Saudi Arabia, like other countries in the Middle East, is vulnerable to climate extremes. The country is oftentimes subject to heavy rainfall, and in certain areas, lacks the infrastructure to divert water, resulting in flash floods, especially in the mountainous southwestern region. On the other hand, climate scenarios also predict prolonged dry periods, which will...
Description of the event In May 2022, Saudi Arabia hosted a 2-day symposium, PetroEnvironment 2022, that brought together environmental practitioners, policymakers, scientists, end-users, technicians, and engineers to discuss major current and emerging environmental opportunities for global sustainability. During the event, participants exchanged new ideas, approaches, research findings, and partnership initiatives to increase circularity and sustainability....
Saudi Arabia steadily raised gasoline prices per liter since 2015 to SAR 0.90, where the price continued to increase and reached SAR 2.33 in 2021. The prices have stayed constant and fixed at this rate since July 2021. The cap on gasoline prices and subsidized energy prices has had a negative effect on CO2 emissions...
Saudi Arabia’s population is quite young. Over half of the population is under 25 years old. In 2016, a survey was conducted of Arab youth between 18 and 24 years old on the fundamental issues that are of concern for them. Among the 27 fundamental issues presented in the survey, climate change came next to...
Saudi Arabia has large natural gas reserves, totaling over 333 trillion cubic feet (tcf), putting it in sixth place only behind Russia, Iran, Qatar, the United States, and Turkmenistan. Saudi Arabia does not import or export natural gas for its energy needs, and therefore consumes all of the natural gas it produces. Saudi Arabia’s production...
The effects of the Ukraine crisis on Saudi energy policy and practices are maintenance of the same oil production volumes in the near term and diversifying their sales markets in the long term. Saudi Arabia has so far rebuffed U.S. calls to increase production to compensate for the withdrawal of Russian oil for technical and...
The names of the performance indicators we can use to regularly measure the progress Saudi Arabia is making to reduce its emissions are total CO2 emissions, total primary energy consumption and cost of fuel energy, total petroleum generation, and total renewable energy generation. The amount of total CO2 emissions describes emissions of carbon dioxide produced in...
HIGHLIGHTS Workers that rely on the natural environment for their living are most vulnerable (e.g., farmers and fishermen) Low-income urban dwellers living in areas susceptible to respiratory-related diseases NARRATIVE There are many groups in Saudi Arabia that are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change as a direct result of the increasing likelihood of extreme...
HIGHLIGHTS Commercial Production of Blue Hydrogen Launch of Saudi Green Initiative Commitment to Net Zero Emissions by 2060 NARRATIVE Currently, blue hydrogen requires heavy use of carbon capture and sequestration technology and can only be transported in ammonia form. The Saudi giant state oil company Aramco has been investing in blue hydrogen as an energy...
Priorities A More Ambitious Commitment to Net Zero Emissions by 2050, and a 50% Emissions Reduction by 2030 Increased Use of Carbon Capture to Enable Carbon That Is Captured to Balance Carbon That is Produced Increased use of renewable Energy so That It Constitutes 50% of Saudi Arabia’s Electricity Mix by 2030 Significant Investments in...
