Saudi Arabia News Brief and Action Alert

Saudi Arabia: A Climate Look Past and Forward

February 18, 2023February 17, 2023

Looking Back 2022: Saudi’s Green Initiative Forum 2nd Edition

Looking Forward 2023 Conference and a Plan to Transition from Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy

 

The second edition of the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, launched in October 2021, was held from November 11th through the 12th of this year in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, alongside the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27. The event aimed to discuss best practices and progress made in achieving the Kingdom’s climate action goals since the initiative’s inauguration, review Saudi’s plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 through multiple initiatives the Kingdom is implementing to reach that milestone and a roadmap for turning the desert green by planting 10 billion trees and protecting 30% of the country’s land and sea and saving its endangered species. A group of government officials, climate experts, and thought leaders attended the forum.

Saudi Arabia currently produces 99.7% of its electricity needs from fossil fuels. The most important event that should take place in 2023 related to reducing Saudi Arabia’s greenhouse gas emissions is a conference or symposium in which the country outlines a solid plan to transition the country’s energy infrastructure from a majority oil & gas to a majority renewable energy country. In order to make sure the transition to renewable energy is sustainable, a specific schedule needs to be outlined and alternate sources of income introduced to phase out fossil fuel needs and stabilize the economy. Specific funding sources for renewable projects should be identified, and smaller but more numerous renewable energy projects should be identified and favored over mega-renewable energy projects. This should involve the various Ministries affected (Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Ministry of Economy and Planning, etc.), as well as the main producer of oil & gas in the country, Saudi Aramco.

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Saudi Arabia Country Managers Abeer Abdulkareem and Amgad Ellaboudy

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