Saudi Arabia is working “to artificially stimulate oil demand” even as it publicly backs a transition away from fossil fuels, a report said ahead of COP28 climate talks in Dubai.
The report, published Monday by the Centre for Climate Reporting and Britain’s Channel 4 News, focuses on the Gulf kingdom’s Oil Sustainability Program (OSP), launched in 2020 to ensure hydrocarbons “remain part of the global energy mix in the most efficient and sustainable way”, according to its website.
The report paints a different picture, contending the OSP — which in Arabic is known as the Oil Demand Sustainability Program — works to maximise use of oil-consuming vehicles in Asia and Africa.
Authorities from the world’s biggest oil exporter are also, according to the report, backing fuel-intensive supersonic air travel, lobbying against government subsidies for electric vehicles and promoting energy infrastructure in developing countries that would run on Saudi oil.
The report was published days before COP28 talks kick off on Thursday in Dubai, where major oil producers will be under pressure to adopt clear language backing a move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The…
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