments that never talk.

Trees barely show up in climate policy

Given how much trees do, it’s almost strange how absent they are from the major climate and biodiversity agreements that actually move money and political will.

The authors want that fixed, with urban forests written explicitly into national climate plans, biodiversity strategies, and the commitments countries make under frameworks like the Paris Agreement.

Money remains the sticking point. Estimates put the global price tag for nature-based climate solutions, urban forests among them, at well over $500 billion a year.

Most current funding covers the ribbon-cutting moment of planting a tree and stops right there, leaving the decades of upkeep that actually determine whether that tree survives unfunded and, often, forgotten.

The study points to newer tools like green bonds, biodiversity credits, and tracking programs such as Tree Cities of the World as ways to start closing that gap, rather than continuing to fund trees like a one-time expense.

Many cities fail to keep record of trees

Maybe the most surprising finding here isn’t political, it’s logistical. Plenty of cities simply don’t keep good records on their own trees.

Nobody’s tracking which newly planted saplings actually survive their first few summers, which species are struggling, or how unevenly canopy is spread across town.

Without that information, cities are essentially guessing whether their tree policies work at all.

The scientists push for cheaper, sharper tools, satellite imagery, AI-assisted monitoring, to close that data gap, especially for less rich cities.

City trees should be diversified

The team also flags a quieter risk: planting the same few species block after block. It looks tidy, but it’s fragile.

One well-timed pest or disease can wipe out an entire city’s canopy in a single outbreak.

Instead, the researchers argue that cities should diversify their tree populations. Non-native species can be included where they are well suited to a hotter, drier future.

At the same time, cities should continue prioritizing native trees while respecting the ecological and cultural context of each place.

An urgent problem

A city’s trees aren’t a nice-to-have thing that gets funded once the “real” priorities are covered.

They’re already doing the work of public health policy, climate defense, and neighborhood fairness, whether or not anyone’s paying for it that way.

The authors don’t treat this as a distant problem. Cities keep growing and heatwaves keep getting worse.

Thus, the decisions being made right now – about which trees get to stay standing and which neighborhoods get to keep their shade – will quietly decide how livable those cities feel for decades after the people making those decisions are gone.

The study is published in the journal PLOS One.

—-

.

 

.

We Can’t Air-Condition Our Way Out of a Hotter Future

We Can’t Air-Condition Our Way Out of a Hotter Future

Jul 7, 2026

Beige concrete building with air conditioning units under a clear blue sky, showcasing minimalist urban architecture. by Abdelrhman Magdy via Pexels

.

 

We can’t air-condition our way out of a hotter future, says UNSW expert

UNSW Newsroom – 2 July 2026
Samantha Dunn
Samantha Dunn

A new global review argues passive cooling technology must become central to climate adaptation.

As temperatures rise around the world, air conditioning is saving lives. But a growing reliance on it is also placing unprecedented pressure on electricity grids, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and making cities even hotter.

A global review led by UNSW Sydney’s Professor Mat Santamouris AM – an expert in innovative heat mitigation technologies and strategies for cities, opens in a new window – argues that keeping buildings cool without relying solely on air conditioning will be critical for adapting to climate change.

Published in Nature Reviews Clean Technology, opens in a new window, the review examines the latest advances in passive cooling technologies, from emerging materials for radiative, evaporative and combined radiative/evaporative cooling to sophisticated solar control systems and personalised intelligent ventilation technologies that can help buildings shed heat without consuming electricity.

Prof. Santamouris says passive cooling should no longer be viewed as a niche architectural feature, but as essential infrastructure for a warming world, opens in a new window.

“Air conditioning saves lives and will remain essential during extreme heat,” he says. “But we cannot air-condition our way out of climate change. If every building depends entirely on mechanical cooling, we create enormous pressure on electricity systems while adding even more heat to our cities.”

Summer street scene in Firenze, Italy, during a heatwave. People walking under the strong Tuscan sunlight with refreshing water mist in the urban atmosphere.

As European cities experience some of their hottest recorded temperatures over recent weeks the question about how to keep populations cool is front of mind.Photo: Richard Vanlerberghe / Unsplash

Demand for cooling is soaring

The review highlights the rapid growth in cooling demand worldwide, opens in a new window. Global electricity consumption for cooling has reached almost 10 per cent of total electricity use, opens in a new window, with around 10 new air conditioners sold every second, opens in a new window. By 2050, the number of residential air-conditioning units is projected to increase to almost 5.6 billion worldwide, opens in a new window.

At the same time, billions of people living in hot climates still lack access to affordable cooling, opens in a new window.

Cooling buildings without relying on air conditioning

Passive cooling technologies, opens in a new window offer a way to reduce energy demand while making buildings safer and more comfortable, particularly for vulnerable communities.

“The best cooling strategy is to stop unwanted heat entering buildings in the first place. Shading, reflective materials, opens in a new window, smarter ventilation, opens in a new window and new cooling materials can dramatically reduce indoor temperatures before an air conditioner even needs to switch on,” says Prof. Santamouris.

Rather than replacing air conditioning, Prof. Santamouris and coauthor Dr Konstantina Vasilakopoulou from RMIT argue passive cooling should become the first layer of defence, with mechanical systems providing additional cooling only when required.

The review evaluates emerging innovative technologies, such as super-cool materials, combined radiative/evaporative coatings, sophisticated external shading systems and personalised ventilation, as well as known passive cooling technologies such as reflective cooling materials that release heat directly into the atmosphere and hybrid cooling systems that combine multiple passive approaches.

Integrating passive cooling strategies with efficient building design could reduce cooling demand by as much as 80 per cent, opens in a new window in hot climates while lowering peak electricity demand and improving resilience during power outages, according to the review.

 

The buildings we construct today will still be standing in 2050 and beyond. They need to be designed for the climate they will experience, not the climate we had in the past.
Professor Mat Santamouris AM

Cooler cities, healthier communities

Beyond reducing energy use, the researchers say passive cooling can make cities healthier and more resilient as extreme heat events become more frequent.

Keeping buildings and neighbourhoods cooler can reduce the risk of heat-related illness, ease pressure on electricity networks during heatwaves and improve comfort for people who cannot afford to run air conditioners. Passive cooling measures can also help buildings remain safer during power outages, when mechanical cooling systems are unavailable.

Prof. Santamouris says the greatest benefits will come from combining passive cooling with efficient air conditioning, rather than treating them as competing approaches.

“There is no single solution to keeping cities cool. We need a whole-system approach that starts with climate-responsive building design, shading and better materials, then uses the most efficient cooling technologies only when they are really needed.”

The review calls for stronger building standards and planning policies that encourage climate-responsive design, alongside investment in technologies that reduce heat entering buildings and lessen demand on electricity infrastructure as cities continue to warm.

Designing buildings for tomorrow’s climate

Buildings designed today will need to withstand a much hotter climate over coming decades, says Prof. Santamouris.

“The buildings we construct today will still be standing in 2050 and beyond. They need to be designed for the climate they will experience, not the climate we had in the past.”

In order to achieve this governments should strengthen building standards, support passive cooling technologies and improve access to affordable cooling for lower-income communities.

Prof. Santamouris says these measures could deliver significant benefits for public health, energy security and climate resilience.

“Cooling should not be a luxury available only to those who can afford rising electricity bills. Better building design can reduce costs, improve comfort and help protect the people most vulnerable to extreme heat,” he says.

.

 

[subscribe2]

.