COP27

Saudi Arabia plans to lead the charge in the region.

The kingdom has accelerated the pace of its climate action and intends to achieve the SGI targets of placing 30% of its land and sea under protection by 2030, and planting over 600 million trees within that period – an increase of over 150 million trees from the initial goal of 450 million.

Since SGI was launched, more than 18 million trees have already been planted, and 17 new projects were launched across the country to restore natural greenery and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Around 13 million trees planted in the kingdom this year are mangroves to regenerate natural wetland forests as a living barrier against shoreline erosion and a natural defence against climate change, as mangroves can sequester five times more carbon than tropical forests.

The country is also on track to cut emissions by 278 metric tonnes per annum by 2030 through the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) approach.

“In line with the kingdom’s ambition to achieve 50% power generation capacity from renewables by 2030, 13 new renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 11.4GW, at an estimated investment value of USD 9 billion (SAR 34 billion), are under development. The projects, once operational, are set to reduce around 20 million tonnes of CO2e [Carbon dioxide equivalent] per year,” according to SGI.

  

To support delivery of its SGI emissions reduction target, Saudi Arabia has the ambition to become the world’s foremost low-cost producer and exporter of clean hydrogen. The world’s largest green hydrogen plant is under construction in the kingdom, with a daily output capacity of 600 tonnes when it starts production in 2026.

Saudi Arabia’s largest commodity companies such as Aramco, SABIC, and Ma’aden have already received the world’s first independent certifications recognising blue hydrogen and ammonia production, boosting the country’s export infrastructure for clean fuels.

“The entire government is working in unison to deliver the Saudi Green Initiative. Next year, we will be finalising the plans for developing 10 more renewable energy projects and connecting an additional 840 MW of solar PV power to our grid,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy, said during a forum held in tandem with COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. “Today, we are announcing that we will launch a GHG crediting and offsetting scheme at the beginning of 2023 to support and incentivise efforts and investments in emission reduction and removal projects in all sectors in the kingdom

The Saudi government also signed a joint development agreement with Saudi Aramco for the largest planned carbon capture and storage (CCS) hubs in the world. The centre in Jubail Industrial City will start operating in 2027, with the ability to extract and store 9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of CO2 in its first phase, further supporting Saudi Arabia’s goal of extracting, using, and storing 44 mtpa of CO2 by 2035.

Saudi companies have already launched three pilot projects for CCS led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, NEOM and Saudi Electricity Company; Alsafwa Cement Company and Ma’aden; and Gulf Cryo, to accelerate the development of the circular carbon economy framework and reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.

“Saudi Arabia is taking environmental action on a national, regional and international level. As a global community, we have to work comprehensively and take multiple actions in parallel. In Saudi Arabia, we have a clear strategy that identifies the gaps we have in our environmental policy and works to find nature-based solutions,” said Abdulrahman AlFadley, the country’s minister of environment, water and agriculture.