Saudi Arabia’s Green Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) faces a unique Energy/Climate Change predicament. Even though KSA is vulnerable to climate change, it is the world's largest producer and exporter of Oil and one of the top 10 CO2 emitters global producers. According to one study, KSA will continue to face desertification, air pollution, and water scarcity, as less than 2% of its land is arable. Accordingly, KSA made considerable efforts to reverse environmental degradation and climate change.
In recent years, KSA announced its "Green Initiative" action plan to fight against climate change. As part of the Saudi Vision 2030, sustainability has been a priority for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). The goal of the Saudi Green Initiative is to boost reliance on clean energy, mitigate the effects of fossil fuel use, and reduce the impact of climate change.
As part of its core mandate, the Saudi Green Initiative has invested in public transit by implementing plans to build more railroads and other low-carbon solutions to reduce emissions. The effort aims to use clean hydrocarbon technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the region by 60% and eliminate MTCO2 emissions. According to the Saudi Green Initiative report, currently, 24 initiatives are contributing directly to the target of planting 10 billion trees across the region in hopes of achieving net zero by 2060.
The Saudi Green Initiative is an extension of Vision 2030 goals. Under these goals, KSA has already started constructing future cities that will be entirely powered by renewable energy, such as The Line in NEOM. KSA has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure, technology, and sustainability projects. It has launched multiple projects focusing on energy and sustainability, which recently included ENOWA, a subsidiary company leading the development of NEOM’s sustainable water and energy system. The development of these utilities has started to create the vital infrastructure from NEOM’s major project, including TROJENA, a sustainable mountain tourism destination; THE LINE, its revolutionary urban development; and OXAGON, its reimagined industrial city, and many more.
The Green Initiative extends beyond Saudi borders. For example, the Saudi government collaborated with other Arab countries in the region (i.e., the Middle East), and took the lead in encouraging the Arab League countries to invest in clean hydrocarbon technology and offset the effects of fossil fuels. KSA included the Middle East Green Initiative in the Saudi's Green Initiative. The Middle East Green Initiative aims to promote climate action in the area and with international partners. Plans include planting 50 billion trees in the Middle East in the following decades; it also launched a $10.4bn clean energy project in the region.
John Kerry, President Biden's special climate envoy, visited Saudi Arabia in October, 2021, to participate in the Middle East Green Initiative Summit. The Summit sought to reach agreement between the countries of the region and pool resources to save their shared air, land, and seas. Saudi Arabia’s Green Initiative is "a very important step," the type of "initiative we need on a global basis—planting trees, beginning to move to different kinds of innovative solutions that reduce the level of emissions, to deal with waste more effectively. The present leaders were optimistic and agreed on collaborating to overcome challenges and achieve the initiative's objectives. The Summit ended with the leaders expressing appreciation for the Kingdom's efforts and initiatives in sustainable development and climate change. They also Expressed gratitude to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for serving as the initiative's leader.
"Given the rising domestic and international energy demand and KSA's position on the world energy scene, KSA's green program is at risk from several angles. Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest consumer of crude Oil for electricity production and significantly relies on hydrocarbons as a fuel for the industry. Two-thirds of the input used to produce power comes from Oil, with the majority of the remainder coming from natural gas. The world's largest Oil producer, Saudi Aramco, has declared it will increase crude output from 12 million barrels per day to 13 million barrels per day by 2027, making it harder for the country to reduce the effects of fossil fuels and meet sustainability targets.
Critics of the Saudi Green Initiative question the Kingdom's ability to meet its ambitious climate goals and claim that such goals are unrealistic. However, Saudi Arabia is working diligently to accelerate the development of sustainable energy projects across the country and has initiated multiple projects since the initiative's launch. KSA is also preparing for the global energy transition by investing in clean technologies and renewables. Through Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia is pursuing efforts to expand its expertise in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), which would allow it to continue using its carbon assets while reducing emissions to achieve its climate change goals.
References:
https://www.saudigreeninitiative.org/about-saudi-green-initiative/
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/sgi/saudi-green-initiative-forum-riyadh-b1943964.html
https://mepc.org/commentary/saudi-green-initiative-policy-action
https://www.saudigreeninitiative.org/pr/MGI_Communique_26Oct_EN.pd
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