Saudis Worried That Oil May Become "Victim" Of Environmental Policy - AFP

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OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has expressed concern that oil could become a victim of "selective" environment policies and called for striking a balance between a cleaner environment and development. The kingdom, whose economy heavily relies on oil income, said the use of advanced technology to carry out environment-friendly projects is the best solution to achieve economic development without harming the climate.

"We are concerned that some environment-related decisions, which some countries are trying to impose, could reduce global consumption of oil," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said.

"This could hamper our economic development programmes because of our heavy reliance on oil exports," Nuaimi told an international conference on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which opened Tuesday in Riyadh. "We are trying to (convince) the world to adopt positive environment decisions that safeguard the environment and contribute to global economic development."

Introduced more than eight years ago, CDM is a part of the Kyoto Protocol that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of mainly carbon-based activities by establishing environment-friendly projects using advanced technology.

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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Saudi_Wary_Of_Green_Policies_To_Reduce_Oil_Consumption_999.html