EDITORIAL
FINDING OUR WAY, ANOTHER WAY
Dear Reader, “A horse knows the road, even if its rider does not,” goes an old Mongol proverb – a reminder that there are many kinds of knowledge, and that we should trust the intelligence and instincts of others, especially the local knowledge of partners, when travelling through unknown territory. In this edition, we hear from OPEC Fund Vice President, Strategy Musab Alomar who sets the scene and talks about our next phase of climate action. Having already surpassed our 40 percent of portfolio target, we delve into the complex world of climate risk and development finance. “Climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water scarcity and development constraints do not occur in isolation. They reinforce one another, and our response therefore also needs to be integrated,” said Vice President Alomar (pages 10-13). As climate change transforms the skies above and the earth below, the OPEC Fund has been on the road, sharing and debating ideas at the latest UN Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings on desertification, biodiversity and climate change (pages 5-9). At the first of these meetings, Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers Association, lamented the lack of a global drought agreement: “We cannot wait for COP18 for solutions.” The next conference is scheduled for 2028.
In our home city of Vienna, we venture off the beaten track for a walking tour inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Together we discover how the local authorities have long been ahead of their time, in climate and social terms, in creating one of the most “livable” cities in the world. We also take a look at a new report from the Asian Development Bank on the effects of heat stress in Thailand, where marine heat waves, made worse by El Niño, threaten two key sectors: agriculture and tourism. The report details what the country is doing to counteract these deadly temperatures as well as what other parts of the world are doing to beat the heat themselves (pages 20-22). Finally, we see how young scientists from the Middle East are overcoming their climate anxiety: using spatial data to track climate risk and inform decision-making (pages 23-25). A Geographic Information Systems specialist, Qamar Al-Mimi of Jordan, said: “Despite the challenges, I remain optimistic. Every project, whether it focuses on dust storms, floods, biodiversity or water scarcity, contributes to a greater understanding of the risks we face and the actions we can take.” We wish you an enjoyable (and perhaps even a hopeful) read.
We should trust the intelligence and instincts of others, especially the local knowledge of partners, when travelling through unknown territory.
A key development in 2026 has been the focus on water, beginning in April with the World Bank-led Water Forward initiative and culminating in December in the UN Water Conference in the United Arab Emirates. That’s reason enough for us to take a closer look at the OPEC Fund’s activities in this sector. We’re reviewing the results of decades of efforts and analyzing the lessons learned along the way. Looking ahead, our new goals are “Water for
People,” “Water for Food” and “Water for Planet” (pages 14-19).
Howard Hudson, Senior Editor
4
Powered by FlippingBook