US calls Gulf countries ‘part of the solution’ to climate crisis

Biden administration seeks expertise from UAE and Saudi Arabia at Leaders Summit on Climate

Oil producing nations are fast becoming innovators in cutting emissions of planet-heating gases. AP

The administration of US President Joe Biden has thanked the UAE and Saudi Arabia for joining this week’s climate summit, saying Gulf oil exporters were key to keeping global temperature rises under control.

Two senior officials from the Biden administration told The National  that the two Gulf countries were fast becoming innovators in cutting emissions of planet-heating gases.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman are due to take part in Mr Biden's online Leaders Summit on Climate which takes place on Thursday and Friday.

One official highlighted the UAE’s advanced water management technology and Saudi Arabia’s transition from a crude exporter to capturing solar rays and powering its $793 billion economy with hydrogen as "part of the solution" to the crisis.

“It doesn't matter if you're in Australia or the US, the UAE or Saudi Arabia, you're going to have to figure out how you move an economy that is partially reliant on carbon-intensive activities, to one that is not,” the official said.

Mr Biden’s summit will bring together leaders from 40 countries to drive global momentum to tackle climate change before the UN's Cop26 meeting in Glasgow in November.

The 2015 Paris Agreement had most world governments pledge to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases and keep global warming under 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and even 1.5°C.

The planet has so far warmed by 1.2°C and is headed for at least 3°C this century, raising the risk of wildfires, droughts, floods, hurricanes and other disasters that could force millions of people from their homes.

Signs from Fridays for Future movement in Berlin, Germany. Ten cities joined New York and London in committing to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of efforts to combat climate change. AP

Climate activists march in an attempt to occupy the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine and nearby gas infrastructure on a day of civil disobedience near Grevenbroich, Germany. Getty

A child wears plastic bottle waste provided by climate and environmental activists during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters

A deforested area close to Sinop, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The number of bushfires raging in Brazil's Amazon increased 61 per cent in September last year, compared to the same period in 2019. AFP

Ice sculptures of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro comprise the artwork 'Meltdown', which was on display last September during the UN Summit On Biodiversity in New York City. AFP

A Jaguar named Ousado, who suffered second-degree burns during fires in the South American Pantanal region, rests in his cage after treatment in Brazil. AP

Cars on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. The US state plans to phase out sales of new, petrol-powered cars by 2035. Bloomberg

Deadly bushfires in California burnt more than 16,000 square kilometres of land last year — more than double the previous record for the most land burnt in a single year in the state. AP

An aircraft prepares to drop fire retardant while battling a blaze in the Mendocino National Forest, California. AP

Filipino climate activists hold placards calling for climate action as a part of global climate change protests in Quezon City. Reuters

Debris collects in a river after heavy rains and floods hit Breil-sur-Roya, a French village close to the Italian border. AFP

Climate and environmental activists make their way through a forest next to the village of Shipunovo, 170 km south of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, to extinguish a peat fire. AFP

A man holds a banner with the message "United for climate" during a small climate change protest in Brussels. AP

British zoologist Andrew Bladon takes the temperature of a butterfly near Pegsdon, England. Whether a butterfly's wings absorb or reflect heat from the sun could be a matter of life and death in a warming world, British researchers said. AFP

Members of an environmental group in Seoul, South Korea, take part in a protest against climate change. EPA

Activists from various environmental groups take part in a protest against climate change in New Delhi, India. EPA

Ugandan climate change activist Vanessa Nakate takes part in a demonstration in the Luzira suburb of Kampala, Uganda. Reuters

A climate change demonstration in Vienna, Austria. AFP

An iceberg floats past Bylot Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP

A polar bear stands on the ice in the Franklin Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP

“If we're going to reach the 1.5°C aspirational goal ... it's going to require particularly oil-producing nations and others to decarbonise, to support decarbonisation and to invest in many of these solutions,” another official said.

The summit offers the US a chance to rejoin global efforts on climate change after the Trump administration pulled the country from the Paris deal and dismantled environmental regulations.

Mr Biden is expected to unveil America’s new carbon-emission targets at the summit and pledge money to help smaller economies fight climate change and adapt to a warmer planet.

The US and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, agreed to co-operate on climate change before the summit, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part.

The EU on Wednesday agreed on a major climate change law to reduce net emissions by at least 55 per cent by the end of the decade from 1990 levels.

The summit comes only weeks after US special envoy for climate John Kerry visited the UAE for the Mena Regional Climate Dialogue in Abu Dhabi.

Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg this week cast doubt on the US climate summit, saying world leaders were not truly treating the “crisis as a crisis”.

“Lots of insufficient climate ‘targets’ and ‘pledges’ being presented … they equal surrender on the 1.5°C target," Ms Thunberg tweeted on Wednesday.

"Same facts pretty much apply to all high-income nations."