Environmental Economics
Mohamed Alamin
Exploring the potential for Carbon trading ...

Carbon Emissions and their relation to climate change are significant and have large societal and economic impacts globally. This has led to ambitious plans worldwide to promote decarbonisation and move away from fossil fuels as a primary energy source, including the GCC countries, with the example of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pledging to go “carbon neutral” by 2060. This article intends to explore how a carbon trading scheme can help the GCC achieve its “carbon neutrality” status. We explore the following: First, what is a carbon-trading scheme, and what evidence exists of its effectiveness around the world, secondly, we explore the current state of GCC emissions and what these emissions could mean towards the region. Last, we look at the implications of continuous unchecked GCC emissions for the region, and what policy recommendations we can implement to counteract them.

Exploring the potential for Carbon trading schemes in the GCC

Tourism Economics

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Bahrain's tourism segment and its prospects

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Bahrain's tourism segment and its prospects

The travel & tourism segment has become one of the key contributors to the global economy in recent years. Before Covid-19, travel & tourism accounted for 10.3% of the global GDP and was worth over USD 9 trillion (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2019). One out of four newly created jobs stemmed from this segment in 2019. (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2019).

Consequently, Bahrain aims to become a major tourism hub in the region. The Kingdom seeks to implement strategies and policies to boost its tourism segment, provide a competitive edge, and stimulate the local economy. This will create more jobs and diversify economic activity even further away from hydrocarbon-based activities.

In this article, we will assess the current scenario of Bahrain's tourism segment and discuss potential challenges that may impact the prospects of local tourism in the future. This article will be divided into the following sections: An overview of Bahrain's tourism segment, An analysis of the current tourist portfolio, and a discussion plus policy recommendations.