ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday evening in Egypt and reviewed cooperation between the two countries to confront climate change.
Sharif is attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, which started on Sunday in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, with delegates from nearly 200 countries.
Sharif and his team, which includes climate change minister Sherry Rehman, are attending with the aim to use the summit to get the world to commit to helping countries like Pakistan deal with growing climate-related “loss and damage.”
The second edition of the Middle East Green Initiative Summit, which convened leaders from across the world in Egypt on Monday, is being held alongside COP27.
“Crown Prince met with the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of #Pakistan,” the Saudi foreign minister said on Twitter. “Aspects of Saudi-Pakistani cooperation in various fields and efforts made to confront climate change were discussed.”
The Saudi crown prince said on Monday the kingdom would contribute $2.5 billion to a green initiative in the Middle East over the next 10 years, and host its headquarters.
The Middle East Green Initiative was launched by the crown prince last year as part of efforts to reduce regional carbon emissions.
Saudi Arabia had said last year it aimed to contribute 15 percent of the $10.4 billion required for the fund’s clean energy projects.
The crown prince also said the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund would aim for net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Middle East Green Initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions from regional hydrocarbon production by more than 60 percent. It also plans to plant 50 billion trees across the Middle East and restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land. The initiative will help reduce global carbon levels by 2.5 percent.
Saudi Arabia plans to rely on renewables for 50 percent of its electricity generation by 2030, the prince said, removing 44 million tons of carbon emissions by 2035.
