Saudi Arabia plans to deploy 50 per cent of its investments in renewable and sustainable power sources and will issue a green sukuk soon, the governor of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund and Saudi Aramco chairman said.
“The kingdom aims to deploy 50 per cent of its investments in renewable and sustainable power sources, more than two-thirds from investment. We are one of the most efficient countries when it comes to sustainability and renewable energy,” Yasir Al Rumayyan said during a virtual roundtable organised by the Future Investment Institute in New York on Tuesday.
Although Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter, it fares much better than other producers when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions, Mr Al Rumayyan said.
Saudi Arabia is Opec's largest producer and accounts for 12.5 per cent of all oil production, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021.
Under its Vision 2030 initiative, the kingdom is taking measures to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons and to decarbonise its utility systems. The country plans to generate up to 50 per cent of its electricity from clean sources.
The PIF has been given the mandate to develop nearly 70 per cent of renewable projects in Saudi Arabia. Utilities and renewables are among the 13 sectors identified by the fund as part of its Vision 2030 strategy.
Saudi Arabia’s $430 billion sovereign wealth fund will announce its first green sukuk issuance soon, as it looks to increase the role that environmental, social and governance principles (ESG) play in its investments, Mr Al Rumayyan said.
“We will be the first sovereign wealth fund to issue green debt. Some of our portfolio companies have already issued green debt. The Red Sea [Development] Company issued green debt worth $3.7bn,” Aramco’s chairman added.
We will be the first sovereign wealth fund to issue green debt
Yasir Al Rumayyan,
governor of Public Investment Fund and Saudi Aramco chairman
The PIF is also working with the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock to develop an ESG framework, Mr Al Rumayyan said.
“We’re working with many partners from all over the world, domestically and internationally, to have a better ESG compliance in all the things that we do,” he added.
The fund is also working with ratings agencies to standardise the ESG framework and address the inconsistencies in rankings from different agencies.
As part of developing its own ESG framework, the PIF is looking to “gradually” turn down investments that lack sustainability plans, he added.
The PIF has been investing more in businesses that focus on pivoting away from fossil fuels. It boosted its stake in utility developer ACWA Power International, which is spending heavily on renewable energy, and also invested in electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid.
Oil “should be used more efficiently, such as in crude to chemical, which produces zero emissions. We don’t want to exploit all our resources overnight,” Mr Al Rumayyan said.
Saudi Arabia has been meeting future sustainability targets set by global initiatives for the past several years, he added.
“About 70 per cent of our population is under the age of 35. We want to think about the future generations of Saudi Arabia. You cannot separate health from economies and from sustainability,” the PIF governor said.
He added that the cost of solar power production in Saudi Arabia stands at 1.2 cents per kilowatt/hour, versus 15 cents for other producers.
The PIF and the Arab world’s biggest bourse Tadawul announced a plan this month to set up the Riyadh Voluntary Exchange Platform for offsets and carbon credits within the Middle East and North Africa.
The platform will become the primary destination for companies and institutions that target reducing their emissions, or contributing towards reductions, through the trading of verified, approved and high quality carbon equivalent credits certificates, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
Ciro Immobile, Lazio, Serie A, 23 goals, 46 points
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Wednesday's results
Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia
THURSDAY'S FIXTURES
4pm Maratha Arabians v Northern Warriors
6.15pm Deccan Gladiators v Pune Devils
8.30pm Delhi Bulls v Bangla Tigers
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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