11/12/2025
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11/12/2025
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At a recent roundtable hosted by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) and Rice University’s Baker Institute, the most revealing moment came not from a keynote speech but from a pointed question posed by energy scholar Dr. Jim Krane asking whether the absence of Kuwait’s parliament has made it easier to advance stalled oil and energy projects. The answer from Baptiste Knipillaire, Senior Consultant at Hartree Partners and co author of Kuwait’s Energy Transition White Paper, cut through the political framing entirely. The real obstacle, he argued, is Kuwait’s fragmented institutional landscape. More than eighty government bodies operate across energy and environmental files, yet without a unified framework or a coherent execution structure.
Coordination, he suggested, is the missing architecture. Knipillaire also drew attention to two structural constraints that hinder progress. Kuwait faces an acute shortage of land designated for large energy projects, and foreign investors encounter restrictive terms when entering the market. While other countries provide long term land access and predictable regulatory environments, Kuwait does not offer equivalent clarity. This uncertainty complicates green financing, reduces investor appetite, and slows the rollout of renewable infrastructure. He stressed that global investors seek more than returns.
They look for institutional guarantees that make projects bankable. Without legal and regulatory reforms, technical plans will not close the gap between national ambitions and actual implementation. His remarks resonated because they reflected direct experience in Kuwait’s operating environment rather than distant observation. He has worked closely within the country, giving weight to his diagnosis. The exchange underscored what Kuwait’s public discourse has been missing. Honest and evidence based dialogue remains essential. KFAS deserves recognition for providing a space where clarity is treated as a tool for understanding rather than a trigger for controversy.
By Abdulaziz Al-Anjeri
