Professor Adam Hanieh: 'Greening the Gulf? Renewables, Fossil Capitalism, and the ‘East-East’ Axis of World Energy'

Drawing upon his recent book Crude Capitalism (Verso 2024), Adam Hanieh explores the  growing role of the six Gulf Arab states (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman) in solar, wind, and other climate technologies that underpin dominant approaches to the 'Green Transition'. He situates this in the Gulf’s ongoing fossil fuel production, as well as the emergence of a new ‘East-East’ energy circuit that links the Middle East and China/East Asia, encompassing fossil fuels, petrochemicals, and renewables. The lecture will examine the implications of this for the possible future trajectories of the climate emergency, especially in the context of the current war against Iran.