Saudi Arabia set to initiate Greenhouse gas reduction and credit program early next year

Saudi Arabia is set to introduce a greenhouse gas credit system at the beginning of the following year. This system will permit businesses to balance their emissions by purchasing credits from initiatives that choose to decrease or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, according to an announcement on the initiative's website on Monday.

The Greenhouse Gas Crediting and Offsetting Mechanism (GCOM) was unveiled during Riyadh's United Nations MENA Climate Week. As stated on the website, its goal is "to promote large-scale emission reduction and removal efforts to further the nation's climate-focused strategies, policies, and programs."

The program resonates with the Paris Climate Agreement's Article 6 and is a voluntary, project-centric initiative. It encompasses both greenhouse and non-greenhouse gas measurements across all industry sectors. The initiative invites participation from the public, private sectors, and even subsidiaries of international companies.

A year prior, the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's state-owned investment fund, revealed plans to establish the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) in collaboration with Saudi's Tadawul Group, which oversees the Riyadh-based Saudi Exchange.

This past June, sixteen notable Saudi enterprises, including Aramco and the Saudi Electricity Company, secured over 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits. As confirmed by RVCMC, these credits originate from initiatives that sidestep emissions through eco-friendly technologies or by extracting carbon from the atmosphere."