Saudi Arabia names senior diplomat as first climate envoy
May 30, 2022, 8:55 am

Saudi Arabia names senior diplomat as first climate envoy

Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir speaks during a joint news conference with U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia June 29, 2020. (Reuters)

The Bloomberg reported, Saudi Arabia appointed a veteran diplomat and former ambassador to the US as climate envoy, a task that had previously been mostly managed by the same ministry that controls oil production.

According to a royal order issued on Sunday, Adel Al-Jubeir, minister of state for foreign affairs, will take on the role in addition to his current job. Al-Jubeir had previously served as foreign minister -- a separate title.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the appointment means for the climate policy of the world’s largest crude oil exporter -- which has typically been directed by officials in its Ministry of Energy.

In addition to setting crude production policy, the energy ministry also employs a chief climate negotiator named Khalid Abuleif, charged with representing the kingdom’s interests while hashing out climate agreements abroad.

Saudi Arabia has recently made a raft of announcements of new initiatives as it looks to improve its reputation on climate change.

It announced a plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060 in October, amid pressure from the US and Europe to accelerate policy to tackle global warming, but has also committed to investing more in oil and gas production arguing that the world needs more hydrocarbons as it transitions to cleaner fuels.

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Al-Jubeir held key diplomacy positions during a period that saw heavy lobbying from the US government to convince countries that were typically reticent to support a global climate pact to instead sign on.

The Paris climate agreement was signed by almost every country in the world and it was ratified in November 2016.

Source: bloomberg

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