Aramco is also a major board member to the American Petroleum Institute, the powerful oil lobbying group with vast influence in Washington, D.C. API, as it’s known, sponsors television advertisements, employs lobbyists, and maintains close ties with the Trump administration. A … This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets that aims to strengthen coverage of the climate crisis. “There is no limit to our industry’s potential if we can meet society’s demand for ultra-clean energy,” said Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Aramco, at the World Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, last week. The U.S. diplomatic cables released by Chelsea Manning further reveal Saudi intransigence on more recent climate negotiations. The ability to adapt to a changing climate is largely dependent on national resources and thus the hardships associated with climate change are not equally distributed, with poor and disadvantaged populations and countries suffering most.2, 5 Compared with other countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is fortunate to possess the ability to make notable progress in addressing the … The … Assessment of these impacts indicated clearly that most regions have high vulnerability levels for climate change impacts on desertification processes. Its team has focused on the renewable fuel standard, a contentious law that requires refineries to blend ethanol or to buy credits from other refiners. Even as they push back against efforts to reduce emissions during climate negotiations, the Saudis are girding themselves for them in other arenas. The record high temperatures throughout the Arabian peninsula this summer will increasingly become the norm, according to researchers, making parts of the country and the entire Middle East region uninhabitable. With the expected increase of electric vehicles, Saudi Aramco is preparing to shift away from crude oil and into petrochemicals. A report by the Arab Forum for Environment & Development identifies that agriculture is expected to suffer in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular, because of climate change. The 0.5 degree difference is also expected to double the number of plant and animal species that will become extinct. June 29, 2019 23:04. For nearly thirty years, the Saudi delegation has played a deft role in obstructing global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Most desert animals resident in the Kingdom are non-migratory, and thus will be forced to cope with increases in T a if they are to survive. Less scrutinized, however, are Aramco companies that have a seat at the table with other U.S. oil giants seeking to influence domestic energy policies. In recent years, nevertheless, Saudi Arabia’s stance toward climate change has evolved from systematic obstructionism to conditional acceptance. The area in the report that Saudi Arabia is in is Africa (even though it is technically on the Asian continent). Saudi Arabia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil, and with 25% of the world’s oil reserves, the country is the world’s largest petroleum exporter. Saudis have weaponized this water scarcity in their war in Yemen, targeting areas for their proximity to fertile land and destroying water infrastructure. AFPM referred questions about Motiva’s role in the trade group to Motiva, which did not respond to a request for comment. For those who don’t know what that is, it is basically just a pledge that any country can take that would obligated heavy emitters of greenhouse gases, to make efforts to try and reduce their emissions. Climate change is an important factor for sustainable water resource management in the arid and semi-arid countries. Saudi Arabia’s lobbying prowess is legendary in Beltway circles, mostly for its influence over the lucrative sale of U.S. arms and other hot-button issues. T20 Saudi Arabia presents an opportunity to communicate pressing global issues to the G20. Future Prospects. This section contains information from multiple climate indicators and indices relevant for key economic sectors. The policies that could harm the demand for oil include “carbon emission cap and trade regimes, carbon taxes, increased energy efficiency standards and incentives and mandates for renewable energy.”. Lee Fang[email protected]​theintercept.com@lhfang, Sharon Lerner[email protected]​theintercept.com@fastlerner. Aramco did not respond to a request for comment. This article has been updated to correct the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by Saudi Aramco between 1992 and 2017. Saudi Arabia does not have a single nodal ministry for climate change but different ministries (water, electricity, and agriculture) look at climate change issues within their own impact areas. AFPM funds the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the American Energy Alliance. The think tank once sponsored a billboard campaign comparing those concerned about climate change to the Unabomber and Osama bin Laden. Future revenue, however, could be curtailed sharply if major economies begin transitioning to renewable energy. Beyond the international stage, the influence of Saudi Arabia’s lobbying clout has left an imprint on the domestic battles over climate change. Saudi Arabia has also been partnering with international stakeholders and has been a part of international efforts to combat climate change. Rising temperatures have exacerbated water shortages in Yemen, where some 19 million people already lacked access to clean water and sanitation due to mismanagement and drought. The kind of reporting we do is essential to democracy, but it is not easy, cheap, or profitable. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. Saudi Arabia faces multiple challenges to their core oil business. However, ranked 60th out of 61 countries included in this year’s index, Saudi Arabia remains at the bottom of very low-performers. This section allows you to explore the climate information from multiple climate indicators and present them with simple, embedded interpretation for an informative, high-level summary of the potential for future climate change impacts on key socioeconomic sectors. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is also facing some of the worst risks from soaring temperatures. In November 2016, Saudi Arabia officially endorsed the Paris Agreement that invited all nations to join hands for a common cause — countering climate change and mitigating its effects. The filing also shows the company’s focus on a range of petroleum products, including jet fuel. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Saudi Arabia is very likely to rise greater in temperature averages than the rest of … We have chosen the path of economic diversification and adaptation as a way to with combine national advancement, using our capacities to achieve mitigation in the most effective way. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is also facing some of the worst risks from soaring temperatures. Saudi Arabia says it will press ahead with pledges it made under the Paris climate change accord, even if president-elect Donald Trump pulls the US out of the global deal after he is sworn in.. In the three categories GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy and Energy Use, Saudi Arabia is rated very low, both for the current level and for the well-below-2°C This section allows you to explore the susceptibility of livelihoods and natural systems to impacts from climate variability and change and facilitate the exploration of socioeconomic and development data and its relationships with natural hazards vulnerable areas. In 2016, Saudi Arabia ratified the Paris Agreement and submitted its first Nationally Determined Contribution, which aims to achieve avoidance of up to 130 million tons of CO2eq by 2030 annually through economic diversification and adaptation. Saudi women and children stand in a flooded street in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Nov. 21, 2017. While Saudi Arabia’s long involvement in global climate change negotiations has attracted mounting attention, little is known about the kingdom’s climate change governance at the domestic level or its progress in terms of addressing climate change in line with economic diversification. In 2019, Saudi Arabia started to take serious steps to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels as a source of electricity. A recent investigation found that both AFPM and API are deeply involved in a state-based effort to obstruct electric vehicle investments. Saudi Arabia accepts the reality of climate change and the need to mitigate CO2 emissions, but they say that oil and gas are part of the solution. The oil sector alone contributes up to 80% of the country’s budget revenues and 88% of foreign income is from oil exports. Saudi Arabia Climate Change. The section provides access to future climate datasets for both temperature and precipitation and their statistical derivatives for various timeframes and emission scenarios from 2020 to 2099. Saudi Arabia lacks permanent water resources and, therefore, must depend on groundwater and seawater desalination to meet its water demands. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a rentier economy, where government jobs distribute oil money to the population and keep social tensions from rising. The difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees of warming, which had been the focus of previous work, could expose an additional 10 million people to the threats of sea level rise and tens of millions of people to suffering from extreme heat, water scarcity, and flooding. This section helps you grasp key national adaptation policies and reports, explore options for key sectors, and understand current adaptation gaps and needs for enhanced climate smart planning. The agricultural sector struggles due to the country’s unsuitable environmental conditions, though considerable nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralist farming exists in some regions. Aramco, the bond filing revealed, earn profits of over $111 billion a year. By 2100, field and vegetable crops are expected to require 10-13% more water because of changes in temperature and carbon dioxide levels across the region. Countries that do not pollute as much can voluntarily… Technological advances, such as electric vehicles, could also reduce the demand for refined oil products, the filing noted. Our planet and rural communities cannot afford four more years of Vilsack’s aggressive corporatism. Gross domestic product per capita is highly variable and the economy suffers greatly from the instability in world oil prices. In the 2019th G20 meeting in Japan, Saudi Arabia addressed the issue of climate change by introducing the Saudi efforts to produce and increase the production of renewable energy. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Saudi Arabia. Tom Vilsack for Agriculture Secretary Is Everything That’s Wrong With the Democratic Party, Hollywood Deployed Lobbyists to Win Exemptions to Strict California Lockdown. In this role, Saudi delegates have demanded steep concessions for poorer countries. But the Saudi oil company’s lofty branding campaign belies a stunning history of undermining action to address the climate crisis, a concerted effort designed to preserve the profits of Aramco. The company’s various social media pages have driven home the argument. In one video, posted by Aramco last month and set to the wobbling bass beats of an EDM rave track, claims the Saudi oil giant has worked to leverage its research power “to deliver sizable reductions in CO2.” Another promotional video touts the company’s focus on emission control technology, stating that Aramco is “committed to urgent action on climate change.”. Al-Sabban, during the 2009 negotiations in Copenhagen for a climate accord, declared on television that “there is no relationship whatsoever between human activities and climate change,” and added that, “whatever the international community does to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will have no effect on the climate’s natural variability.” Now retired from his government position, Al-Sabban hasn’t changed his position. Saudi Arabia has in fact ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In the Katowice climate talks last year, Saudi Arabia, reflecting Aramco’s interests in jet fuel production, objected to having the International Civil Aviation Organization report on the climate impacts of aviation. Saudi Arabia is ranked among the most “water stressed” countries in the world — a predicament it deals with by using both fossil fuel profits and fossil fuels themselves to desalinate and pump seawater. Saudi Arabia joined with the U.S., Russia, and Kuwait to object to wording welcoming that report, which was published last October and spelled out the impacts of warming 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Competing visions of climate justice have alienated Saudi Arabia from other developing countries at UN climate talks in Poland. According to Saudi Arabia’s filed report to the UNFCCC, “Options to increase the adaptive capacity of species and ecosystems in the face of accelerating climate change include: • Reducing non-climatic stresses, such as pollution, over-exploitation, habitat … That’s all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? Discussions came to a deadlock at the talks in Bonn after a small group of countries refused to engage in substantive discussions over how the report’s findings could be used to inform policies on increasing the pace and scale of decarbonisation. Climate Change and Economic Diversification in Saudi Arabia: Integrity, Challenges, and Opportunities. A major report on 1.5C has been excluded from formal UN climate negotiations, after Saudi Arabia tried to discredit its scientific underpinnings. Despite the glossy greenwashing spin in Aramco’s latest publicity blitz, the company’s true fears about a shift away from oil were revealed this year in its first-ever bond sale. Motiva, like other oil majors, shapes the energy debate largely through industry trade groups. 1. The Intercept is a First Look Media Company. For the first time in the CCPI, Saudi Arabia is not the worst performing country. Like other countries with coastlines and gradual slopes, Saudi Arabia is susceptible to sea level rise associated with climate change. 1) Saudi Arabia along with the rest of the world knows that the weather is getting warmer over time and they need to be able to adapt to the climate in order to continue living the lifestyle they live. 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