Saudi Gazette report

SHARM EL-SHEIKH — Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Friday that Saudi Arabia has made major progress in the transition to green energy.

"Every year we will get greener as we go forward," he said while listing the achievements made so far by the Kingdom in this regard.

The minister made the remarks while addressing the opening session of the Saudi Green Initiative 2022 Forum being held on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh. The theme of the two-day session of the second edition of the forum is “From ambition to action.”

Prince Abdulaziz said the Kingdom aspires to achieve net-zero emissions ahead of schedule. “The Kingdom’s climate goal is to reach net zero carbon emissions in 2060, and this depends on technology,” he said, while noting that Saudi Arabia hopes to achieve this sooner. The Kingdom currently has projects to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent.

“We will question other countries of the world for what they offer because we want others to match us and direct their money to support the causes that they claim,” he pointed out.

Prince Abdulaziz said Saudi Aramco has the lowest level of methane emissions by all standards. He also referred to the goal that clean energy constitutes 50 percent of the energy mix in the Kingdom.

He said that Saudi Arabia aims to find solutions in order to provide more sustainable energy systems, noting that his country seeks for renewable energy to represent 50 percent of its consumption by 2030.

The minister said the matter will move from ambition to action. “We are ready and have a commitment in the Middle East and the Kingdom through green initiatives and will achieve them by 2035. We are committed to reducing carbon emissions by 278 million tons, and I am confident that we will be able to meet this.”

Prince Abdulaziz drew attention to the fact — which he had mentioned a long time ago — that Saudi Arabia aims to generate 50 percent of electricity from renewable energy, and 400 megawatts of clean energy has already been generated, as it is reducing carbon emissions by about one million tons.

The minister also referred to renewable energy projects in Saudi Arabia. There are more than 13 projects in the sector with a capacity of 11.4 gigawatts and investments amounting to SR34 billion in light of fulfilling the ambition to reduce 21 million tons of emissions annually.

The minister said Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy program has won international awards. The plans to develop 10 additional renewable energy projects will be completed in 2023, he added.