Four GCC states have announced net zero years. Only two have written them into their NDC and backed them with a long-term strategy. Here is where each target stands.
Introduction
Net zero years are quoted for almost every GCC state: 2050 for the UAE and Oman, 2060 for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. They were announced at summits and in cabinet statements between 2021 and 2022. The question for anyone planning against them is simpler: which targets have been written into the formal documents each country files with the UNFCCC, and which come with a pathway?
We checked every filing held for the six states: NDCs, Biennial Transparency Reports, Biennial Update Reports, National Communications and long-term strategies. The answer splits the region in three.
Where each target stands
| Net zero year announced | In the current NDC? | In other UNFCCC filings? | Long-term strategy filed? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 2050 (Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative, 2021) | Yes | Yes | Yes, January 2024 |
| Oman | 2050 | Yes | Yes | Yes, May 2023 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2060 (Saudi Green Initiative forum, 23 October 2021) | No year; “net-zero ambitions” | Yes: BUR2 (2024) and BTR1 (2025) | No |
| Bahrain | 2060 (Cabinet, 24 October 2021) | No | No | No |
| Kuwait | 2060, with oil and gas by 2050 (COP27, November 2022) | No (NDC dates from 2021) | No | No |
| Qatar | None | No | No | No |
Three groups
Written down and mapped: the UAE and Oman
The UAE’s third NDC sets a 47% cut by 2035 against 2019 and places it on the path to net zero by 2050. Its long-term strategy, filed in January 2024, adds interim steps: emissions 62% below the reference level by 2040 and 77% below by 2045. Oman’s NDC 3.0 refers to its 2050 net zero objective, and its long-term strategy, National Strategy for an Orderly Transition to Net Zero, filed in May 2023, sets out the transition. Oman’s Net Zero Centre supplied the emissions data behind the NDC. For both, the net zero year sits inside the documents the Paris process reviews.
Reported, not committed: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s 2060 target appears in two of its UNFCCC filings. The second Biennial Update Report (April 2024) refers to it four times, including in the context of carbon capture, clean hydrogen and the Kingdom’s crediting scheme. The first Biennial Transparency Report (March 2025) describes the Circular Carbon Economy approach as supporting “its ambition of net-zero emissions by 2060”. The second NDC, filed nine months later in December 2025, refers to net zero ambitions but states no year, and its target ends in 2040. Saudi Arabia has filed no long-term strategy.
Announced only: Bahrain and Kuwait
Bahrain’s Cabinet announced net zero by 2060 on 24 October 2021. Its NDC 3.0 (December 2025) sets no greenhouse gas target, and neither the NDC, its first Biennial Transparency Report nor its third National Communication states a net zero year. Kuwait announced at COP27 in November 2022 that its oil and gas sector would be carbon neutral by 2050 and the whole country by 2060. Kuwait’s current NDC predates that announcement, and Kuwait has filed neither an NDC 3.0 nor its first Biennial Transparency Report.
Qatar has announced no net zero year. Its NDC 3.0 targets 42 MtCO2e of reductions by 2040.
Why the difference matters
For banks and investors. Transition scenarios need a national policy path. A filed long-term strategy gives interim milestones (the UAE’s 2040 and 2045 steps) that can be built into sector pathways. An announced year without a pathway leaves the bank to assume one, and to defend the assumption. See what your country’s NDC means for your bank’s climate risk.
For companies. Corporate net zero targets in the region are often justified by reference to the national target. Where that target is in the NDC and mapped in a long-term strategy, the alignment claim can be tested. Where it is not, the claim rests on an announcement. For the corporate side, see what net zero means and how to become net zero.
For disclosure. IFRS S2 asks entities to disclose climate-related targets and how they relate to the latest international agreement on climate change, and to explain the scenarios used. Citing the correct status of the national target, filed or announced, avoids an easy challenge from an auditor or analyst.
What to watch
The next round of documents will close some of these gaps. Kuwait’s NDC 3.0 and first Biennial Transparency Report are overdue. A Saudi long-term strategy, or a year written into a future NDC, would turn the 2060 target into a filed commitment. Bahrain’s NDC 3.0 states that it cannot yet account for the emission reductions its measures produce, which is the precondition for a national emissions target and a pathway to 2060.
For the targets each country has filed, see GCC NDCs compared.
Sources: NDCs, Biennial Transparency Reports, Biennial Update Reports, National Communications and long-term strategies of the six GCC states, as filed with the UNFCCC and held at 2 November 2026; Saudi Green Initiative (23 October 2021); Reuters and Bahrain News Agency (24 October 2021); Reuters (8 November 2022).
Frequently asked questions
Which GCC countries have net zero targets?
Five of the six have announced one. The UAE and Oman target 2050; Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait target 2060. Qatar has no net zero target. Only the UAE and Oman have written their year into their NDC and filed a long-term low-emission development strategy with the UNFCCC.
Is Saudi Arabia's 2060 net zero target in its NDC?
No. Saudi Arabia's second NDC, filed in December 2025, refers to the Kingdom's net zero ambitions without a year. The 2060 target appears in its second Biennial Update Report (April 2024) and first Biennial Transparency Report (March 2025). Saudi Arabia has not filed a long-term strategy.
What is a long-term low-emission development strategy?
Article 4.19 of the Paris Agreement invites every Party to prepare a long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy, often called an LT-LEDS. It is where a country sets out the pathway to its net zero year: interim milestones, sector transitions and the policies needed. In the GCC, only the UAE (January 2024) and Oman (May 2023) have filed one.
Why does it matter whether a net zero target is in the NDC?
The NDC is the instrument the Paris Agreement's transparency and stocktake processes track. A net zero year written into the NDC and backed by a long-term strategy is reported on, reviewed and tested against interim targets. An announced year without a filed pathway gives a bank, investor or company no milestones to plan against.