Saudi Arabia has outlined plans for its first attempt to earn credits on
the international carbon market, after similar efforts by the UAE and
Qatar.
The project at a landfill site outside of Medina would generate slightly
more than €2 million (Dh9.3m) a year at current carbon prices by
keeping emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, out of the
atmosphere, documents submitted to the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change show.
The move marks a significant development for a country that has long
been reluctant to acknowledge the threat of climate change and take
action to reduce it, said Mari Luomi, a Gulf climate expert at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs in Helsinki.
“The logic goes that not taking advantage of the current financial
resources … makes it easier for countries like Saudi Arabia to argue
against the structures of the current burden-sharing agreement,” Ms
Luomi said.
“Participation in the international climate regime might create pressure
for the GCC OPEC states, which have traditionally been reluctant to
admit to any responsibility for their emissions, to take new
international commitments.”
Under the 1998 Kyoto Protocol, signed by Saudi Arabia in 2005, companies
in developing countries can earn credits for every tonne of greenhouse
gas they keep out of the atmosphere.
The credits can be sold on to companies in industrialised countries that need to offset their emissions.
UAE companies have already registered several projects under the scheme, called the Clean Development Mechanism.
Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government’s clean energy company, hopes to become
the first in the Gulf to receive credits for a solar panel array and an
energy-efficiency investment at a power station in Taweelah. Qatar
registered an oilfield project in 2006 but has not yet received credits.
The Saudi project in Medina would pipe methane to an incinerator,
creating carbon dioxide, which has less impact on the environment.
The project, requiring about US$4.6m (Dh16.8m) in investment, must be
approved by Saudi authorities before it can be registered with the UN.