Oil-rich nation unveils more initiatives to drive Middle East progress on climate

Saudi Arabia is demonstrating its green commitments with the announcement of a number of climate-related initiatives, including an emissions reduction center and the staging next year of a regional summit focused on tackling the issue.

The announcement was made by Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud over the weekend during a panel discussion at the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, or SGI, titled "The need for climate action". The event was held on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

In addition to establishing the emissions reduction center, the kingdom is also launching what officials are calling a circular carbon economy knowledge hub. The regional summit will take place during the 2023 Middle East and North Africa Climate Week.

"We are going to be launching a circular carbon economy knowledge hub with the hope that our friends and peers can join us in sharing experiences and make sure that we understand technologies, and we'll share lessons learned. I think it's very fundamental. We will kick-start it by 1st of January, 2023," the Saudi minister told the panel.

The knowledge hub will facilitate regional collaboration in technologies and enable the sharing of information and best practices to support the region-wide implementation of nationally determined contributions. In this way, it will help countries achieve targets set under the Middle East Green Initiative, or MGI.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Nov 7 announced the deployment of one of the largest carbon capture, usage and storage hubs in the world, as well as the allocation of $2.5 billion to support MGI projects, and the planting of 50 billion trees.

"We've been talking with the UNFCCC Secretariat and we will be hosting in 2023 the MENA climate week so we will welcome all of our friends to join us then," said Prince Abdulaziz, referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Saudi minister was joined at the event by United Arab Emirates Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Egyptian Foreign Minister and COP27 President Sameh Shoukry, and Alok Sharma, president of the COP26, held in the United Kingdom last year.

At the panel event, Almheiri congratulated Saudi Arabia on its "remarkable" targets, and said the UAE has $8 billion in commitments from its partners to transform food systems.

'More can be done'

"This is all about us making sure we're aligning, accelerating, putting a turbo on NDCs (the) countries committed to. More can be done and it needs leadership. We're seeing Saudi leading that," said Almheiri, adding that with the 2022 climate summit in Egypt and the UAE hosting the event next year, it is "our opportunity now to really spearhead" action against climate change.

"There is hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I think we are moving in the right direction… But I really think we should take this as an opportunity, to catalyze our efforts to put these technologies into place because people will look back. This is like the inflection points that are happening now," the minister said.

Sharma said that even if this year has been "incredibly challenging" geopolitically, many countries have continued to deliver. But he said that "we just need to go a lot further and a lot faster".

"We've got 33 countries that have come forward with their revised 2030 emission reduction targets. If you add up all the commitments (that) came in, you're looking at" a reduction in emissions of 12 percent globally by 2030, said Sharma.

"Now, that's not half. What we need is half of the emissions to be cut by 2030," he said, adding that what is important is implementing the action plans.

Shoukry said the MGI and SGI forums are "a demonstration of commitment" by countries in the region "to be active participants in climate action".

"If we can combine our resources, our abilities and our collective will to address these issues", progress can be made "in the areas of (climate) mitigation and adaptation", said Shoukry.

The UNFCCC Secretariat is tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. The convention has near universal membership of 198 parties and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 C, according to its website.

Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Arabia has been working with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia on establishing a regional center to advance emissions reductions.

jan@chinadailyapac.com