Kuwait compiles first climate change report
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Environment Public Authority (EPA) has issued its inaugural report over the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which contains the latest information on how the Gulf state is coping with the global challenge. When compiling the report, Kuwait’s environment agency strictly adhered to the provisos under the aforementioned UN framework, EPA chief Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al-Sabah said in a statement. He mentioned His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s plan to have 15 percent of the country’s energy needs come from renewables, which in turn, would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the long run. The report was a major collaborative effort involving numerous state bodies, the official revealed, saying EPA remains committed to all global conventions over climate change. The report primarily pinpoints the factors responsible for climate change in Kuwait, according to EPA’s Assistant Director General for Environmental Inspection Dr Sameera Al-Kanderi. On climate change statistics, total greenhouse gas emissions recorded in Kuwait in 2016 amounted to 86,336 million tons, with that figure likely to be slashed by four percent by the year 2035, said Sharif Al-Khayat, an EPA researcher. The oil industry’s marquee projects, including those focusing on renewable energy, will be highly instrumental in bringing that plan to fruition, he added. — KUNA