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Top European Commission Officials To Strengthen Energy Ties | |
| Sumita Pawar |
The report says that the EU and Saudi Arabia talked about ways to work together more on renewable energy at a high-level meeting that included the Kingdom's energy minister and top officials from the European Commission.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman welcomed the Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, to his office in Riyadh as part of a visit to the Kingdom by the dignitaries.
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The meeting reviewed cooperation relations in fields related to energy, renewable energy, and clean hydrogen, as well as discussions on electrical interconnection issues and climate change, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Before the meeting, a tour of the facilities of the Jubail United Petrochemical Co. and SABIC Agri-Nutrients Co. took place, followed by a visit to the Aramco Research Center and the EXPEC Advanced Research Center.
The gathering assessed the Kingdom’s role in dealing with emissions through carbon capture, utilization, recycling, and storage projects within the circular carbon economy approach, in addition to the importance of cooperation between exporters and consumers to advance climate change efforts.
According to the report, the Kingdom’s efforts in clean energy technologies, hydrocarbon emissions management, and renewable energy sources were presented during the meeting to convey attempts to lead the transformation through the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative.
The meeting comes as part of Saudi Arabia’s preparation for the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP28, which is set to be held in Dubai.
Last month, the minister also met with US Senator Mitch McConnell to discuss the Kingdom’s efforts to lead the global energy transition, with a particular focus on the aforementioned initiatives, said the report.
Officials reviewed the historical cooperation and friendship between the two countries in all fields in addition to discussing developments in the global energy market.
Saudi Arabia has led the region’s energy transition efforts thanks to its global initiatives, in addition to hosting the 44th International Association of Energy Economics in February.
As the report concluded, the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives were launched in 2021 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to scale up regional climate action through cooperation and investment, as well as bring the region together to collectively contribute towards achieving global climate goals.