At least 30% of cars in the capital are converted to electric vehicles
Aramco also sets a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050
The intention of stabilizing the domestic oil industry in line with the movement of the international community
▲ Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivers a keynote speech by video attending the ‘Saud Green Plan’ held in Riyadh on the 23rd (local time). Riyadh/AFP Yonhap News
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has pledged to achieve ‘carbon neutrality’ by achieving near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060.
According to the Financial Times (FT) in the UK on the 23rd (local time), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a video speech at the ‘Saudi Green Initiative (SGI)’ held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia on the same day, “2060 while maintaining the stability of the international oil market, “We will bring our net carbon emissions to zero by the end of the year,” he said.
Specific plans were also presented to achieve the carbon neutrality goal. Crown Prince Mohammed has committed a total of $187 billion (approximately 219) to a range of new climate goals, including a 30% reduction in methane, a greenhouse gas that has a stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide by 2030, and a reduction of 277 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2030. trillion) will be invested.
We are also working on a project to make the capital Riyadh a sustainable city. Starting with planting 450 million trees in Riyadh, the company plans to convert at least 30% of Riyadh’s cars to electric vehicles by 2030. To this end, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has already invested in electric vehicle-related businesses in recent years, including Lucid Motors, a Tesla competitor. The Saudi government plans to cut Riyadh’s carbon emissions in half in the future through this plan.
According to the European Commission (EU), Saudi Arabia has the highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions among the G20 countries. Separately, Saudi state oil company Aramco has announced plans to achieve net carbon emissions from its own businesses by 2050. This is 10 years earlier than the target year for carbon neutrality proposed by the Saudi government. Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, said, “There will be difficulties in achieving the goal, but we will definitely achieve it.”
Saudi Arabia’s declaration of zero carbon emissions was made ahead of the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) to be held in Glasgow, UK at the end of this month. Experts analyzed that the intention was to stabilize the domestic oil industry while keeping pace with the international community’s movements amid growing global awareness of the crisis about climate change. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing a source, said the Saudi government has no plans to cut oil investment to expand oil production.
It is also pointed out that the ‘carbon cycle economy’, a concept that Crown Prince Mohammed proposed as a way to achieve the carbon-zero goal in 2060, is also justifying the continued burning of fossil fuels. The carbon cycle economy is a concept that a ‘sustainable economy’ can be achieved through technology that captures emitted carbon and recycles or removes it. In this regard, the FT pointed out that “it will not change Saudi Arabia’s position as the measure of the proposed carbon emission target excludes carbon emissions from crude oil exports.”
Experts evaluated that Saudi Arabia’s dual policy action is a representative example of the complexity of responding to climate change. US President Joe Biden is also pushing for climate change response as a priority business, but in recent months, as inflationary pressures on high oil prices increase, he has been putting pressure on Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase production. In this regard, Aramco CEO Nasser said, “We are also aiming to achieve zero carbon emissions and at the same time expand our oil and gas production capacity. also pointed out
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