Introduction to Qatar

Qatar, a small, peninsular, desert-covered state in the Arabian Peninsula, has a population of 2.7 million1 , of which only 1% is rural.2 As a hyper-arid country, Qatar faces a uniform hot desert climate with low levels of nutrient-rich land.3 This makes Qatar extremely vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, including severe water scarcity, rising sea levels, droughts, and sand and dust storms.4 The country also has an unequal population distribution, with the Doha metropolitan area comprising almost 82% of the population.5 With its vast oil and gas reserves, sheer production capabilities, and strategic location in international trade routes, Qatar has quickly become one of the world's wealthiest and most powerful states. Qatar attracts millions of migrants for employment, resulting in over 89% of Qatar being expatriates6 and a total migrant labor force of over 2 million people.7 Further, because most of these expatriate workers are men, Qatar has the largest discrepancy in sex ratio in the world, with 266 males per 100 females in the country.8 This dominance by foreigners in Qatar has resulted in the country pursuing a strategic initiative called Qatarization, where the government aims to permanently employ 50% of Qataris in the private and public sectors.9 Qatar is a constitutional monarchy ruled by a hereditary monarch with full executive and legislative authority.10  

Mapping Climate Events & Climate-Induced Displacement

Qatar is highly susceptible to the effects of the climate crisis and is considered one of only three countries in the Persian Gulf that demonstrate “extreme” vulnerability to sea level rise.11 Since 18.2% of its territory and 13.7% of its population reside less than 5 meters above sea level, inland flooding is a real possibility for the country.12 This is further exacerbated given that over 97% of Qatar lives in dense urban settlements along the coast,13 where the climate crisis has a more critical impact due to low elevations and a high population density.14 Qatar’s coast is also home to crucial industrial infrastructure, such as oil and gas facilities and export terminals, petrochemicals factories, and power-generating facilities.15 This vulnerability was exposed during the 2018 Qatari flash floods, where heavy rains led to flooding that caused severe infrastructure disruption, affected more than a thousand individuals, and caused over $11.8 million in damage.16 Desertification is also a pressing concern, as the total Qatari groundwater reservoir has declined by 25% due to poor irrigation practices and water overuse.17 This has also led to Qatar being classified as one of 17 countries suffering from an extremely high water stress level at a rate of 280%.18 Further, migrant workers are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, as they face prolonged working hours and unfair and abusive working conditions in the extreme heat. This disparity was highlighted with the preparation for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, where migrant workers frequently worked 10+ hours in temperatures up to 113°F, leading to over 6,500 migrant deaths—an average of 2 migrant deaths a day.19

Mapping the Costs of Climate Crisis

The GDP of Bahrain is $235.8 billion,20 while it has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the world at $94,028.6.21 Historically, oil and gas have played a crucial role in the growth of Qatar’s economy, as the country holds 30% of the world’s proven gas reserves.22 In comparison, oil accounts for 80% of all export earnings and 70% of government revenues.23 Although the country has begun diversifying its economy, Qatar is still highly vulnerable to external shocks as it has a single-point failure through hydrocarbons. The climate crisis can further exacerbate this, as it is expected to cause a 31% decrease in national earnings.24 Further, due to Qatar’s extreme dependency on desalination, increasing desalination capacity to meet water demand for the growing population would potentially cost millions of dollars. Since the Qatari transportation sector contributes to almost 14% of all GHG emissions, a more efficient public transportation would reduce the social cost of carbon (SCC) in Qatar by 2050 by up to $380,005,861, while a more improved fuel economy yields a social cost-benefit of $386,029,708 by 2050.25 It is also crucial to note that Qatar has a practically nonexistent agricultural sector because only 2.5% of its territory is arable.26 At the same time, water scarcity and extreme heat conditions make it account for less than 0.2% of GDP.27 This has led Qatar to import over 90% of its food to meet local demand,28 giving it a high risk of food insecurity and posing a significant threat to the island’s future food security and distribution operations in the face of the climate crisis. 

Mapping Resilience and Mitigation Pathways

Despite only making up 0.04% of the world’s population, Qatar produces 0.3% of global GHG emissions, making it one of the world's highest emitters of GHG per capita.29 While this will initially prove a challenge because of its massive economic dependence on hydrocarbons, the kingdom does recognize the global repercussions of the climate crisis and has pledged to reduce its GHG emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to BAU levels.30 Further, the 2021 Qatari National Environment and Climate Change Strategy has plans to establish new carbon storage plants, rationalize residential electricity and water consumption, adopt new electric vehicle strategies for public transportation, enhance biodiversity, restore marine biodiversity, and prepare a new framework for climate finance.31 The country also aims to meet 20% of total energy demand from renewable energy by 2030 through sources like wind and solar.32 Additionally, Qatar aims to increase liquified natural gas (LNG) capacity by 85% since it is one of the cleanest fossil fuels and helps transition to sustainable energy sources.33 On a global scale, Qatar recognizes the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis and has contributed $100 million to small, developing nations in addressing the crisis and subsequent environmental challenges.34

Necessary Changes

Although Qatar has been making significant progress through mitigation measures, the country still needs to implement countless changes as it transitions to a low-carbon economy, faces further water crises, protects against sea level rise, and adapts to the challenging impacts of the climate crisis. When looking at emission generation, the energy sector accounts for over 86% of all CO2 emissions, while total production consumption-based emissions increased by over 700%, and electricity consumption went up by 930% over the past three decades.35 This illustrates the immediate necessity of the country to implement more efficient energy use through strategies like gradually removing energy subsidies, prioritizing renewable energy, expanding carbon capture storage, and further developing its blue hydrogen value chains.36 The transportation sector also needs to be heavily decarbonized and diversified since it has one of the highest dependencies on private vehicles in the Gulf region, resulting in higher carbon emissions and traffic congestion.37 On an institutional level, the government must promote and strengthen policies that encourage cooperation and information sharing while strengthening climate forecasting facilities and developing disaster response systems.22 A more efficient land use system and water management system also need to be developed for the agricultural and private sectors as droughts and extreme weather conditions continue to strain current resources.16 To ensure national stability, the peninsula must enhance coastal resilience to sea level rise by implementing mitigation measures like engineering physical barriers, elevating populated areas, and constructing more resilient infrastructure susceptible to saltwater intrusion.38