Saudi Arabia will continue to produce oil for decades to come. But it also pledges to cut its carbon emissions to net-zero zero by 2060. That’s the pledge Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had made just before the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow.

With this announcement, Saudi Arabia has joined more than 100 countries committed to reaching net-zero emissions. This target is not as ambitious as other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have pledged to be net zero by 2050. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58955584)

But how credible is the pledge of net zero by Saudi Arabia? After all, it is the largest exporter of petroleum products globally, and it may remain in that pole position for many years to come. Net zero, basically means that not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere.

With Saudi Arabia not announcing any plans of either slowing down its investments in new oil and gas development projects and since Saudi Arabia relies heavily on fossil fuel exports for running the economy, the pledge, even if it is not as ambitious as others, may remain unachievable say some. (https://www.npr.org/2021/10/23/1048655294/saudi-arabia-zero-emissions-climate-change-2060)

Although Mohammed bin Salman or MBS, as he is often referred to, has made the right noises about Saudi Arabia diversifying, the process has not been catching speed. For instance, Saudi Arabia’s first renewable energy plant went into operation in April tis year and its first wind farm started producing energy just two months back. (https://www.engadget.com/saudi-arabia-net-zero-emissions-2060-204105775.html)

MBS has said that over $180bn will be invested towards the goal of net zero emissions. But the break-up was not given on how this money is being planned to be deployed.

Some developments that are not in the control of oil-producing nations may also aid in reducing carbon emissions. For instance, if the use of electric vehicles increases in the developed markets faster than now, it could cause reduced consumption of fossil fuels.

Read more:

How Saudi Arabia wants to achieve the net zero emission target:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/saudi-carbon-zero-oil-climate/2021/10/23/4ddadae0-340e-11ec-8036-7db255bff176_story.html

How sceptics have been responding to Saudi Arabia’s recent steps:
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2021/04/26/saudi-us-net-zero-oil-producer-initiative-lands-scepticism/