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The Saudi GCOM initiative: a carbon offset mechanism

An analysis of the Saudi GCOM initiative and its financial and environmental implications.

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A Saudi GCOM (Greenhouse Gas Crediting and Offsetting Mechanism) initiative emerged on October 9. Scheduled for early 2024, this mechanism aims to increase cooperation between national entities. In addition, it supports the prospect of potentially supporting future international transfers. In this analysis, we take a closer look at Saudi Arabia’s GCOM initiative and its financial and environmental implications. We will also discuss international reactions to this announcement and how it could shape the global energy landscape in the years to come.

GCOM and carbon neutrality

Implementation of the GCOM is part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This step has been taken despite recent scandals highlighting possible shortcomings and abuses in the use of carbon credits. The Saudi Ministry of Energy’s international policy advisor, Maria AlJishi, pointed to the authorities’ willingness to put in place safeguards against “double metering and double emission”, guaranteeing a certain reliability to the system.

International reactions

However, Saudi Arabia’s commitments to reducing emissions and its repeated calls to increase investment in fossil fuels remain points of friction and skepticism among environmentalists. In an earlier exchange last July, France, through its Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, expressed a desire to encourage Saudi Arabia to review its ecological ambitions and accelerate its trajectory towards carbon neutrality. On the sidelines of the forthcoming COP28, the Minister stressed the importance of setting short-term targets (2030-2035) to give credibility to the commitments made.

International cooperation and the world’s energy future

While Saudi Arabia, and to some extent the other Gulf countries, continue to invest in green energies while promoting fossil fuels, international cooperation and the momentum of commitments made at forthcoming climate conferences will remain decisive factors in the evolution of global energy policies. What’s more, the coming months and future international meetings could prove crucial in adopting firmer measures and defining environmentally-friendly energy trajectories on a global scale, in which every country, starting with the biggest oil producers, will have to play a leading and exemplary role.

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