Saudi Arabia supports climate commitments at the G20 Summit in Rome

On 30th and 31st October, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan attended the G20 Summit in Rome. The summit concluded with a leaders’ declaration, which set out commitments to the environment, energy and climate, and sustainability. 

Environmental commitments included the targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, to conserve or protect 30% of global land areas and 30% of global oceans by 2030, and to reduce the degradation of land by 50% by 2040. A further pledge to build on the G20 Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats launched under the Saudi Presidency in 2020 will ensure continued efforts to protect the natural world, particularly areas most vulnerable from the effects of climate change. 

Additionally, there was a commitment to intensify actions to conserve, protect, restore, and sustainably use marine biodiversity, with a reiteration of the pledge made to the Global Coral Reef R&D Acceleration Platform launched in 2020 under Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency. 

On energy and climate, the declaration acknowledged the vital relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions. To support this, there will be an improvement in data collection, verification, and measurement in support of greenhouse gas inventories and to provide high quality scientific data. Also highlighted was the importance of cooperation to deploy and disseminate zero or low carbon emission and renewable technologies to enable a transition towards low-emission power systems. 

The significance of maintaining undisrupted flows of energy to enhance energy security and market stability to protect the most vulnerable households, businesses and nations was emphasised. 

The active and collaborative involvement of Saudi Arabia in the G20, particularly in matters relating to the environment and climate continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to meaningful progress.