Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners are asked to bear too much of the burden of cutting greenhouse gas emissions because of their economic dependence on oil and gas exports.

Mr Mohammad Al Sabban the country's chief negotiator at talks on global climate change said that "Climate policies on the international level are mainly targeting the transportation sector, so they will impact the demand for oil. Saudi Arabia should take seriously the potential impact of oil demand peaking in 2050.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supply 40% of the world's oil, are opposed to emissions reductions targets imposed on industrialized nations by the Kyoto Protocol that threaten global oil demand growth. Saudi Arabia has asked for compensation for the loss of income from oil sales.

UN climate negotiators gather in Durban, South Africa on November 28th 2011 for two weeks of talks aimed at agreeing a successor to the present commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which obliges developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 5% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Mr Al Sabban said that a second commitment period of the protocol faces many difficulties because of the huge differences between nations and the outlook for a renewal or new treaty is very narrow. Instead, countries have started to implement their own local policies.

He said that "The momentum is there. Different countries are taking their own actions without waiting for global policies. We see different visions being put into place by different countries, so while there is a reluctance to participate in legally binding agreements, they are going ahead with domestic policy changes."

(Sourced from Bloomberg)