Desalination Reduces Carbon Emissions by 22% of Saudi Arabia’s Total Targets

SWCC aims to strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SWCC aims to strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Desalination Reduces Carbon Emissions by 22% of Saudi Arabia’s Total Targets

SWCC aims to strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SWCC aims to strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) announced on Thursday that it has succeeded in curbing carbon dioxide emissions by 28 million tons annually, which represents 22 percent of the Kingdom’s total target for the year 2030.

Eng. Mamdouh Al-Shuaiby, Executive Manager of Industrial Security and Environment at the SWCC, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the corporation would gradually dispense with thermal desalination plants and replace them with environmentally-friendly reverse osmosis (RO) technology.

He noted that a new initiative was launched in coordination with the Water Transport and Technology Company to raise the level of environmental commitment in water transmission systems, by developing an environmental management system and relevant construction and operational licenses.

Shuaiby emphasized that the RO system was one of the best eco-friendly technologies for not involving burning processes and emissions. He said that the corporation was working on developing a system that absorbs gases emitted from chimneys and converts them into investment products.

In a statement, the SWCC said it has invested its engineering and research expertise to expand the design innovation, implementation and supply of the new high-efficiency desalination plant that consumes less energy and is more flexible in operation and mobility.

SWCC said it aims to “strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry, continue its plans to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and enable local content in all its current and future development projects.”



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.