Qatar is the second country in the Middle East most at risk from sea level rise, said Neil Walmsley, Gulf transport group leader at UK-based Arup at the MEED Qatar Transport 2011 conference on 7 June.

The most affected is Egypt.              

Due to increasing carbon dioxide levels from a dependence on private cars and it being a low-lying country, Qatar might be required to spend up to 10 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) just to sustain itself from rising sea levels.

There were 637,000 road accidents in the GCC in 2008, which is about 73 accidents every hour. The economic impact of this was $20bn.

Qatar’s transport and infrastructure programme will help to reduce accidents, congestion and pollution in the country, specifically Doha.