HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, inaugurated the 3rd edition the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, coinciding with the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).
In his opening speech, HRH Minister of Energy said that the Kingdom has taken the initiative and launched the Saudi Green Initiative as a cornerstone to achieve its climate ambitions. He emphasized that the Kingdom is expanding its regional and international efforts through the Middle East Green initiative to enhance the achievement of global climate goals.
The Minister of Energy underscored the steps taken by the Kingdom to address climate change while maintaining energy security. “On renewables, we have quadrupled our connected capacity from 700MW last year to 2.8 GW, with more than 8 GW and 13 GW renewables under development." He said.
He added that the Kingdom also plans to tender around 20 GW by 2024.
"We will develop two hubs. In the eastern region of the Kingdom, the CCS hub aims to store 44 million tons annually, while the CCUS hub in the western region aims to utilize over a million tons of carbon dioxide annually." He added.
Regarding financial support for efforts on climate change mitigation, HRH said that "In contrast to the modest change presented by our partners from developed countries, the Kingdom announced the allocation of up to $50 billion at the Saudi-African summit in Riyadh last month, through partnerships with African countries".
During the forum, several sessions were held on the challenges of climate change. The Assistant Minister for Oil and Gas highlighted the importance of leveraging current and future technologies that provide solutions for carbon capture, utilization, and storage. He added that the Kingdom is implementing projects utilizing these technologies and developing them to contribute to cost reduction, in pursuit of its climate objectives.
Her Highness Vice Minister of Tourism spoke about the relationship between sustainability and climate change, proactive efforts taken by the Kingdom to address this issue, and its ambition to make cities more sustainable by 2030. She emphasized the importance of individuals' roles in this context, as well as the roles of communities, governments, and the private sector.
During another session, the Director of Oil Sustainability Program showcased the ongoing efforts to develop necessary technical standards and regulations for advanced and sustainable materials in collaboration with several local and international entities. He added that local manufacturing of these materials significantly contributes to reducing carbon emissions resulting from importing traditional materials.
The Director General of Hydrogen & Circular Carbon Economy Program underscored the Kingdom's ambition to become one of the largest exporters of clean and green hydrogen due to its natural resources and the ability to create international partnerships, making it capable of producing highly competitive, hydrogen at lowest cost.
