JEDDAH, 21 December 2004 — Saudi Arabia yesterday gave its approval to the Kyoto protocol which aims to stem global warming. The decision was taken by the Council of Ministers chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Some 135 nations have formally given their support to the pact. As a developing country, Saudi Arabia would not be subject to emission cuts under Kyoto, a requirement only binding 30 industrialized nations.
Addressing the weekly Cabinet session in Riyadh, Crown Prince Abdullah wished success to the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) who are currently holding their annual summit conference in Bahrain.
Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fouad Abdul Salam Al-Farsy said Prince Abdullah briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of the meetings between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and a number of leaders who visited the Kingdom lately, including the King Hamad of Bahrain, UEA President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. The discussions with these leaders focused on the developments in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian lands.
Dr. Al-Farsi said the Cabinet voiced its strong denunciation of Israel’s crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands and the continuous killing of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes and uprooting of trees and the burning of their crops. The Cabinet called on the international community to intervene and take a decisive action to stop the aggression.
On Iraq, the Cabinet stressed the need for ending the cycle of violence which is claiming lives and destroying the country’s infrastructure. It appealed to the Iraqi people to stand united and work for the reconstruction of their country.
On the Kyoto protocol, Dr. Farsy said a royal decree is being prepared to formally endorse the step.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, speaking in Argentina on Thursday, said the Kingdom hoped to sign the protocol but expects to lose billions of dollars in oil sales as developed nations implement the pact.
“By the year 2010, Saudi Arabia will lose at least $19 billion a year as a result of the policies the industrialized nations will adopt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,” Naimi told a UN climate change conference.
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, among other things, calls for the enhancement of energy efficiency in relevant sectors of the national economy, the protection and enhancement of sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases and the promotion of sustainable forms of agriculture in light of climate change considerations.
The Kingdom has called for research to improve technology to recover greenhouse gases at the point of production of fossil fuels, easing the impact of environmental measures on oil exporters.
