عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Advances 10 Places in Green Future Index 2022

A view of the Asir region in southern Saudi Arabia, where the government is making intensive efforts to increase afforestation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of the Asir region in southern Saudi Arabia, where the government is making intensive efforts to increase afforestation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20
TT

Saudi Arabia Advances 10 Places in Green Future Index 2022

A view of the Asir region in southern Saudi Arabia, where the government is making intensive efforts to increase afforestation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of the Asir region in southern Saudi Arabia, where the government is making intensive efforts to increase afforestation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Environmental initiatives and programs, including the Green Saudi Arabia and the Green Middle East initiatives, as well as the carbon circular economy and energy transformations, have contributed to advancing Saudi Arabia’s ranking in the Green Future Index for 2022.

Issued by the MIT Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Index highlighted Saudi Arabia’s 10 place advancement, following leading programs and initiatives led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In a report, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) noted that the Kingdom’s rapid progress in the Green Future Index crowns the efforts, programs, and initiatives, which include the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives (SGI & MGI) and the establishment of royal natural reserves to increase vegetation in the Kingdom.

The Green Future Index report showed that the Kingdom has moved up in the Carbon Emissions Pillar by 27 places, ranking 19th globally. The progress was driven by the Kingdom’s announcement that it would raise the carbon-emissions target in its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to 278 mtpa by 2030, more than double the 133 mpta announced in 2015.

The announcement of Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to reach net-zero by 2060 has also contributed to this progress. Depending on the maturity and availability of the necessary technologies, the Kingdom seeks to achieve this ambitious goal through the implementation of the CCE approach, in line with its development plans and economic diversification efforts, and consistent with the “dynamic baseline” stipulated in the Kingdom’s NDC.

The Kingdom has also launched, in this context, a national program for the Circular Carbon Economy, a comprehensive approach endorsed by G20 leaders during the country’s presidency of the summit in 2020.

In the Energy Transition Pillar, the Kingdom advanced 12 places, ranking 12th, as well as ranking first in the Renewable Energy Growth Indicator within the same pillar.

This progress was led by the Kingdom’s announcement that it would raise the share of renewable energy in the energy mix used for electricity production to 50% by 2030.

The Green Future Index is an annual ranking of 76 countries based on their ability to develop a sustainable, low-emissions future. It also measures the degree to which these economies are turning towards clean energy, in industry, agriculture, and society through innovation, policy, and investment in renewables.

The Index is divided into five pillars: Carbon Emissions, Energy Transition, Green Society, Clean Innovation, and Climate Policy.

The Green Saudi Arabia initiative forum, which was held in October last year, announced a first package of more than 60 new initiatives and projects, with investments worth more than 700 billion riyals ($186.6 billion) to contribute to the development of the green economy. The Riyadh Initiative supports all climate action efforts under a single vision that paves the way to reach zero neutrality.

Most Viewed

 
Business

Lebanon Hopes to Meet Foreign Bondholders in Coming Year, Finance Minister Says

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Lebanon Hopes to Meet Foreign Bondholders in Coming Year, Finance Minister Says

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon January 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Lebanese officials hope to meet international bondholders to talk about restructuring debt in the next 12 months but are not planning any meetings at the World Bank/IMF Spring meetings next week, finance minister Yassin Jaber said on Tuesday.

Jaber spoke to Reuters just days before travelling to Washington for the Spring meetings - one of the biggest gatherings for financial policy makers and investors - where Lebanon will seek to show it has made progress on economic reforms to address the underlying causes of its financial crash.

Lebanon's economy began unravelling in 2019 after years of corruption and profligate spending by the country's ruling elite, and tipped into a sovereign default on its $31 billion of outstanding international bonds in March 2020.

Asked whether he planned to meet international bondholders in the next year, Jaber said, "definitely, definitely, this is as they say the elephant in the room."

"You can't escape it in the end. Lebanon is keen to resolve this issue, God willing," he said.

But the country needed to make progress on reforms - including reforming the banking sector and boosting government revenues through reforms to tax systems and customs collection - before it could start talks, Jaber said.

"We wanted, first of all, to do our homework, to put the whole reform process on the right track to get started. You can't have a house in total disorder and then say, 'I want to negotiate,'" he said.

The Lebanese delegation to the spring meetings will be the first outing at an IMF/World Bank meeting for Lebanon's new government, which took the reins in February and pledged to seek a new IMF programme. Jaber said it would be the first time a Lebanese finance minister attends in more than a decade.

Economy Minister Amer Bisat is scheduled to give an outlook on Lebanon's economy at a JPMorgan investor conference held on the sidelines, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The creditor group - which includes the heavyweight funds Amundi, Ashmore, BlackRock, BlueBay, Fidelity and T-Rowe Price as well as a group of smaller hedge funds - has recently appointed a financial advisor in preparation for debt talks.

Shortly after the bondholder group originally formed in 2021, it said it held a "blocking stake" of more than 25% across a number of Lebanon's bonds, making it a critical player in any debt restructuring.

The chunk of the bonds are also held by domestic commercial banks or the Lebanese central bank, which bought $3 billion of debt directly from a previous government in 2019.

Lebanon's bonds trade at deeply distressed levels of around 15-16 cents in the dollar. However, that is a sharp uptick from the single digits they traded in before Israel's military campaign badly weakened Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, long viewed as an obstacle to overcoming Lebanon's political paralysis.

In January, Lebanon's cabinet extended the statute of limitations on legal action over Eurobonds for another three years. Jaber said the move "reassured the bondholders".