Year: 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a visit Beijing hailed as its biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, as Riyadh expands global alliances beyond a longstanding partnership with the West. The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with Washington are strained by US criticism of Riyadh’s human rights record and Saudi support for oil output curbs before the November midterm elections. The White House said on Wednesday that Xi’s visit was an example of Chinese attempts…

The energy crisis is fuelling an acceleration of the rollout of renewable power, raising hopes for efforts to meet ambitious targets against global warming, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. Total renewables capacity worldwide is set to almost double in the next five years and overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by 2025, the IEA said in a report. The 2,400-gigawatt growth between 2022-2027 is almost a third higher than last year’s IEA forecast, according to the Paris-based agency, which advises developed nations. This would help “keep…

There is no question that the energy crisis has forced governments to reconsider their priorities, with climate change dropping down the list. Energy security is now prioritised and government actions reflect this, even in Europe. That has been reinforced by the final deal reached at COP27. It also explains why COP27 made so little progress on emissions reduction. There is increasing recognition that the world will still need secure and affordable supplies of oil and gas for a long-time to come. This was confirmed at COP27 by the majority of…