The Kingdom launches trading on the regional voluntary carbon market affiliated with PIF on the sidelines of “COP 29”

Reham Al-Gizawi, CEO of the Saudi Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company affiliated with the Public Investment Fund and the Tadawul Group, revealed the launch of the carbon certificate trading platform during the activities of the “COP 29” climate conference in the city of Baku in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Al-Gizawi added in an interview with “Al-Arabiya Business” that the total amount collected by the platform amounted to nearly 100 million riyals, through the offering of about 2.6 million tons of carbon credits, which is the largest auction in history.

She pointed out that more than 22 companies, most of them Saudi, participated with international companies in this historic event, as well as the support of the Public Investment Fund, which owns about 80% of the company, and the Tadawul Group with 20%.

She indicated that the projects are being reviewed to achieve quality and integrity, as only about 10% of the submitted projects were accepted.

She stated that there are 4 sections on the platform (auctions – request for prices – spot market – various offers), indicating that the launch of carbon contracts with Islamic financing next year for the Saudi consumer, other than companies.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told world leaders at the summit today that they need to pay to prevent humanitarian disasters caused by climate change, noting that time is running out to limit the devastating rise in global temperatures.

This year’s conference is focused on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to finance the global transition to cleaner energy sources and reduce climate damage caused by carbon emissions.

But on the day of the summit designed to bring together world leaders and generate momentum, many of the key players were absent to hear Guterres’ message. After Donald Trump, a climate change denier, won the US presidential election, President Joe Biden did not attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a deputy, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, did not attend.

In a speech, Guterres said: “On climate finance, the world must pay, or humanity will pay the price… The sound we hear is the sound of a ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and time is not on our side.”