West Asia and North Africa: A Sustainability Analysis

Abstract

The concept of sustainability can be analyzed from different viewpoints, including sustaining a high rate without which other goals of a “good life,” particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are not achievable. Alternatively, the need for reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is employed to assess sustainability. This essay discusses economic progress in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) relative to other developing regions, its success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and progress toward achieving the SDGs before discussing the region’s emissions of GHGs and CO2. The WANA region has performed relatively poorly economically and its performance has deteriorated since 2008, and the oil countries perform worse than nonoil ones. Low investment rates and worsening external balance bedevil its economic prospects. Prospects for the region achieving the SDGs are much worse than other regions and have become bleaker since COVID-19. The region is a relatively high emitter of GHGs.