Saudi Arabia uses its enormous oil wealth to obstruct global climate efforts — gaining roughly US $170,000 every minute from fossil-fuel sales — and actively delays and dilutes international action on reducing emissions.
The article argues that Saudi Arabia — powered by revenues from Saudi Aramco — is the world’s most effective blocker of global climate action. With fossil-fuel income amounting to roughly US$170,000 per minute, the kingdom has used its wealth to subsidize energy at home, build soft-power projects and infrastructure, and cement its geopolitical influence — all while resisting international efforts to reduce fossil-fuel dependence.
Since the early days of international climate negotiations, Saudi Arabia has deployed a variety of procedural and diplomatic tactics to stall or dilute commitments, such as preventing majority voting at UN negotiations in favor of consensus, blocking fossil-fuel phaseout language, and resisting global agreements on plastic production caps and carbon-tax proposals.
Paradoxically, while Saudi Arabia remains one of the most fossil-fuel–dependent and high-emitting countries, it increasingly promotes domestic green initiatives, aiming to increase renewable electricity generation and improve its environmental image.
Critics argue the strategy: slow global transition, decarbonise internally, and export as much oil as possible — all to safeguard the kingdom’s economy and political stability.
The article warns that such obstructionism is a major impediment to global efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and avert climate disaster.
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