Al-Naimi Says OPEC "Concerned" About Environment - Proposes $1 Billion "Clean Technology" Fund - FT

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Opec sought to reposition itself at the centre of the climate change debate on Thursday by pushing for a fund to finance research and development on emissions capture and sequestration technology as a means to clean up fossil fuels.

Opec’s approach is a significant departure from its previously sceptical attitude to the climate change de-bate, when it worried about the potential impact of alternative energies and energy savings on oil demand. Ahead of a key United Nations climate conference next month, Ali Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said yesterday that technology was the response to reduce emissions, as fossil fuels will continue to play a big role in the world’s energy mix.

“Saudi Arabia and Opec are concerned about the environment,” Mr Naimi said. “We need to work on emissions. Technology is available to reduce emission and Saudi Arabia is willing to participate.”

Adnan Shihab-Eldin, a former Opec secretary-general, floated the idea of a fund to which the producing countries could contribute $1bn (€683m, £488m), according to Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Rich and developing countries would then contribute additional cash. Mr de Boer called such a fund “very constructive”. “With appropriate technology development and deployment, essential fossil fuels can and will continue to play their role,” he said. “International action on climate change is a war against emissions, not a war against oil.”

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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/46b5e046-93c0-11dc-acd0-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1