Saudi Arabia Seeks to Launch Middle East’s First Carbon Exchange with Aramco, ACWA | SUSTG.com – News, Analysis, and Features on all things Saudi Arabia

Saudi Aramco and ACWA Power may be the first of a total of five companies to join a new carbon exchange set up by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF signed non-binding MoU’s on with Aramco, utility ACWA Power, Saudi Arabian Airlines Corp., miner Maaden, and ENOWA, an energy and water firm, it said in a statement issued Tuesday and as reported by Bloomberg.

The so-called Voluntary Carbon Market (“VCM”), launched by both the PIF and the Tadawul in 2021, aims to reduce the impact of climate change effects.

As part of the agreement signed with the five companies, those entities will “support PIF in the development of the VCM through the supply, purchase and trading of carbon credits as the market is expected to be established in 2023,” the PIF statement said.

Additional partners will be announced in the coming months ahead of an initial round of auctions expected in the final quarter of this year.

“We would like to thank our Partners for their commitment to the Voluntary Carbon Market, the first of its kind in the MENA region. The support of Saudi businesses, which are world leaders in their fields, is a strong demonstration of the exciting potential of this market,” Yassir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the PIF, said.

“PIF contributes to Saudi Arabia’s efforts through driving the investment and innovation required to address the impact of climate change and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060.”