Saudi Arabia backs Middle East Green Initiative with $2.5B investment in 10 years
This amount is nearly $1 billion more than previously announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia will inject $2.5 billion into the Middle East Green Initiative over the next 10 years, as reported by the Saudi News Agency (SPA). This amount is nearly $1 billion more than previously announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the second Middle East Green Initiative Summit held in tandem with the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
As reported by Reuters, Mohammed bin Salman last year introduced the Middle East Green Initiative, a fund that aims to invest in clean energy projects with $10.4 billion investments required, as a part of efforts to lower regional carbon emissions. The Kingdom said that it would contribute $1.56 billion, or 15%, to the fund.
The Middle East Green Initiative seeks to cut regional carbon emissions by more than 670 million tons of CO2 equivalent, the Saudi crown prince said. Additionally, it has plans to restore 200 million hectares of degraded land and plant 50 billion trees around the Middle East, while increasing the green land and marine reserves to 30% of the total national area, which will eventually contribute to a 2.5% decrease in global carbon emissions.
Mohammed bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia will establish one of the largest carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) hubs in the world. By 2035, this will have captured 44 million tons of CO2 equivalent, or 15% of the Kingdom's present Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), according to SPA.
Attending COP27, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed said his country would be a responsible supplier of oil and gas for as long as the world requires it. "By virtue of our geology, the oil and gas we have in the UAE are among the least carbon-intensive in the world. Nevertheless, we will continue to work towards reducing carbon emissions in the sector," he said, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).
Zayed said his country was one of the first in the Gulf region to set a plan for carbon neutrality by 2050. Last week, the UAE and the US struck a $100 billion pact with the aim of deploying 100 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy globally by 2035.
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The UAE will host the COP28 summit next year in Dubai's Expo City, where the 2015 Paris climate deal aim of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels will be assessed.
Much of the debate at COP27 is expected to relate to loss and damage—compensation funds provided by rich nations to poorer countries affected by climate-warming emissions.
On the sidelines of COP27, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters on Monday that the price of carbon must reach at least $75 per ton globally by 2030 to accomplish global climate goals.
However, Georgieva stated that in many countries, including developed ones, "the acceptance of pricing pollution is still low," a situation exacerbated by rising living costs due to inflation.
Edited by Kanishk Singh