As many developed countries embrace clean energy, an undercover investigation has revealed Saudi Arabia’s plans to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere.
Saudi Arabia is driving a huge global investment plan to create demand for its oil and gas in developing countries, an undercover investigation has revealed. Critics said the plan was designed to get countries “hooked on its harmful products”.
Little was known about the oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP) but the investigation obtained detailed information on plans to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, as rich countries increasingly switch to clean energy.
The ODSP plans to accelerate the development of supersonic air travel, which it notes uses three times more jet fuel than conventional planes, and partner with a carmaker to mass-produce a cheap combustion engine vehicle. Further plans promote power ships, which use polluting heavy fuel oil or gas to provide electricity to coastal communities.
The ODSP is overseen by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and involves its biggest organisations, such as the $700bn Public Investment Fund, the world’s largest oil company, Aramco, the petrochemicals firm Sabic, and the government’s most important ministries.
In publicly available information, the programme is largely presented as “removing barriers” to energy and transport in poorer countries and “increasing sustainability”, for example by providing gas cooking stoves to replace wood burning.
However, all the planned projects revealed in the investigation by the Centre for Climate Reporting and Channel 4 News involve increasing the use of oil and gas. An official said this was “one of the main objectives”.
Expanding on the plan to flood Africa and Asian markets with diesel and petrol vehicles, an official says: “We’re talking about diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. We also work to increase low-cost internal combustion engine cars there.”
Probing officials on the OSP’s proposals to launch supersonic commercial flights globally, a second official said: “You know, supersonic aviation consumes more energy and the market size is expected to grow significantly. So our opportunity here is to facilitate growth and development of supersonic technologies.”
Officials say they also plan to counter market incentives and subsidies for electric vehicles globally which are perceived as a threat to the plan to roll out petrol and diesel engine vehicles.
In relation to electric vehicles, a second OSP official says: “EVs are being favoured in terms of subsidies and regulatory advantage especially in regions like Africa, so what we are working on is to increase internal combustion engine adoptions.”
