Bahrain sets net-zero goal on eve of Riyadh climate summit
The kingdom’s plans to cut carbon emissions by 2060 can revolutionise climate dialogue
Delegations that included national leaders from across the region began to arrive in Riyadh yesterday for the Middle East Green Initiative Summit to discuss efforts to mitigate climate change.
UN deputy secretary general Amina Mohammed and US climate envoy John Kerry were due to attend along with figures from the region.
Saudi Arabia wants to boost regional action on emissions through the initiative and by working with its neighbours to fight climate change through collective action.
Bahrain yesterday announced its aim to reach net-zero carbon emissions in 2060, the country’s state news agency reported.
The announcement came a day after Saudi Arabia said it planned to reach net-zero emissions by the same date.
Bahrain’s Cabinet said that it welcomed the Saudi Green Initiative – an ambitious environmental plan for Saudi Arabia that includes achieving the net-zero target within 40 years.
The UAE became the first Gulf state to commit to net-zero emissions earlier this month, with a deadline of 2050.
The Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative – both announced in March this year – are intended to tackle environmental degradation and reduce emissions in the kingdom and across the region.
The Middle East Green Initiative includes planting 50 billion trees in the region, restoring 200 million hectares of degraded land and cutting emissions from hydrocarbon production by more than 60 per cent.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will open today’s summit by laying out the kingdom’s vision, before national leaders discuss green plans and the impacts of climate change.
Financial experts will lead discussions on how to fund a green economic revolution, with Mr Kerry and Ms Mohammed due to present the international perspective before Prince Mohammed closes out the day.
With less than a week left for the global climate summit, Cop26, to begin in Glasgow on October 31, Saudi Arabia’s revelation of its impressive carbon-zero goals comes at a crucial time. It also heralds the visit of US climate envoy John Kerry to Riyadh where the green initiative forums are under way. Mr Kerry has this year been to the Middle East several times. On a trip to Abu Dhabi in June, in fact, he mentioned that the UAE was a good contender to host Cop28 in 2023.
The UAE, having unveiled its own strategic initiative last month to reach net zero by 2050, has praised Saudi Arabia’s move to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, lauded Saudi Arabia’s decision, calling it a “landmark, bold, long-term” plan.
There is no doubt that the measures the kingdom announced on Saturday are in step with global climate priorities. For the world’s biggest oil exporter – a country of 34.8 million people – to set a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060 is a prodigious step by any yardstick.
And while the idea of 2060 may appear somewhat far down the road, there are objectives Saudi Arabia intends to meet in the much nearer future – at a halfway mark, so to speak. In another nine years, for example, wind and solar energy will generate half of the country’s electricity. Also by that time, global methane emissions will be cut by 30 per cent from 2020 levels. Its Vision 2030 programme, which aims to reduce its dependence on oil revenue, prioritises environmental protection and climate targets, with a vision to diversify energy production.
For a country of Saudi Arabia’s scale and influence to move away from fossil fuels to renewables, stressing its intent to invest more in green energy refocuses the climate framework for the entire region. Its net-zero agenda could well inspire other economies in other Arab countries – and parts of the world that have yet to flesh out their climate goals – to similarly plan and cut carbon emissions to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Earlier this year, when Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced two projects to reverse climate change, he said: “As a leading global producer of oil, we are fully aware of our share of the responsibility in advancing the fight against the climate crisis and as our pioneering role in stabilising energy markets during the oil and gas era, we will act to lead the next green era.”
For decades, fossil fuels have been the mainstay on which several well-positioned economies have been built. And hardly limited to the Middle East, industry and production across the world have run on oil and gas. Viewed through this lens, for a major oil-producing country to move away from its core output for decades, is a tremendous change. For carbon zero goals of such scale to be met requires time, consistency and effort.
Saudi Arabia has shown great purpose in stating its long-term green missions. In embarking on this path as the guiding light, it could spur urgent climate action far beyond its borders.