To the left is an image of the worldly oil production as well as consumption and it provides relative insight into the impact of oil on the MENA region. Clearly, Saudi Arabia has profited from the oil industry and just recently Saudi Aramco was valued at around 2 trillion and set to go on the stock market. Of course, covid-19 has altered the demand for oil as of now, but it brings to light the necessity of oil in the MENA region for their economy. Currently, the region is facing issues as the demand for oil goes down, and it is clear that a shift towards other sustainable alternatives will be slow due to a massive oil dependancy.

A readily available resource in the MENA region is sunlight. The geography of the countries is perfect for solar sustainability and the image to the left dictates just how readily available the resource is in the GCC region. A shift towards this method of sustainability would change the dynamic of the job market. Currently, there is an influx of expatriates in these regions that are sent for oil-related jobs (some countries are attempting to decrease the percentage of expats - one example is called “Omanization”). As countries are seeing the value of environmental sustainability and feeling the strain on the resources of oil, they are slowly shifting their jobs to fit new ones regarding technology and solar power. To find out more about how that works click here.

This city is a completely new type of place in the MENA region. The designers have employed various environmentally friendly materials in the construction of the city and have reduced energy and water consumption by 40%. The structure of the city makes it so that everything is walkable. On top of that, the physical construction of the city creates an atmosphere that is around 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the UAE without using external energy. This creates an abundance of new jobs in construction, solar energy research, utilization of green materials in buildings among others. There are many more projects taking place, and the jobs in the region are changing in order to support a more sustainable lifestyle.

ESO is a company in Oman that strives to shift the focus to a more environmental one. They have many initiatives that work on various things in regards to saving the planet. Items such as earth hour and sustainability fairs are created in order to raise awareness and support for environmentalism. As Oman is incredibly coastal, there are a lot of initiatives that involve saving marine life. As of now, they are currently working on creating a method by which scuba divers in Oman can be trained to protect and clean up the ocean. This will invariably create a higher demand for jobs in which scuba diving and other training may be necessary. Either Oman will have to open more training centers and encourage their own people to take up these initiatives or invite others to help with the cause, but either way, there will be a change in the job market.