Navigating Change: How Renewable Energy is Meeting Economic Concerns in the MENA Region
Amid continuing shifts in global energy dynamics, Gulf countries are rebalancing their energy mix and investment strategies—using renewables as a key pillar to diversify portfolios and unlock new opportunities. This webinar, co-sponsored by the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, brought together experts to examine what is driving this transition and what it signals for the region’s future. The discussion explores:
-
How economic and technological shifts are shaping the energy transition in Arab Gulf countries
-
The strategic and financial considerations for their energy future
-
How global demand trends and financing frameworks influence their renewable energy trajectory and its potential for replication worldwide
The event concluded with an audience Q&A, offering insights into the intersection of energy, policy, and economic development.
Columbia Global Center Amman advances knowledge sharing through public events, research projects, educational workshops, and practical trainings to connect ideas and perspectives across local and global contexts. Contact us to explore opportunities to partner, collaborate, or participate in our upcoming programs and events. We continue to build on our work together across our key thematic areas.
Speaker Spotlight
Karen E. Young is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University in the Center on Global Energy Policy. She was founding director of the Program on Economics and Energy at the Middle East Institute and remains a non-resident senior fellow. She was a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and has been a professorial lecturer at George Washington University, teaching courses on the international relations of the Middle East. She regularly teaches at the US Dept of State Foreign Service Institute and at Columbia’s SIPA. Earlier, she was Senior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Middle East Centre. She led a seminar series on emerging markets in MENA at Johns Hopkins SAIS. At the American University of Sharjah, she served as Assistant Professor of Political Science from 2009-2014. Prior to joining AUS, she held research and administration roles at New York University.
She is the author of two books: The Economic Statecraft of the Gulf Arab States (2022) and The Political Economy of Energy, Finance and Security in the United Arab Emirates (2014), as well as editor of Energy Transitions of the Middle East (2024) and GCC Hydrocarbon Economies and Covid (2023) and a chapter contributor in: The Economy of Saudi Arabia in the 21st Century (2024), Routledge Companion to China in the Middle East (2023), The Gulf States in the Horn of Africa (2022), and The Economics of Renewable Energy in the Gulf (2019). She has published opinion articles and research in the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Al Monitor, Journal of Arabian Studies, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Current History, Gulf Affairs, Security Dialogue, ISPI, Internationale Politik and Middle East Policy, among other academic and analytical outlets and provided testimony in Congress. Her comments have been featured on NPR, CNBC, CBS, CBC, AFP, in the New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Al Arabiya, Arab News, Debtwire, MEED and MEES.
Her work has been supported by grants from Smith Richardson Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of NY, the Fulbright Program (Ecuador 1997-99; Bulgaria 2005-06), the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Woodrow Wilson Center, US State Department Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), APSA MENA Fellows Program and Emirates Foundation (via LSE). She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Tim Callen is a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Callen is a former assistant director in the Middle East and Central Asia department at the International Monetary Fund. He served as the IMF’s mission chief for Saudi Arabia and as the chief of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ division from 2012-21. He was responsible for the IMF’s engagement with the government of Saudi Arabia and for the institution’s research and publications on the country. He also led the IMF’s research program on the GCC region. From 2021-22, he served as special advisor to the executive director for Saudi Arabia at the IMF’s Executive Board. Callen’s research interests focus on oil exporting countries and include prospects and policies for economic diversification away from oil, frameworks and institutions to limit procyclical fiscal policy, and appropriate exchange rate policies. Callen joined the IMF in 1993 and also worked in the Asia and Pacific, Communications, and Research departments. Before joining the IMF, he worked in the Economic Departments at the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia and at Hambros Bank. He holds a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Essex and a master’s in economics from the University of Warwick.
Jamie Ingram is Senior Editor at MEES where he is responsible for producing content on energy and political developments in the Gulf region and covering global market developments. Prior to joining MEES in 2015 he worked as a MENA analyst at IHS and as a Gulf Researcher at RUSI. He has extensive experience of working and traveling in the Middle East and has conducted in-depth interviews with many of the most senior energy officials in the region. He has a BA in Geography from the University of Nottingham and an MA in Geopolitics, Territory & Security from King’s College London.
Jessica Obeid is an energy engineer and policy consultant with a track record spanning 15+ years. Her extensive experience in engineering, think tanks, and consulting across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa uniquely positions her to contribute to the development of low-carbon energy systems.
Jessica is head of energy transition at SRMG Think and founding partner at New Energy Consult. She has held advisory and consultancy roles at a wide range of entities, including the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, World Bank, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Azure Strategy, and Valpre Capital, among others.