Saudi Arabia says climate activists are “more than wrong” to cast doubt on its ambitions to reduce carbon emissions.
“They can come here, visit us,” Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, said in an interview at COP27.
“We are so proud of what we’ve been achieving. We are setting an example for hydrocarbon and energy producers.”
Saudi Arabia’s climate targets
Saudi Arabia has laid out plans to neutralise planet-warming emissions within its borders by 2060.
At the same time, itis spending billions of dollars to increase its crude-production capacity to 13 million barrels a day from 12 million. It’s also said it will use some sequestered carbon to enhance its extraction from oil fields.
That has led to criticism from activists including Greta Thunberg, who said Saudi Arabia is playing down the need to move away from fossil fuels.
The Saudi government regularly says companies and investors in the West are trying to transition too quickly. It has pointed to this year’s surge in prices as evidence there’s been too little investment in oil and natural gas exploration in recent years.
“I believe Saudi Arabia will be a producer of hydrocarbons even by the end of the 21st century,” Prince Abdulaziz said. “The world needs all sorts of energy.”
The Paris Climate Accords from 2015 were not about “getting rid of sources of energy, but about mitigating emissions,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has started to build a carbon-capture plant in the eastern port city of Jubail.
Once finished in 2027, it should be able to trap 9 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the emissions from about 2 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles over the same period.
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