John Kerry to attend Middle East Green Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia

Joe Biden’s climate envoy to visit Riyadh ahead of Cop26 summit in Glasgow

John Kerry will visit Riyadh on 24 and 25 October (AP)

US president Joe Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, will travel to Saudi Arabia next week for meetings with government counterparts and business leaders on efforts to address the climate crisis, the State Department has said.

Mr Kerry will visit Riyadh on 24 and 25 October before the UN climate change convention in Glasgow that starts October 31, the department said in a statement.

In Riyadh, Mr Kerry will participate in the Middle East Green Initiative Summit which will discuss ways to reduce emissions, reverse desertification and grow forests.

The United States and the EU are trying to get Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, to join a global initiative on slashing emissions of methane 30 per cent by 2030 from 2020 levels.

More than 30 countries including Germany, Canada and Japan have joined the partnership which covers 60 per cent of global GDP and 30 per cent of global methane emissions.

It is uncertain whether the kingdom will sign on. Saudi Arabia Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Wednesday that the world must pay attention to energy supply security, which should not be compromised in the fight to curb climate change.

Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud (REUTERS)

Mr Kerry and Saudi Arabia share an interest in developing hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

Saudi Arabia is building a $5 billion plant to produce ‘green hydrogen’ by extracting the gas from water using electrolyzers powered by solar and wind power.

Hydrogen can be used in fuel cell vehicles or be blended with natural gas to create a cleaner-burning fuel, but today most hydrogen is extracted using fossil fuels that produce large amounts of planet-warming emissions.

Mr Kerry said last month that hydrogen could be a multitrillion-dollar global market in coming decades.

Prince Abdulaziz also said that uncertain demand for green hydrogen, which costs about four times more than fossil fuel derived hydrogen, was its biggest challenge.