Saudi arabia policies

Beatriz Gomez – 5554292
POLI 216: Introduction to the United Nations
Policy Paper #1

Saudi Arabia

Domestically, environmental action in Saudi Arabia faces several challenges that made it imperative to apply traditional and non-traditional techniques to bridge the gap between the quality of life Saudi citizens aspire to and that which they really get as a result of ongoing pressuresaffecting their environment. Harmful emissions into the air represent an environmental pressure that reflects negatively on man's health and productivity; thus leading to a real loss in their national economy.

The multiple sources of air pollution and the heavy load of pollutants are a normal consequence of accelerated economic growth Saudi Arabia witnessed over the past three decades. Higher ratesof air pollution are becoming strongly correlated with economic progress. Therefore, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has paid special attention to monitoring and reducing such emissions through concerted efforts under taken at both national and international levels alike.

Saudi Arabia encounters difficult situations in respect to pollution, being a country of more than 90% desert, dust plays aprimary role in causing air pollution. However, they have taken further policy measures including:

* Stricter application of existing air emission standards and widening their scope to govern all polluting activities.
* Strengthening the enforcement of environmental codes and standards and making them more effective.
* Improving vehicle inspection for harmful emissions lead to furtherimprovement in air quality.

Concerning nuclear energy, since past years, Saudi Arabia has experienced an increase in electricity demand—between 8 and 10 percent per year—and this is expected to continue. Working hand-in-hand with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional trade bloc, Saudi Arabia is expanding its power grid across the country and is adding a new power plant to the grid every20 months on average. Top leaders are now convinced that the Kingdom has serious future political and economic liabilities if it does not diversify its economy away from petroleum and natural gas. Burning oil for electricity production currently consumes about a quarter of the crude oil Saudi Arabia produces. In the past several years the price of oil has been rising and in parallel theopportunity cost of continuing to burn fossil fuels for domestic power production is going up.

Over the next five years, the Saudi Government will be gradually and consistently enforcing regulations to control factory emissions in line with its commitments as a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.

The Government's plan to diversify the economy and privatize a number of government agencies will entailspending and investments in projects across the board, especially, in the oil, gas, petrochemicals, water and power generation, and cement factories, thus, offering good prospects for manufacturers and suppliers of air pollution control equipment and air quality monitoring systems.

Beatriz Gomez – 5554292
POLI 216: Introduction to the United Nations
Policy Paper #2

Saudi Arabia

SaudiArabia’s main way for advancing its national interests is its oil production. Therefore, decisions on production levels, prices, and investment in the future capacity take on extraordinary importance.

The total economy of Saudi Arabia is actually based in oil. It possesses about 20% of the world's proven petroleum reserves, and ranks as the world’s largest exporter of petroleum. The oil sectoraccounts for nearly 80% of budget revenues, it sums almost 45% of its gross domestic product, and 90% of its export earnings. Saudi Arabia represents a great source of oil, and it is the top foreign supplier to the world's largest energy consumer: the United States.

Saudi oil policy has been designed to preserve stability in the oil market at a relatively high price while enjoying the benefits of...