GLASGOW: Saudi Arabia’s green initiatives represent the Kingdom’ commitment to fight climate change and testimony to its sustainability efforts, said Noura Alissa, a senior international policy analyst at the Saudi Energy Ministry.
Talking to Arab News, Alissa said the Kingdom and other countries in the Middle East are also committed to the Paris Agreement. In addition to that, she added, Saudi Arabia is taking measures locally to mitigate the impacts of climate change and contribute to the global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
“Before we came to (attend) COP26, we had the inaugural event of the Saudi Green Initiative, we had the Youth Green Summit and we also had the Middle East Green Initiative so for the Kingdom that was a moment for us to declare our aim of reaching net-zero (target) by 2060, as well as nearly double our previous nationally determined contributions and sort of present to the world a roadmap that we seek to use to reach emissions reduction target,” Alissa told Arab News.
“I think perhaps the unique feature of the Saudi Green Initiative, which can be even compared to other (international) initiatives, is that it’s very comprehensive in nature,” she said. “We’re trying to say here that we’ve really studied every single effort domestically, (not only) from the environmental side, but (also) its technological aspects and how we can bring these all together to have one comprehensive view?”
The Saudi initiative includes increasing renewables to 50 percent of the Kingdom’s energy mix by 2030, hydrogen and carbon capture, she said.
Alissa said the initiative also includes afforestation efforts not only in Saudi Arabia but in the wider Middle East as well.
“It also includes setting up a regional fund for clean energy, and providing clean cooking solutions for 50 million people worldwide,” Alissa said.
The initiative, the analyst said, seeks multi-stakeholder engagement across all industries in both the public and private sectors.