JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia —
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned Saturday that “unrealistic policies” to curb emissions
could fuel inflation, as he chaired a summit bringing together Arab leaders and
US President Joe Biden.
اضافة اعلان
The kingdom is the world’s largest crude exporter,
but Prince Mohammed has tried to make environmentally friendly policies a
centerpiece of his reform agenda.
Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged ahead of the
COP26 climate change summit to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060, sparking
skepticism from environmental campaigners.
“Adopting unrealistic policies to reduce emissions
by excluding major sources of energy will lead in the coming years to
unprecedented inflation and a rise in energy prices, while increasing
unemployment and exacerbating serious social and security problems,” Prince
Mohammed said.
Energy policy has been a key component of Biden’s
first Middle East tour as president.
Washington wants Riyadh to open the oil floodgates
to bring down soaring gasoline prices, which threaten Democratic chances in
November mid-term elections in the US.
After meeting with Saudi leaders Friday, Biden said
he was “doing all I can” to increase the oil supply but added that concrete
results would not be seen “for another couple weeks”.
Prince Mohammed said Saturday the kingdom would
“play its role in this field”, reiterating a pledge made in May to ramp up
daily oil production capacity by more than one million barrels to exceed 13
million barrels by 2027.
With increasing urgency to limit global warming,
experts warn of the need to reduce fossil fuel use.
Saudi officials dispute that their policies are in
conflict.
“We will continue to advocate increased capacity. We
will also continue to advocate ... reducing emissions,” Saudi Economy Minister
Faisal Al-Ibrahim said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May.
“These two points do not contradict each other. The last
thing we want is focusing on climate change without focusing on energy
security.”
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