This study analyzes the world’s adoption of a circular carbon economy (CCE) and hydrogen frameworks for governance concerning Saudi Arabia’s energy transition and continued reliance on hydrocarbons and resource riches. The author takes a narrative approach by combining the technical, policy, legal, and governance analyses, as well as capturing recent trends in the policy and governance integration of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and the CCE model, CCE coupled with green and blue hydrogen, and energy transition governance at the global, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Saudi Arabia (SA) levels. The review observes that CCE and hydrogen models in the last few years have begun to appear in net-zero policy frameworks, including policy goals, funds, and regulations internationally. In the case of Saudi Arabia, CCE is at the center of the climate narrative that connects Vision 2030, the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives, and the hydrogen mega-projects that are being developed. These green hydrogen initiatives provide great potential for Saudi Arabia to decouple its economy from the reckless ecological destruction and exploitation of external markets for hydrogen, especially for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), but it also poses the risks of carbon lock-in if CCUS is coupled with domestic decarbonization, targeted subsidy reform, and institutional governance reform. The author identifies the governance quality, the rule of law, and corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks, especially in state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth fund (SWF) enterprises, as critical impediments. The study improves the understanding of CCE and hydrogen in resource-rich contexts by considering them as governance projects rather than technological projects and proposes a governance holistic framework combining law, policy, responsible institutional and corporate governance system CCE and hydrogen as a means of sustainable transforming resource to advance the net-zero emissions, Sustainable Development Goals, and Saudi Vision 2030’s long-term framework.
Khaled Salmen Aljaaidi (Thu,) studied this question.