About the author: Cinzia Bianco is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, where she works on political, security, and economic developments in the Gulf, as well as the region’s relations with Europe. She holds a PhD in Gulf studies from the University of Exeter. Between 2013 and 2014, Bianco was a research fellow on Shara

Energy engagement between Europe and the Gulf monarchies accelerated after the energy security crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It now needs to move from conversations about tactical needs to strategic cooperation, which factors in climate imperatives. With its self-perceived position of strength, the UAE is clearly intent on del

The Gulf monarchies – where aviation is a major business – have also shown interest in e-fuels. In 2021, the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and the World Economic Forum, along with the Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition, collaborated on a white paper called “Power-to-Liquids Roadmap: Fuelling the Aviation Energy Transition in t

European and GCC producers, transmission system operators, and distributors need new frameworks for dialogue on interconnections. This needs especially to address the prospect of linking the GCC-wide transmission grid to, for example, its European counterpart ENTSO-E. Plans for such an interconnection have gained momentum since a 2021 deal between

transition without fossil fuel producers having to compromise their hydrocarbons-funded economic growth. This thinking very much reflects the contradictions of having a major fossil fuel producer host the conference – and choosing as the president of that conference Sultan al-Jaber, who runs ADNOC as well as Masdar, one of the country’s largest