As part of COP27, Saudi Arabia has presented 66 climate change projects

Albaraa Aldhahri, project manager at the Saudi Green Initiative's environmental track, told Arab News that the initiatives were developed by the Kingdom based on four main pillars: the circular carbon economy; increasing vegetation cover and reducing degraded lands; protecting wildlife habitats and biodiversity; and promoting sustainability.

“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (announced) the SGI to position Saudi Arabia at the vanguard of the fight against climate change,” Aldhahri said, adding: “This initiative aims to improve the quality of life in Saudi Arabia and also to protect the next generations.” He said the Kingdom’s moves to achieve the three targets of the SGI will start by reducing emissions by 278 million tons per annum by 2030. “The second target (is) to plant 10 billion trees in the coming decades, also to increase the protected areas of the terrestrial and coastal areas by more than 30 percent of the total area of Saudi Arabia,” Aldhahri added. “If we are talking about the environmental track and the approved initiatives under these pillars, we’ll say that we have 39 approved initiatives under the raising the vegetation cover and reducing the degraded lands, we have 18 approved initiatives under protecting wildlife habitats and biodiversity, and nine approved initiatives under the promoting sustainability,” Aldhahri said.

Al-Hanouf Al-Abdulkarim, an engineer from the energy ecosystem within the Kingdom, said one of the main aims was to reduce emissions through the circular carbon economy with different initiatives and projects to meet the ambitious SGI targets. “We have some of our polymer-based materials that are used from hydrocarbons and polymers, as well we have one of our hydrogen production plants breaking out ammonia into hydrogen, and were have ‘Archie’, one of our applications initiated and launched in the Kingdom with the help of Aramco,” she said.

The life cycle carbon intensity at any point in the oil supply chain can be estimated with the help of the interactive programme "Archie," which follows every drop of oil produced throughout the world from its source to its final market. This initiative seeks to improve the openness and traceability of the carbon intensity of the whole oil supply chain so that stakeholders (including investors, regulators, businesses, and consumers) may make more educated decisions.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Al-Nafie, from the Ministry of Energy’s Liquid Displacement Program, said the circular carbon economy initiative aimed to achieve the optimal energy mix in the Kingdom, with 50 percent gas and 50 percent renewables. “The Kingdom launched the liquid displacement program, which aimed to displace one million barrels per day across different sectors — utility sector, generation and desalination, industry sector, and agriculture sector, by availing new energy sources, expansion of the master gas system, and the electric power grid.” He said one million barrels represent 95 percent of the liquid used in the Kingdom, and by 2030, the country will avail a new source and will displace this quantity of liquid. “The main objective of this initiative is to reduce carbon emissions, avail new power sources, and enhance the Kingdom’s economy,” he added.