France says seeks cooperation with Saudi Arabia in energy sector

French Minister for Energy Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Al Arabiya on Sunday that France is keen on cooperating with Saudi Arabia in the energy sector and on looking into ways to reduce CO2 emissions.

Pannier-Runacher, who was speaking from Riyadh where she met with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said that one of the purposes of her visit was to exchange views on COP28 and to discuss new achievements to reduce CO2 emissions in the world.

“We’ll have the COP28 [that will be chaired] by [United Arab] Emirates and we want to align the vision and see how we can have more ambitious targets,” she said in an interview.

The UAE is set to host the annual UN climate change summit, COP28, in November where world leaders are expected to set goals to manage the effects of global temperature increases.

The UAE will be the second Arab state to host the climate conference after Egypt in 2022.

“The second purpose is to see what kind of cooperation we can build [not only] in Saudi Arabia but also in France and Europe so that we can both work on the CO2 emission reductions,” she said, adding that both countries can build a strong and steady cooperation in the sectors of nuclear energy, renewable energy, hydrogen and carbon capture.

Pannier-Runacher praised the bilateral ties between Saudi and France who had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in the field of energy in February and said that visits among officials to both countries highlight “that we have a very strong relation and [that] we have a lot to work on together.”

“We want to build on that in the coming weeks and months and especially in the energy sector because we have some common interest and vision regarding energy transition.

Pannier-Runacher also touched on France’s plans to expand its nuclear energy sector saying that nuclear energy is among the lowest energies that emit CO2 “and that’s why we believe nuclear energy is one pillar of energy transition and of course we will develop on other hand renewable energies.”