Saudi Arabia pledges 2060 net zero target ahead of COP26 summit

Saudi Arabia pledges 2060 net zero target ahead of COP26 summit

Saudi Arabia has pledged to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2060, while also maintaining its role as a leading producer of oil and gas, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a speech on Saturday.

The announcement comes just days before the opening of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and the G20 leaders meeting in Rome, where Saudi Arabia had been under pressure to boost its emissions targets.

Prince Mohammed said the kingdom would spend 700bn riyals (US$187bn) on a range of new climate goals, including reducing carbon emissions by 278m tonnes annually by 2030.

Saudi Arabia said it would also cut its emissions of methane, a potent warming gas released when hydrocarbons are produced, and join a US-led pact to curb methane emissions by 30 per cent this decade.

However Prince Mohammed indicated that the country still saw a central role for oil and gas production, saying the new targets would be achieved “while preserving and reinforcing the kingdom’s leading role in the security and stability of global energy markets, with the availability and maturity of required technologies to manage and reduce emissions.”

The new net zero emissions target is unlikely to alter Saudi Arabia’s status as the world’s largest crude oil exporter,