HRH Prince Salman’s COP26 pledge confirms Bahrain’s commitment to World: Oil Minister

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The speech by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) endorses Bahrain’s vision on the need to step up international cooperation to tackle the repercussions of climate change, said Oil Minister.

The pledge by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister to reach Net Zero-emission by 2060 and a 30% reduction by 2035, Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said, confirms the keenness of the Kingdom to honour its environmental pledges. Bahrain aims to achieve this through decarbonisation, efficiency initiatives and doubling the deployment of renewable energy.

“This is a message to the world that confirms the extent of Bahrain’s keenness to honour its environmental pledges at the international level,” said the minister. Under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Oil Ministry has implemented a wide range of environmental projects and initiatives in cooperation with local and international agencies.

The minister said this includes the “Green Climate Fund”, whose 21st board meeting was in Bahrain, the first oil country to host such an event. The meeting, held in 2018, endorsed and approved to finance environmental projects in Bahrain, including the Green Climate Fund and “Enhancing Climate Resilience for the Water Sector in Bahrain.”

Shaikh Mohammed affirmed that Kingdom is leading the way in implementing many environment-friendly projects. “The most important of them being the production of unleaded gasoline, the Kerosene Merox project, the refinery gas desulfurization project, the LPG Processing project, the lube base oil project, the wastewater treatment unit project, and the carbon dioxide extraction project.”

Other environment-friendly projects include the establishment of a fish farm, a bird reserve, a Bahraini tree garden, Her Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa’s Aromatic Plants Garden at the GPIC, a Bahrain-Japanese friendship garden, the inauguration of the Tatweer Petroleum Solar Power Plant and setting up incentive programmes for Bahraini schools to innovate and excel in the environmental field.

“All these projects and programmes are for enabling the kingdom to reach the net-zero target by 2060,” the minister added. Bahrain also took part in the Middle East Green Initiative Summit held last month.

Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, inaugurated the summit. The participation of HRH Prince Salman, the minister said, in the summit confirms the pivotal role Bahrain plays in achieving environmental security.