OPEC AND CLIMATE ACTION: ADAPTATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU.F/2026.17.1.055Keywords:
OPEC. Decarbonisation. Global South. Development. International Climate Politics. Climate Action. Rentier States. Net zero emissionsAbstract
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has committed to combating climate change. However, this commitment has confronted its members with two contradictory imperatives. They are sustaining hydrocarbon dependent development and adapting to the global agenda for decarbonisation. As international climate discourse intensifies, OPEC’s traditional rentier models of statecraft face unprecedented strain. This study examines how climate change discourse is reshaping the material and economic environment of OPEC states in the Global South dependent on oil and natural gas rents. Using qualitative data and a political economy approach, the study analyses how OPEC states collectively and individually negotiates the pressures of climate change commitments and national development imperatives. Employing the case studies of Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirate, the article highlights the adaptive strategies of these states. The study finds that these strategies range from economic diversification and renewable energy investments to symbolic green branding and resistance within international climate negotiations. The study concludes that while OPEC members rhetorically embrace aspects of the energy transition agenda, their developmental dependence on hydrocarbons creates a double-bind of climate vulnerability and economic inertia.
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