OPEC is calling for a more balanced approach to global climate policy that combines emissions reductions with poverty eradication and economic development, warning that environmental measures must reflect the different circumstances and energy needs of individual countries.
In the foreword to OPEC’s Annual Report on Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said international cooperation remains essential to addressing climate change but argued that global environmental policies must account for development priorities, national circumstances and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC).
The position places economic development and energy access at the centre of OPEC’s climate argument, as governments face pressure to reduce emissions while also supporting rising populations, industrialisation and living standards.
The United Nations projects the global population could reach 9.7 billion by 2050, while the report says efforts to improve living standards could contribute to at least a doubling of the global economy. OPEC argues that this expansion could increase the environmental footprint of human activity, making it necessary to pursue environmental protection and human development together.
“International cooperation has long been recognised as crucial for tackling climate change and other major environmental challenges,” Al Ghais said in the report’s foreword.
He added that environmental action should be pursued in a way that supports sustainable development and poverty eradication, rather than treating those objectives separately.
Development gap at centre of climate debate
OPEC’s position reflects a longstanding divide in international climate negotiations between the need for faster emissions reductions and developing countries’ demands for greater access to energy, finance and technology to support economic growth.
The organisation argues that countries have different historical contributions to environmental degradation and different financial and technological capabilities to respond.
That, it says, makes a uniform approach inappropriate.
“Different countries face unique circumstances that call for varied nationally determined strategies, all contributing to the shared goal of sustainable development,” the report says.
The approach is anchored in the CBDR-RC principle embedded in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
OPEC says developed economies should provide adequate support to developing countries through financing and technology transfer to help close capacity gaps and allow poorer nations to pursue sustainable development.
Energy transition
The report also underscores OPEC’s position that energy realities must be considered when designing climate policies.
OPEC and countries participating in the Charter of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries support what the organisation describes as bottom-up approaches to emissions reduction and waste management.
The group argues that each country’s energy pathway should reflect its specific economic and social circumstances while still contributing to the broader global climate objective.
That position effectively challenges one-size-fits-all approaches to the energy transition, particularly for developing economies where expanding access to affordable and reliable energy remains closely linked to industrialisation, jobs and poverty reduction.
OPEC says countries should be allowed to determine their own sustainable energy pathways, provided they contribute fairly to addressing global environmental challenges.
Progress remains insufficient
The report acknowledges progress in reducing global emissions, improving waste management and advancing sustainable development, but says implementation remains inadequate relative to internationally agreed targets.
Climate mitigation gaps remain significant, while multidimensional poverty continues to affect millions of people, it says.
OPEC therefore argues that stronger multilateral cooperation is needed to accelerate emissions reductions, improve resource and waste management and advance sustainable development.
For the oil producers’ group, the challenge is not simply how quickly emissions can be reduced, but how those reductions can be achieved without undermining economic development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
The report calls for pragmatic, effective, inclusive and fair solutions through multilateral environmental agreements, with national priorities and circumstances taken into account.
The approach reflects OPEC’s broader effort to position energy security, economic development and climate action as interconnected policy objectives rather than competing priorities.
