Saudi Arabia ‘deeply involved’ in shift to renewable energy, says Kerry
SMA NEWS – NEW YORK
Saudi Arabia is “very deeply involved” in efforts to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, according to John Kerry, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate.
He highlighted the green hydrogen initiative in NEOM, the mega-city development in northwestern Saudi Arabia, as a “very significant potential contributor to a transition in our energy mix right now.”
The $5 billion project to build the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility is a joint venture between NEOM, US chemical company Air Products & Chemicals, and the Kingdom’s ACWA Power.
Kerry’s comments came as he concluded a trip that included stops in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. It was the envoy’s second official visit to the region in recent months, in a year described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “make it or break it” for action to confront the global climate emergency.
The Kingdom is already playing its part. In March, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman unveiled the Saudi Green and Middle East Green initiatives, which aim to reduce carbon emissions in the region by 60 percent through the use of clean hydrocarbon technologies and the planting of 50 billion trees, including 10 billion in the Kingdom.
