Saudi Arabia emissions (2015-2021) from enteric methane production (source: Climate Trace)
The Saudi agricultural sector produced 42.8 M tons of CO2e 100 and 0.082 M tons of CO2 in 2021The carbon footprint of Saudi agricultural activities in Saudi Arabia has declined from 198.03K tons of CO2 in 2015 to 82.40K tons of CO2 in 2021. The Saudi agricultural sector emitted 0.81 M tons of Methane (CH4) while it emitted 0.07 M tons of Nitrous Oxide (N20) in 2021. Saudi Agricultural sector’s emissions footprint was small compared to the top 10 agricultural emitters in the world.
Saudi Arabia’s agricultural enteric fermentation has the highest emissions as the kingdom has produced 752.63K tons of Ch4 over the last twenty years with methane emissions increasing from 102,00K in 2015 to level off to 112,00K in 2021 with almost 10% change. The reason for the high methane emissions rate can be attributed to the rapid development of dairy production systems in the Kingdom over the last twenty years and the dramatic increase in high-yielding cows with large body sizes and a high growth rate. This means that these cows require a more nutritional diet to produce more milk and more Ch4 emissions from the digestive processes of the feed that naturally occur during enteric fermentation. Improving animal feed processing and type of farm management are some steps that can be taken to reduce enteric Ch4 formation and emissions.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Saudi Arabia Country Managers Abeer Abdulkareem and Amgad Ellaboudy