ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the case of Saudi Arabia as the world attempts to systemically address the issue of climate change and the associated challenges of environmental stress as it seeks to control the release of carbon into the world's atmosphere. Saudi Arabia sits the middle of the world's climate furnace – there are few hotter, drier places on the planet. It's only going to get even hotter and drier throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East over the rest of the century as the world continues to dump carbon into the atmosphere. These are systemic, cross-regional problems that will affect life throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has been seen around the world as one of the biggest impediments to a global deal to limit carbon output. The contradictions between the need for more oil and the need to mitigate climate change are addressed with great clarity in the scientific community.
