Saudi Arabia Increases Regional Movement to Mitigate Climate Change Effects

A session on the circular carbon economy towards zero emissions neutrality within the activities of the third day of the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW).
A session on the circular carbon economy towards zero emissions neutrality within the activities of the third day of the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW).
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Saudi Arabia Increases Regional Movement to Mitigate Climate Change Effects

A session on the circular carbon economy towards zero emissions neutrality within the activities of the third day of the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW).
A session on the circular carbon economy towards zero emissions neutrality within the activities of the third day of the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW).

The third day of the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (MENACW) 2023 saw a series of discussions pertaining to climate change, amid a broad regional movement to mitigate the effects of this phenomenon on the region.

A session on the circular carbon economy towards zero emissions touched on the efforts deployed by the Kingdom since the launch of Vision 2030 to expand the scope of its work to deal with climate challenges, and its introduction of the circular carbon economy initiative, which is a comprehensive and integrated approach that relies on multiple tools for managing emissions.

Chief Engineer for the Circular Carbon Economy at the Ministry of Energy, Humam Al-Ghamdi, said: “Saudi Arabia is implementing a combination of factors and functions in the field of renewable energy, to accelerate the pace of mitigating emissions and raising the level of the future economy in order to shift to clean hydrogen.”

He stated that the Kingdom has a specialized center to monitor climate change in order to capture more than 24 million tons of carbon, stressing that Saudi Arabia was moving to lead renewable energy and clean hydrogen by 2030.

For his part, Dr. Fahd Al-Sherehy, Vice President for Energy Efficiency and Carbon Management at SABIC Saudi Arabia, explained that the Kingdom has clear plans to reduce costs and raise efficiency levels.

Chief Growth Officer at Carbon Clean, Krishna Singhania, said that modern technology can develop and reduce the cost of carbon capture, explaining that reaching zero emissions could be achieved within a period of up to 5 years.

He pointed to a gap between the costs allocated to factories and those directed to mitigating emissions, noting that reaching the desired goals required integrated and comprehensive work.

Singhania continued that the private sector plays an important role, by creating partnerships with regulatory and legislative bodies in the concerned countries.



IMF: Pakistan Wins More Financing Assurances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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IMF: Pakistan Wins More Financing Assurances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Pakistan has received “significant financing assurances” from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates linked to a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program that go beyond a deal to roll over $12 billion in bilateral loans owed to them by Islamabad, IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Nathan Porter said on Thursday.

Porter declined to provide details of additional financing amounts committed by the three countries but said they would come on top of the debt rollover.

The IMF's Executive Board on Wednesday approved a new $7 billion loan for cash-strapped Pakistan, more than two months after the two sides said they had reached an agreement.

The loan — which Islamabad will receive in installments over 37 months — is aimed at boosting Pakistan's ailing economy.

“I won't go into the specifics, but UAE, China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia all provided significant financing assurances joined up in this program,” Porter told reporters on a conference call.

The global lender said its immediate disbursement will be about $1 billion.

In a statement issued Thursday, the IMF praised Pakistan for taking key steps to restore economic stability. Growth has rebounded, inflation has fallen to single digits, and a calm foreign exchange market have allowed the rebuilding of reserve buffers.

But it also criticized authorities. The IMF warned that, despite the progress, Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remained formidable.

It said a difficult business environment, weak governance, and an outsized role of the state hindered investment, while the tax base remained too narrow.

“Spending on health and education has been insufficient to tackle persistent poverty, and inadequate infrastructure investment has limited economic potential and left Pakistan vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” it warned.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement hailed the deal that his team had been negotiating with the IMF since June.

Sharif, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, told Pakistani media that the country had fulfilled all of the lender’s conditions, with help from China and Saudi Arabia.

“Without their support, this would not have been possible,” he said, without elaborating on what assistance Beijing and Riyadh had provided to get the deal over the line.

The Pakistani government has vowed to increase its tax intake, in line with IMF requirements, despite protests in recent months by retailers and some opposition parties over the new tax scheme and high electricity rates.

Pakistan for decades has been relying on IMF loans to meet its economic needs.

The latest economic crisis has been the most prolonged and has seen Pakistan facing its highest-ever inflation, pushing the country to the brink of a sovereign default last summer before an IMF bailout.

Inflation has since tempered, and credit ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to “Caa2” from “Caa3”, citing improving macroeconomic conditions and moderately better government liquidity and external positions.