Oman pledges to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050

Oman is working towards zero net carbon emissions by 2050 through a ground-breaking national strategy. Sultan Haitham on Tuesday signed off on the plan, which adheres to Oman’s 2040 Vision, Oman News Agency reported.

He also approved the establishment of the Oman Centre for Sustainability “to supervise and follow up on plans and programmes for carbon neutrality”, it added.

The world must reduce CO2 emissions by 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050, according to scientists. Greenhouse gases are balanced by those taken out of the atmosphere through the process of net zero.

Oman signed the Paris Cop21 agreement, which requires states to “achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century”. The decision was praised by environmentalists.

“Oman sets 2050 as its net-zero year target with plans to set out a national road map and establishing the Oman Sustainability Centre to oversee and implement plans and programmes to achieve net zero finally,” Omani marine scientist Rumaitha Al Busaidi wrote on Twitter.

“Good news! It’s been a long time coming!”

Sultan Haitham noted the importance of coordinating and integrating different government institutions to achieve success.

The “Carbon Management Laboratory” was created last month in cooperation between the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the Environment and Civil Aviation Authorities. Oman plans to send a CubeSat into space from Cornwall in the UK to monitor the environment.

Image Credit: Silas Baisch on Unsplash

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