Middle eastern energy and climate ambitions: Vision 2030 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the influence of the legal environmental principles

Abstract

Abstract Environmental principles with their various forms, natures and different legal roles across jurisdictions are gaining increasing attention in energy and climate scholarship. The trend in the literature has been to discuss these principles in the context of developed countries, considering, for example, the impact of and significant literature on the polluter-pays principle. This article offers an original review with a contribution in discussing the new Middle Eastern energy and climate ambitions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). These goals are contained within the promising policy document known as Vision 2030, and this review explores these energy and climate ambitions in the legal context of environmental principles. The study reviews the literature on the environmental principles in the Middle Eastern context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and utilizes doctrinal and socio-legal methods (including expert interviews) to explore the practice of Vision 2030. This article advocates that, with the advent of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, the application of these principles can fill an existing lacuna in legal scholarship and advance governance in the areas of energy and climate change.