A systematic literature review evaluating sustainable energy growth in Qatar using the PICO model

Abstract

With the increasing importance given currently to sustainable development, countries around the world are shifting their focus and efforts to changing the previous unsustainable growth framework. Accordingly, Qatar has decided to introduce a sustainability plan to ensure prosperity through its national vision and strategy plans. In this chapter, a case example has been presented on the application of a systematic literature review according to the PICO model in built environment research based on a study of the efficiency of policies and tactics implemented by the Qatari Government, in its energy sector, pertaining to sustainability strategies. An initial literature search resulted in the identification of 1990 resources within five different databases, of which 82 met the pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria, including date, geographic location, language, type of publications, participants, and design of studies. The findings showed that six key sustainability initiatives were noteworthy in the Qatar energy sector, which were: health and safety, environment, climate change and energy, economic performance, society, and workforce. The lack of knowledge of the scope of sustainability is a huge challenge for the organisations in the energy sector. The conclusion from this chapter was that the Qatari sustainable development policies still need great efforts to confront their shortcomings, as more holistic policies and more integrated and comprehensive strategies are required.