Carbon neutrality in the land of oil
In October 2021, just a few days before COP26 aimed at enforcing the Paris climate accords, Saudi Arabia made a resounding announcement: it plans to be carbon neutral by 2060!
Coming from one of the world's most polluting countries, with 600 million tonnes ofCO2 produced per year (1.5 times France's emissions), the announcement may seem ambitious. Yet emissions have been falling sharply since 2017. To keep this promise, all means are good: investment in decarbonization technologies, planting ten billion trees to absorb emissions under the Saudi Green Initiative, limiting the use of fossil fuels, massive investment in renewable energies, particularly solar, with the construction of numerous power plants... But while the Kingdom intends to continue oil exploitation, and at the same time undertakes highly polluting projects, such as the multiplication of desalination plants, climate experts are concerned about the validity of this objective.
Ecology, a political matter
The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Agriculture is in charge of Saudi policy on ecology. But the economy always takes priority, to the point of categorically refusing any suggestion of slowing down oil production, despite the Kingdom's ranking among the world's top ten polluters in terms ofCO2 emissions. Saudi Arabia hesitated for a long time to sign the Paris agreements, and in particular tried to get rid of the target of a maximum 1.5°C rise in temperatures. Such was the stalemate that the country received several Fossil of the Day Awards, satirical prizes awarded by the NGO network Climate Action Network to countries slowing down climate negotiations.
Yet Saudi Arabia will be forced to move away from oil, as its reserves begin to run out. The Kingdom is already planning for the post-oil era through its Vision 2030 economic diversification plan. As part of this program, the Saudi Green Initiative was launched in 2021, with the aim of building an ecologically sound future. The objectives are ambitious: to plant ten billion trees to create ecosystems and absorb carbon emissions until neutrality is achieved, to run on 50% renewable energy, to recycle almost all waste, to increase the number of protected areas..
When the drought rages
Saudi Arabia didn't start out with the right cards: an entire territory without a single permanent source of fresh water, extremely scarce rainfall, very high temperatures reaching up to 50°C... But when global warming and the ever-increasing water needs of a growing population are added to the mix, the situation quickly degenerates into an extremely intense drought. In the dock: unsustainable agriculture, which tirelessly draws on the desert's meagre underground water reserves. For example, the massive cultivation of wheat, introduced in the 1980s, was eventually banned as too water-hungry. The result: while only 2% of the land is arable, agriculture sucks up 88% of water resources.
Most of the country's water is therefore imported. But the government is working on solutions for the future, and has invested in some of the world's largest desalination plants. The Kingdom alone accounts for 18% of the world's desalinated seawater. This is not going to help its carbon footprint, as these plants are extremely energy-intensive and represent pharaonic emissions. In April 2022, the Saudi government also gave the go-ahead for an artificial rain project, using cloud seeding.
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(entdossierthemarub)18641:texteProtected areas: refuges of biodiversity
Although the country currently has several dozen protected areas of varying status, it intends to increase this number. As part of the Saudi Green Initiative, it has promised to create new protected areas to cover 20% of its territory.
Among them, the Asir National Park covers an area of 6,500 km2, encompassing both mountainous terrain and the marine ecosystems of the Red Sea. Ranging in altitude from sea level to 3,200 m, and including numerous ecosystems from mangroves to the desert coastal plains of the Tihama, the park is home to a remarkable diversity of species. There are 300 species of birds, 10% of which are birds of prey.
Al Ahsa Uqair National Recreation Area is home to another treasure: the world's largest oasis. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the oasis is lined with 2.5 million palm trees and has been inhabited for centuries.
The Al-Khunfah protected area in the north of the Kingdom is one of the largest, covering almost 20,000 km2. It is home to a typical desert ecosystem, whose vulnerability makes its protection all the more precious. As elsewhere in the region, its flora is mostly sparse, consisting of a few clumps of vegetation. These include Tamarix aphylla, a species particularly well adapted to the desert in which it thrives despite its salinity.
Eco-city in the desert: utopia or dystopia?
Imagine a futuristic city in the heart of the desert, where residents live on a 170 km-long line, surrounded by two walls and organized into several floors. An artificial moon, a beach of phosphorescent sand, flying cabs, some of the fastest trains in the world, 100% renewable energies for 0 carbon... These are just some of the promises of The Line, as envisioned by Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane. It will be part of the future Neom zone, which aims to challenge Silicon Valley as part of the Vision 2030 project, which aims to organize Saudi Arabia's economic future in anticipation of the depletion of oil resources.
But isn't this a little too good to be true, at a time when environmental protection associations the world over are concerned about the colossal use of resources involved in such a project, in a desert that has none, and such a massive construction site in such a vulnerable environment? For the time being, the project's deadline is constantly being delayed, while many of its players are withdrawing and investors are still being sought to finance the several hundred billion dollars required.
