The comments from the top producer nation in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries come as the UK hosts of the UN climate summit underway in Scotland push to secure ambitious pledges from world leaders to slash greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from oil, coal and gas.
“It is imperative that we recognise the diversity of climate solutions, and the importance of emissions reduction as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, without any bias towards or against any particular source of energy,” Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud said at the summit.
He added that negotiators should be “conscious of the special circumstances of the Less Developed Countries”, some of which have been resisting calls for aggressive moves away from fossil fuels because of the economic costs.
“We should work together to help these countries mitigate the impact of climate change policies, without compromising their sustainable development,” he said.
Several officials involved in the Glasgow talks told Reuters Saudi Arabia has been obstructing the progress of negotiations toward a strong deal, including by using procedural delay tactics.
“What you’ve been hearing is a false allegation, and a cheat and a lie,” Prince Abdulaziz said.
When asked by Reuters whether he agrees fossil fuels are main driver of climate change Prince Abdulaziz said: “No, I think there will be a good way forward. We should use all resources as long as we congregate around mitigating.”
Source: Reuters
“The NPA is an agency responsible for monitoring downstream petroleum industry and that combating fuel activities are central to what the Authority does,” he explained, noting that Ghana is the only country in the sub-region that consumes the highest quality of fuel.
Against this background, he said it was important to maintain such a feat and called for these activities to be tackled to the barest minimum.
Commenting on the development, Chairman of the Aflao Border Security Committee, Majeed Amandi, said unapproved entry points and routes on the Ghana-Togo borders were fueling criminal activities including fuel smuggling.
Mr Amandi, who doubles as the Assistant Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority-Aflao Collection, indicated that the service was fighting the menace together with other security agencies as well as the NPA in a bid to intensify patrols and enhance efforts to combat the long-standing problem.
The Assistant Commissioner noted that during patrol operations, they observed that illegal actors operated at midnight to avoid detection.
He described them as daring because they always found their way into the country’s borders and offloaded unwholesome petroleum products into the Ghanaian market.
He said this is also a result of the unavailability of special boats for patrols on the seas at night.
He said border security agencies needed working tools to combat the illicit trade.
The Volta Regional Manager of the NPA, Mr Rasheed Dauda said he appreciated the collaboration with the security agencies at Aflao and pledged to work closely with them to arrest the criminals.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
