Saudi minister rejects allegations that Saudi blocks Cop26 negotiations
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Dubai: Saudi Arabia energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman lashed out at allegations that the Kingdom had been blocking negotiations at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Arab News reported.
On Wednesday, after his speech defending Saudi's track record in combating global warming, he was asked about the allegations, to which he replied harshly that those were "lies" and "fabrications".
The environmental group Greenpeace, which has a history of animosity towards the Kingdom, had made allegations this week that Saudi had obstructed the summit's progress at crucial meetings. But Saudi negotiators told Arab News that such claims are baseless.
In his speech at Cop26, Prince Abdulaziz had made a plea for an unbiased and objective assessment of possible global warming solutions. He said that the world faces a universal phenomenon and requires an international, shared and effective response.
The response must address Energy security, economic development for humanity's benefit and climate change. All the three should be addressed as a whole, and none should be compromised for the sake of others.
He said that Saudi had taken radical steps in the past month, addressing climate change issues at home and internationally, with 53 key initiatives with a projected cost of 185 billion dollars. The Middle East Green Initiative aim to reduce regional emissions by more than 10 per cent of the total, and Saudi, which has doubled the targets of emission reduction in the past decade, aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
The minister added Saudi's other initiatives such as phasing out oil from domestic energy generation, billions of investments in renewable energy and alternative energy, such as solar and hydrogen, and a major campaign to provide clean cooing energy for 750 million globally
He also said that the world should work together to help less developed countries mitigate the impact of climate change policies without compromising their sustainable development.
