RIYADH (Al Jazeera) – Under pressure to decarbonize, Saudi Arabia has announced a raft of measures to deal with the intensifying climate crisis, but critics say the moves are just a smokescreen to keep fossil fuels propelling its economy.
After holding the “Middle East Green Initiative” over the weekend, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presented a series of plans to address the dangers of global warming, overwhelmingly caused by rich nations over the past three centuries.
The initiatives included achieving “net-zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2060, planting 50 billion trees in the Middle East in the decades to come, and launching a $10.4bn clean energy project for the region.
The pledges, however, came days after Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, announced it planned to raise crude production from 12 million barrels a day to 13 million barrels by 2027 – a move scientists, energy experts, and activists say goes directly against what is needed to stave off the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
All hydrocarbons must remain in the ground starting now, climate researchers say.
Saudi Arabia has justified the contradictory moves of reducing its own carbon emissions while still taking oil out of the ground and selling it worldwide as part of a plan to create a “circular carbon economy”.
This envisions continuing to extract carbon-filled fuel out of the earth while employing new technologies to capture, store or sell its emissions – essentially an offset scheme.
Saudi Arabia previously outlined plans to build the world’s largest green hydrogen plant powered by solar and wind energy in its futuristic city Neom.
But critics have questioned Riyadh’s path in dealing with the escalating climate crisis.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s top energy body, said in May that governments and companies must immediately halt investing in new oil-and-gas projects if the world wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Questions also surround the current state of carbon capture technology being promoted by the Saudis – technology that is still unproven in its effectiveness and extremely expensive to use for large-scale extraction.
It isn’t difficult to understand why the kingdom would be reluctant to act fast and decisively on walking away from hydrocarbon production.