The world’s leading crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it would aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, a few days before the opening of the international climate conference (COP26) in Scotland.
The Saudi kingdom, one of the biggest polluters in the world, has also assured that it will participate in international efforts to reduce global emissions of methane – among the most famous greenhouse gases by 30% – by 2030.
According to the United Nations, more than 130 countries have set or are planning to set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a net zero level by 2050, a target that the UN considers “imperative »To preserve a livable climate.
“Today I am announcing Saudi Arabia’s zero-emission goal by 2060 through a circular carbon economy strategy”, which aims to increase the efficiency of resource use and reduce the impact on the environment, declared the crown prince Mohammed ben Salman in a speech at the forum “Saudi Green Initiative”, which will end Sunday in Riyadh.
“I am pleased to launch initiatives in the energy sector that will reduce annual carbon emissions by 278 million tonnes by 2030, more than double the previously announced target,” he added. without giving too much detail.
“History”
These objectives “will allow us to ensure a sustainable (energy) transition”, for his part affirmed the Saudi Minister of Energy Abdelaziz ben Salman.
On October 8, the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy Gulf country allied with Saudi Arabia, announced it would aim for carbon neutrality by 2050.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that the current climate situation was “a one-way ticket to disaster” and stressed the need to “avoid failure” at COP26 in Glasgow, October 31 to November 12 .
On Twitter, the president of COP26, Briton Alok Sharma, described Saudi Arabia’s announcement as “historic” and expressed the hope “that it will encourage the efforts of other countries”.
Carbon neutrality means that a country does not emit more greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming, than it can absorb through, for example, tree plantations or CO2 capture technologies directly in the country. atmosphere.
In March, Riyadh unveiled a broad campaign to reduce its emissions, including a plan to plant billions of trees over the next decades. And the crown prince said on Saturday that his country initially planned to plant more than 450 million trees.
Lobbying
However, the United Nations Environment Program recently noted in a report that despite commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, plans for coal, oil and gas production were still largely incompatible with the objectives of the 2015 climate agreement which aims to limit global warming.
According to the BBC, moreover, a major leak of documents shows that several countries such as Saudi Arabia and Japan have asked the United Nations to minimize the need to move away quickly from fossil fuels.
These countries believe, according to these documents, that the world does not need to reduce them as quickly as advocated by the draft report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The backbone of OPEC, Saudi Arabia says it wants to produce half of its energy from renewable energies by 2030.
A relatively large country in terms of carbon, it emits around 600 million tonnes of CO2 per year, more than France but a little less than Germany (800 million tonnes).
For its part, energy giant Saudi Aramco, which is subject to scrutiny by investors for its emissions, pledged on Saturday to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.