Noura Mansouri

Fellow

  • Primary Program Climate and Sustainability
  • Research Interests Carbon Management, Nuclear Energy, Climate Policy, Energy Policy

Biography

Noura Mansouri is a fellow in the Climate & Sustainability team under Knowledge and Analysis. She is leading two projects: (i) The Circular Carbon Economy Technology Roadmaps (CCE-TRMs), and (ii) the Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation Roadmaps (NDC-IRMs). Noura served as the (lead) co-chair of the T20 Task Force on Climate Change and Environment/Sustainable Energy since the Saudi G20 presidency and continued the role under subsequent presidencies including the Italian, Indonesian and Indian G20 presidencies. Dr. Mansouri has over 20 years of research and professional experience including academia, think tank, and international energy company experiences. She earned her MBA and Ph.D. degrees in climate change, sustainability and energy transitions from the University of London and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. She is the author of Greening the Black Gold: Saudi Arabia’s Quest for Clean Energy. Noura has published extensively and spoken widely on climate change, sustainability, and energy transition.

 

Publications

See all Noura’s publications
  • Discussion papers
  • Instant Insights
  • Commentaries
  • KAPSARC journal articles
  • External journal articles
  • Think20 (T20)
Keeping the Nuclear Energy Option Open

Keeping the Nuclear Energy Option Open

Nuclear energy is already playing a crucial role in reducing emissions from electricity generation. However, if this role is not expanded, achieving the international goal of avoiding unacceptable global climate change will be extremely difficult. The evidence presented in this study shows that nuclear energy’s climate benefits can be obtained without significant impacts to safety, security or energy costs.

23rd August 2022
Toward A Sustainable Agriculture Sector: Policy Options for Reducing Water Use in Abu Dhabi’s Agriculture Sector

Toward A Sustainable Agriculture Sector: Policy Options for Reducing Water Use in Abu Dhabi’s Agriculture Sector

Water shortages are a global challenge, with one third of the world’s population still without access to clean water. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face a scarcity of water resources due to their dry climates. The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) renewable water resources are below the United Nations’ water scarcity threshold, and its water usage far exceeds the natural recharge rate by as much as 26-fold. This study investigates the water-agriculture nexus in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and provides policy options for reducing water use in the agriculture sector to sustainable levels. 

9th March 2020
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa: Potential Roadways to A New Global Governance Mechanism for Energy and Climate

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa: Potential Roadways to A New Global Governance Mechanism for Energy and Climate

During the 2023 annual summit in Johannesburg, the BRICS forum of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) – confirmed significant expansion plans, inviting six new members, namely Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to join in January 2024. The purchasing power parity adjusted collective GDP of the resulting 11 BRICS states will exceed that of the G7 industrialized nations.

31st August 2023
Will COP26 Recognize a Role for Nuclear Energy in the Clean Energy Mix?

Will COP26 Recognize a Role for Nuclear Energy in the Clean Energy Mix?

Next month, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), hosted by the United Kingdom, will discuss the big challenge facing the world’s governments, which is how to limit the average rise in global temperatures above pre-industrial levels to below 1.5–2 degrees Celsius, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goal No. 13 (climate action). At the same time, however, the Parties to the Agreement face diverse challenges due to their unique social, economic and environmental contexts.

4th November 2021
Beyond Smart Meters

Beyond Smart Meters

Over the last two decades, many countries have installed millions of smart meters to improve the efficiency, reliability, and quality of service in the electric power sector. Compared with traditional meters, smart meters measure consumers’ electricity usage at 5- or 15-minute intervals and communicate that usage and other data automatically to the utility. Both electricity consumers and their utility can benefit from smart meters. They provide more information to manage electricity consumption, improve power outage detection and restoration, enhance opportunities for additional value-added services such as billing options and time of use rates, lower the utility’s costs, and enable distributed energy resources like solar and storage.

11th July 2021
The Saudi Nuclear Energy Project

The Saudi Nuclear Energy Project

Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy program has been a subject of intense speculation recently, especially since the establishment of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) by Royal Order No. A/90 in 2010. In 2012, the government announced a new planned energy mix, including 12 nuclear reactors. This created a lot of interest from and aggressive competition among international energy companies that wanted to take part in the reactors’ development. These companies opened offices in the Kingdom and recruited locally to establish teams that could tender for this ambitious project. KA-CARE was clear that localization was a prerequisite for vendor selection.

25th March 2020
Are Small Modular Reactors a Good Option for Saudi Arabia?

Are Small Modular Reactors a Good Option for Saudi Arabia?

Since the start of nuclear power in the 1950s, nuclear generation technology has continually transformed and developed. Following the three major nuclear accidents, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power has become more robust, safer and more secure.

3rd November 2019
Does nuclear desalination make sense for Saudi Arabia?

Does nuclear desalination make sense for Saudi Arabia?

Desalination Journal

2016
Greening the Black Gold: Saudi Arabia’s quest for a cleaner energy transition

Greening the Black Gold: Saudi Arabia’s quest for a cleaner energy transition

CreateSpace

2013

Related workshops

See all workshops
14 Jul

Managing Energy Transitions in Developing Countries

Co-hosted With Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations and in partnership with the Think 20 (T20) Saudi Arabia Pathways to the transition The overarching global issue, irrespective of whether in developing or developed countries, would be to identify the role of hydrocarbons in a net-zero carbon future. The overall goal is to achieve […]

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