Saudi Arabia has made it clear: The country will be a trendsetter in producing all forms of energy to meet global demand.

When COP28 declared last December to 'transition away from fossil fuels', the Kingdom interpreted it as ‘one of several choices’, Climate Home News had reported, citing Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Energy Minister.

But Saudi Arabia is taking climate change issues seriously and has shifted its focus to all kinds of energy, not just oil, the Prince told the Future Minerals Forum in January, according to Reuters.

Although, he said, fossil fuel can be used in tandem with measures to capture its emissions.

'People are still interested in continuing to produce fossil fuels. However, like us, and we should be calling on everybody to do this, we have to work on mitigating these fossil fuels,' he said.

In another major summit, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Cabinet's member, and Climate Affairs Envoy, said the Kingdom advocated for the diversification of energy sources to meet the increasing global demand for energy.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, he said the Kingdom aims to become the top exporter of all forms of energy and not just oil, reaffirming its commitment to reduce emissions and address the challenges of climate change, SPA reported.

'We are a responsible actor in the global community, and we want to not follow the standards, we want to set the standards,' he said.

He also said the world’s increasing need for energy has to be accommodated using alternative sources of energy. 'Renewables are a clear favorite.'

Pointing to the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI), Al-Jubeir said the Kingdom has implemented more than 80 public and private sector initiatives, representing an investment of over $188 billion towards achieving global climate goals.

He said the Kingdom was taking a comprehensive approach to preserving the environment including measures such as adoption of a circular economy approach to carbon, afforestation, city redesign and waste recycling.

In line with Vision 2030, the Kingdom is undergoing rapid economic transformation, led by the private sector.

Faisal Alibrahim, the Minister of Economy and Planning said 13 sectors had been prioritised that created the conditions for profitability for the private sector.

He said: 'Saudi has a playbook that everybody is looking into, and this playbook is all about bold movement.

IPTC returns to KSA with 16th edition

More than 20,000 industry leaders, professionals, influencers and key players from the oil and gas industry are expected to join the 16th edition of the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) being held from February 12-14 at at the Dhahran Expo.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister will speak at the event in a one-on-one discussion.

Other industry leaders to speak include Aramco leaders Amin Nasser, President & CEO, and Nasir Al-Naimi, Upstream President, in addition to top officials from TotalEnergies, Woodside Energy, Exxon Mobil, SLB, PTTEP, Adnoc, Baker Hughes, and others.