Several United Nations special rapporteurs have affirmed the responsibility of the state-owned company Aramco in Saudi Arabia for human rights violations in the context of climate change, in addition to negative activities that affect the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
In a letter addressed to both the Public Investment Fund and the Saudi Arabian government in June 2023, it was signed by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Hazardous Substances, and the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The letter clarified that Aramco's business activities conflict with the goals and commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change, including its retention of crude oil, production, exploration for more oil and gas reserves, and expansion into fossil gas, as well as the distortion of information.
background:
The special rapporteurs noted that Saudi Aramco is a state-owned company, with 98.5% of its shares owned by the Public Investment Fund, which is government-owned. It is a company with exclusive rights to explore, drill, prospect, evaluate, develop, extract, recover, and produce hydrocarbons and market and distribute them. Aramco is under direct government oversight, and the Saudi government can increase or decrease production levels and direct Aramco to execute projects or initiatives at its discretion.
The letter pointed out that according to reports, Aramco has plans to expand crude oil production to maintain its status as the world's largest producer, and it has announced plans to double its production of fossil gas by 2029. In February 2020, Aramco received regulatory approval from the government to develop the Jafurah shale gas field, the largest exclusive gas field to date.
Effects of Climate Change on Human Rights::
The letter noted that business activities play a central role in climate change, with fossil fuels responsible for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Aramco is classified as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 61,143 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
While Aramco has stated that its projects and strategies are consistent with efforts to address climate change, there are concerns that its ongoing business activities undermine Saudi Arabia's ability to fulfill its obligations under international law and the Paris Agreement.
The letter explained that instead of aligning its business strategy with the goals of the Paris Agreement, Aramco's activities aim to increase fossil fuel production. The rapporteurs considered that this policy contributes to the risk of exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius carbon budget, leading to a significant exacerbation of climate change's impact on human rights.
They emphasized that the activities have a particularly severe impact on the Arabian region in terms of climate change. The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that temperatures in the Gulf region and fragile ecosystems are highly susceptible to the effects of climate change, such as water stress and rising sea levels, which affect vast low-lying coastal areas.
They also emphasized that high temperatures are closely related to the right to health, as they are largely associated with cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, or metabolic disorders, in addition to psychological illnesses. Moreover, rising rates of desertification can increasingly lead to severe dust storms, which can impact human rights.
It should be noted that the impacts of climate change are primarily associated with water, drought, floods, and the melting of glacier rivers' sources, leading to a rise in sea levels. Consequently, these effects can impact the right to access safe drinking water and sanitation services.
Furthermore, rising temperatures and extreme weather events can affect the country's food systems, especially in coastal areas along the central parts of the Red Sea and the southern and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia. These scenarios have the potential to disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and migrants, according to experts.
The information has also highlighted that Aramco is involved in distorting and withholding critical environmental information, providing misleading information, including the assumption that sustainability is the primary concern of its strategic operations, without accurate information. The message pointed out that the failure to accurately measure and report emissions exacerbates the negative impacts of climate change on human rights.
The experts emphasized that the primary responsibility of all business entities is to respect everyone's internationally recognized human rights and, as such, they should act accordingly.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that the misinformation and lack of information hinder access to facts in Saudi Arabia, where there is no role for civil society and human rights defenders. However, monitoring events reveals widespread violations by both the government and affiliated companies. The organization emphasizes that human rights, including those related to climate, as well as political and civil rights, should be a priority for all companies.