Thematic Report: Exploiting Resources, Ignoring Rights: A Political Ecology of Water and Energy in the Arab World

Global reliance on fossil fuels remains entrenched. In 2023, oil, natural gas, and coal supplied over 80% of the world’s energy consumption (International Energy Agency (IEA), n.d.). Yet these energy sources are criticized for being the primary contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and a major driver of climate change (Clarke et al, 2022). As global energy demand continues to rise, the push for alternative and “cleaner” energy sources is also accelerating. Renewable technologies such as solar, wind, and green hydrogen are increasingly portrayed by policymakers and scholars as key pathways toward achieving energy sustainability (Chu et al. 2017; United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 2020). Yet, energy production often requires vast amounts of water, whether for fossil fuel extraction, cooling in thermal power plants, hydropower generation, or solar panel maintenance. Conversely, water systems depend on energy for treatment, transport, and desalination. The mutual dependence of energy and water systems has emerged as a critical site for political, environmental, and social consternation. While both academic and grey literature highlight the potential of renewable energy to support continued global economic growth while cutting emissions, its associated social implications and impact on water demand are often overlooked.

The entanglement of these two resources presents particular challenges in the Arab World. There, energy production, water scarcity, and climate change converge with complex political, economic, and social dynamics. The region holds some of the world's largest fossil fuel reserves – Gulf states, Algeria, Libya, and Iraq together account for 46.7% of proven global fossil fuel reserves (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries 2025). The region is also among the most water-scarce in the world. Mostly classified as arid or semi-arid, it experiences low and variable rainfall, high evaporation rates, and frequent droughts. Across the region, the various methods used to access water are also heavily energy-dependent. Oil-rich countries in the Gulf rely almost entirely on desalination, water treatment facilities, and large dams to meet domestic needs. Meanwhile, countries in the Maghreb and parts of the Levant depend on overdrawn groundwater aquifers and intermittent surface water, both of which increasingly require energy-intensive pumping and distribution systems. The substantial energy inputs required highlight the tightly coupled relationship between water and energy infrastructures. These interdependencies not only create technical challenges but also expose deep-rooted structural inequalities and environmental injustices. As climate impacts across the region intensify — manifesting in more frequent and prolonged droughts, shifting rainfall patterns, devastating floods, severe heat waves, recurrent sandstorms, wildfires, and the rise of sea levels — pressure mounts on already strained water and energy infrastructures. Pressures that are further exacerbated by rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic expansion.