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China-Saudi energy research is cold comfort to poor nations seeking climate justice
- Neither country included mitigation of oil use or carbon offsets in their energy cooperation
- Until research is turned into action, talking up the cooperation as addressing climate change just shows how ‘climate injustices’ can be greenwashed into ‘climate ambition’
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Rizwan Basir, a sociologist, is a senior technical specialist at the Climate Resourcing and Coordination Centre (CRCC) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Last month, China and Saudi Arabia – two of the world’s largest carbon emitters – laid down the weakest of green foundations to a partnership otherwise inundated with red flags for the climate.
Years of deepening ties between the world’s largest importer and exporter of oil culminated in a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Riyadh last month, where several agreements spawned a “new era” in China-Arab partnership. In effect, the epoch is poised to maintain the stability of oil flows between the two countries – ultimately ensuring the uninterrupted acceleration and scale-up of oil production, distribution and consumption.
After coal, oil is the second highest source of global carbon emissions, with China the second highest greenhouse gas emitter from its use. In 2021, China imported US$43.9 billion worth of oil from the kingdom and its oil-based emissions of carbon dioxide rose to 1.71 billion tonnes. Chinese customs data for the first 10 months of 2022 alone shows US$55.5 billion worth of oil imports from Saudi Arabia.
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