Representatives from both Saudi Arabia and Germany have separately pledged to formally ratify the Paris Climate Agreement by the end of this year.
Recently appointed Saudi oil minister and former chair of state owned oil company Saudi Aramco, Khalid A. Al-Falih maintained his country’s support for the Paris deal. He said: “We in Saudi Arabia are fully committed to the COP21 deal,” and said that formal ratification could be completed before the next UN Climate Change Conference, COP22 in Marrakech later this year.
Saudi Arabia is currently working on plans to IPO Aramco in a move that will see the country’s income source move away from oil towards investment.
Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman said, earlier this year: “IPOing Aramco and transferring its share to [Public Investment Fund] will technically make investments the source of Saudi government revenue, not oil.
“What is left now is to diversify investments. So within 20 years, we will be an economy or state that doesn’t depend mainly on oil.”
While the decision is unlikely to have environmental aims as its motivation, it does signal a move away from reliance on oil, perhaps preparing the country for a time in the future when demand for the resource begins to drop, and prices fall again as a result.
However, despite Al-Falih’s ostensible commitment to the Paris Agreement, only last month he announced that Saudi Arabia would be rowing back on an initial target of making up 50% of its energy mix from renewable sources. The 50% target will be dropped to 10% and more focus will be placed on energy produced by natural gas.
Al-Falih said: “Our energy mix has shifted more toward gas, so the need for high targets from renewable sources isn’t there any more.
“The previous target of 50 percent from renewable sources was an initial target and it was built on high oil prices.”
Nonetheless, one target that does remain, as part of the ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ initiative, involves 9.5GW worth of renewable energy sources being installed by 2023.
Representatives of the Kingdom are requesting investment for the building of two new solar power plants, each with a generational capacity of around 50MW.
If Saudi Arabia do formally ratify the Paris Agreement by the end of this year, it would represent a significant step towards the agreement actually coming into effect.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke at the Petersburg Climate Dialogue in Berlin last week, reiterating her support for the Paris Agreement and for the fight against climate change more generally.
She said: “We are entering in a new phase, where renewables will be the most important pillar of energy generation for Germany.”
In order for the agreement to be formally activated, 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions must domestically ratify its terms. Saudi Arabia contribute around 1% of the world’s carbon emissions. Ratification from China and the US would significantly fast track the deal’s activation, as they contribute 22% and 13% respectively.
Currently (as of 29th June 2016), 19 signatories of the deal, accounting for 0.18% of emissions, have formally “deposited their instruments of ratification”, according to the UN.
Germany, who contribute 2% to the world’s emissions, have signalled their willingness to ratify the deal, but since the EU must ratify as a bloc, they must wait for the remaining member states before their ratification takes effect.
The nature of the UK’s commitment, and whether it ratifies as part of the European bloc or independently, will become clearer once exit negations formally commence.
The UK’s vote to leave the EU has thrown some doubt over the nature and speed of EU ratification of the deal.
Speaking to the Guardian, PwC’s sustainability director, Jonathan Grant, warned: “There is a risk that this [vote for Brexit] could kick EU ratification of the Paris agreement into the long grass.”
Neither incumbent but outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd, nor suspected incoming Prime Minister Theresa May have yet commented on the nature of the UK’s plans with regard to ratification of the Paris deal.
France and Hungary were the first two EU member states to independently ratify the agreement earlier in June.
