Leading oil exporter Saudi Arabia aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, Crown Prince MBS says

By Kareem El Damanhoury, CNN

Saudi Arabia plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said Saturday ahead of COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference.

The country aims to reach its goal “through its circular carbon economy approach in line with the kingdom’s development plans,” bin Salman said at the Saudi Green Initiative forum.

State-run Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, plans to achieve the same by 2050, Aramco President and CEO Armin Nasser said at the forum.

The Crown Prince added Saudi Arabia will plant more than 450 million trees as part of the first phase of afforestation initiatives and rehabilitate degraded lands to increase protected areas in the kingdom to more than 20%, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The crown prince also said Saudi Arabia will be transforming Riyadh into “one of the world’s most sustainable cities.”

The Saudi Green Initiative forum is held in Riyadh Saturday to bring together companies, international NGOs, and ministers of environment and climate ahead of COP26 talks October 31-November 12 at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.

Prince Charles delivered a keynote speech at the forum, warning in a virtual address there is a “dangerously narrow window” to accelerate the global “green recovery,” adding the international community must mobilize to lay the foundations for a sustainable future.

Saudi Arabia’s efforts “in energy transition is critically important,” he said.

“I can only say that it is enormously encouraging to see the commitment to diversifying its energy mix, recognizing the cascading economic, social, and environmental benefits that renewable energy provides,” Prince Charles added.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Elle Pickston contributed to this report.