據油價網2023年6月15日報道，沙特阿美和其他15家沙特和國際公司日前在有史以來規模最大的自愿碳信用額度拍賣中購買了220多萬噸碳信用額度。

區域自愿碳市場公司(RVCMC)是此次在肯尼亞舉行拍賣的組織者，該公司于去年年底由沙特阿拉伯主權財富基金公共投資基金(PIF)沙特塔達烏爾集團控股公司發起。

RVCMC表示，在此次拍賣中，全球最大的石油公司沙特阿美、沙特電力公司和NEOM的子公司ENOWA購買了數量最多的碳信用額度。

拍賣中的一攬子碳信用額度包括18個項目，代表了二氧化碳消除，包括改進清潔爐灶和可再生能源項目等項目。四分之三的碳信用額度來自中東、北非和撒哈拉以南非洲國家，包括肯尼亞、烏干達、布隆迪、盧旺達、摩洛哥、埃及和南非。

RVCMC首席執行官Riham ElGizy表示：“我們的目標是到2030年前成為世界上最大的自愿碳市場之一，每年可以補償數億噸的碳排放，并為全球凈零目標形成積極影響?！?/p>

沙特石油巨頭沙特阿美在6月11日發布的2022年可持續發展報告中表示，去年沙特阿美與PIF簽署了一份諒解備忘錄(MoU)，以支持在利雅得建立區域自愿碳市場，并參加了首次拍賣。那次出售了140萬噸碳信用額度，其中65萬噸碳信用額度由沙特阿美購買。

麥肯錫表示，碳信用額度對所有行業的企業來說都是一項不斷增長的業務，到2030年，這個市場的價值可能超過500億美元。

然而，環保主義者抨擊碳信用額度是在洗綠。綠色和平組織稱，碳抵消是“洗綠的下一件大事”，并將碳市場稱為“騙局”。  

“這是一種記賬技巧，旨在掩蓋破壞氣候的排放。這是植樹裝點門面，旨在分散人們對生態系統破壞的注意力?！?/p>

李峻 編譯自 油價網

原文如下：

Saudi Aramco Buys Carbon Credits At Largest-Ever Auction

Aramco and 15 other Saudi and international companies this week bought more than 2.2 million tons of carbon credits in the largest-ever voluntary carbon credit auction, the organizers of the auction said.

The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC), the organizer of the auction held in Kenya, was launched at the end of last year by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company.

In the auction this week, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil firm, purchased the largest number of credits, along with Saudi Electricity Company and ENOWA, a subsidiary of NEOM, the carbon market company said.

The basket of credits in the auction included 18 projects representing a mix of carbon dioxide (CO2) avoidance and removal, including projects such as improved clean cookstoves and renewable energy projects. Three-quarters of the carbon credits originated from countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa.

“Our aim is to be one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030, one that enables compensation of hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon emissions per year and contributes to global Net Zero goals,” said Riham ElGizy, Chief Executive Officer of RVCMC.

Last year, Aramco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PIF to support the establishment of the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market in Riyadh and participated in its inaugural auction, where 1.4 million carbon credits were sold, of which 650,000 were purchased by Aramco, the Saudi oil giant said in its 2022 Sustainability Report published on Thursday.

Carbon credits are a growing business for companies from all industries, and this market could be worth more than $50 billion in 2030, McKinsey has said.

Environmentalists, however, slam carbon credits as greenwashing. Carbon offsetting is “the next big thing in greenwashing,” Greenpeace has said, labeling the market as a “scam.”

“It’s a bookkeeping trick intended to obscure climate-wrecking emissions. It’s tree planting window dressing aimed at distracting from ecosystem destruction.”