Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition: A View From Saudi Arabia

About the ProjectThis paper draws on KAPSARC’s energy productivity work focused on how shifting to a growth model based around higher energy productivity can benefit Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Energy productivity is both a policy agenda focusing on how energy can best be used to create value in the economy, and an indicator which integrates economic growth with energy consumption. At the macroeconomic level, energy productivity describes how much GDP can be produced using an amount of energy. It is the mathematical inverse of energy intensity and is both a reflection of what activities energy is used for (the structural make-up for the economy), and how well energy is used in specific activities (the level of energy efficiency). At the microeconomic level energy productivity focuses on how much revenue is produced from economic activities per unit of energy consumption. This is related but distinct from energy efficiency which focuses on how much physical output is produced per unit of energy consumption. KAPSARC has partnered with UNESCWA to explore the energy productivity potential of Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and will release a synthesis report of this work later in 2017. Key PointsA common priority across G20 countries is the need to reinvigorate economies through an economic transformation that delivers a higher level of better quality growth. At KAPSARC, the need to improve economic growth and deliver climate goals agreed at COP21 in Paris is being investigated using an energy productivity framework, or how greater value can be obtained from the energy system for each unit of energy consumed. Energy productivity is an economic planning tool that is increasingly being used in G20 countries to help achieve sustainable development goals. Its key elements are structural change towards higher value added economic activities and improving energy efficiency. A focus on lifting productivity across the economy aligns naturally with the need to lift overall economic productivity, which is the main long-term driver of growth.Faced with the current extended period of weak international growth and low commodity prices, Saudi Arabia has intensified diversification efforts aimed at more sustained and sustainable economic development. Key elements of the diversification strategy involve boosting private sector investment and improving business conditions; a significant fiscal stimulus to households and industry; increasing energy prices to help diversify government revenue and support structural change and energy efficiency in the economy; and increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix. Such pro-growth measures to realign the Saudi economy towards a higher-value added, more energy efficient economy will lift the Kingdom’s energy productivity and contribute to achieving its Nationally Determined Commitment to avoid 130 million tons of CO2-e as set out at COP21 in Paris.

关于本项目：本文借鉴了KAPSARC在能源生产率领域的研究成果，探讨转向以更高能源生产率为核心的增长模式如何惠及沙特阿拉伯以及海湾合作委员会各国。能源生产率不仅是一项关注如何最佳利用能源以创造经济价值的政策议程，而且是一个将经济增长与能源消耗相结合的指标。在宏观经济层面，能源生产率描述了利用一定量的能源可以生产多少GDP。它是能源强度的倒数，既反映了能源使用的活动结构（经济的结构性构成），也体现了特定活动中能源的使用效率（能源效率水平）。在微观经济层面，能源生产率关注的是每单位能源消耗所产生多少经济活动收入。这与关注每单位能源消耗产生多少物理输出的能源效率概念相关联，但又有区别。KAPSARC与联合国经济社会委员会（UNESCWA）合作，探讨了沙特阿拉伯以及海湾合作委员会各国的能源生产率潜力，并将在此后的2017年发布一份工作综合报告。重点内容：G20各国普遍关注的一个共同优先事项是通过实现更高水平、更高质量的经济增长来重振经济。在KAPSARC，我们正在利用能源生产率框架研究如何通过提高能源系统每个能源消费单位的价值来实现提高经济增长和履行在巴黎COP21达成的气候目标。能源生产率是一种经济规划工具，越来越多地被G20国家采用，以帮助实现可持续发展目标。其关键要素包括向更高附加值经济活动的结构性转变和提升能源效率。关注提升整个经济的生产率，自然与提升整体经济生产率的需求相一致，这是经济增长的主要长期驱动力。面对当前国际经济增长疲软和商品价格低廉的长期时期，沙特阿拉伯加强了多元化努力，旨在实现更持续和可持续的经济增长。多元化战略的关键要素包括增加私营部门投资和改善商业环境；对家庭和工业实施显著的财政刺激；提高能源价格，以帮助多元化政府收入并支持经济中的结构性转变和能源效率；以及增加可再生能源在能源结构中的份额。这些促进增长的措施旨在将沙特经济重新定位为更高附加值、更节能的经济体，从而提升王国的能源生产率，有助于实现其在巴黎COP21设定的避免排放13亿吨二氧化碳当量的国家自主贡献。