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 […]
There is nothing secret or sinister about this. It is just basic economics. If we as a civilization want to address global warming we will have to do so for the people of sub-saharan Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, India, China, and many more, all of whom want to live the energy intensive western lifestyle. The dirty little secret no one wants to discuss is for this to occur, all of us, and I mean all of us, will have to change our lifestyles to be less energy dependent. We won’t be going to third world standards but we will not live as opulently a we have been. What do we have as a result? Leaders look at each other and say: “You go first”.