2023-04-17 16:11:42
At the last United Nations climate conference, organized in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022, Saudi Arabia pulled out all the stops. Its gigantic dome-shaped pavilion, decorated with lush plants and light wooden furniture, where giant screens broadcast videos on the reintroduction of baby ibexes in their natural environment and the virtues of green hydrogen, was one of the attractions of the conference.
The second largest oil producer in the world, which is among the twenty largest emitters of CO2 of the planet, has long been sensitive to climatosceptic theories. During negotiations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, its representatives were notorious for their obstructive tactics. But today the kingdom presents itself as the champion of the fight against global warming in the Middle East, a model in terms of “eco-friendly” practices.
The shift dates from the fall of 2021, when Mohammed Ben Salman, known as “MBS”, the all-powerful crown prince, presented the Saudi Green Initiative, the Saudi energy transition program, centered on a carbon neutrality objective at the horizon of 2060. Among the measures announced is the construction of thirteen renewable energy production sites – photovoltaic parks and wind farms – which should make it possible to meet 50% of the country’s electricity demand by 2030.
A huge green hydrogen production plant, presented as the most powerful in the world, is supposed to come into operation in 2026, in Neom, the futuristic megalopolis, under construction in the north-west of the kingdom. “Major customers of the Saudi oil industry, such as China, Japan and South Korea, have planned to go carbon neutral between 2050 and 2060explains geographer Laurent Lambert, professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. If they don’t want these markets slipping from their fingers, the Saudis are forced to invest in the energies of the future, such as hydrogen. »
“Do Both”
The schedule of the Saudi Green Initiative also provides for the opening, in 2027, of a CO capture and storage center2, in Jubail, by the Red Sea. Riyadh also aims to green its cities and its desert, by planting 600 million trees by 2030, forests supposed to retain carbon dioxide. “It’s not just displaythis Laurent Lambert. The Saudis are sincerely afraid of being let down by pension funds and ethical finance if they do not adapt to the new situation. »
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