Saudi Arabia calls for eradicating energy poverty that affects 1 billion people

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman called on the international community to eradicate energy poverty faced by some countries. “The issue is moral and affects more than one billion people who lack the simplest means of energy,” Prince said. Azernews reports, citing Saudi Gazette.

The minister made the remarks while attending a dialogue session on the sidelines of the 14th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting and 8th Mission Innovation meeting held in the Indian state of Goa.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries to call on the international community to combat energy poverty around the world, specifically in 2007, when it drew attention to this problem that some countries suffer from,” he said.

In February 2021, Prince Abdulaziz warned that sanctions and underinvestment in the energy sector could lead to a shortage of energy supplies. Prince noted that Saudi Arabia was working to send Ukraine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is most commonly used as a cooking fuel and in heating.

At the Arab-China business conference in June 2021, Prince Abdulaziz said that the OPEC+ agreement involved comprehensive reform, but that the alliance was also working against "uncertainties and sentiment" within the market.

In May 2021, Prince Abdulaziz warned short sellers to watch out just days before a planned OPEC+ meeting to decide on future oil policy. He said that OPEC+ would continue to be proactive, preemptive and hedge against what may come in the future, regardless of any criticism.

In September 2021, Prince Abdulaziz remained Saudi Arabia's energy minister under a new cabinet headed by the kingdom's crown prince and de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the minister announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Clean Energy Forum (CEM) and the Innovation Mission Initiative (MI), which aims to address the challenges of global energy, economics, and sustainability issues.

Prince Abdulaziz and India's Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh co-chaired a roundtable meeting on Green and Low-Carbon Hydrogen in addition to a dialogue session on reducing emissions from all sources.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia is an active member of a number of international organizations and forums concerned with climate change, such as the Net Zero Neutral Producers’ Forum; the Global Methane, Climate and Clean Air Forum; the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum; and the Energy Innovation Mission.

These participations confirm the Kingdom’s active role at the international level, in facing the effects of climate change and contributing to international efforts aimed at reducing emissions, by diversifying the energy mix used in the Kingdom and promoting the use of clean technologies for all energy sources, including renewables and hydrocarbons.