Minister of Oil Dr. Ali Al-Omair said Tuesday countries around the globe should share the responsibility to reduce greenhouse emission, adding Kuwait began using alternative environmental-friendly energy resources.
"There is an international responsibility (to reduce greenhouse emission) but it should be a shared responsibility. The developing countries should not bear this responsibility alone but the industrial countries should do so to," Al-Omair, also Minister of State for parliament affairs, said.
Factories in the industrial countries are emitting gases harmful to environment, Al-Omair said in a statement to KUNA on sidelines of the 2014 Climate Summit.
Al-Omair, accompanying His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's representative to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meetings, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, is due to address the summit later in the day.
The minister, highlighting the message he would send in his speech to the international community, said Kuwait was working on three dimensions: respecting international environmental demands, using clean solar and wind energies, and upgrading the oil refineries to be environmental friendly.
Al-Omair said Kuwait appreciated the international efforts to fighting greenhouse emissions and rising temperature. The Climate summit aims at reducing the earth temperature by two degrees celsius.
"Kuwait shares the international demands by preserving the environment but our sustainable development should proceed. Development can be carried out with alternative energy resources, like using solar energy over some government buildings and the use of wind energy in desert areas," he said.
He noted that Kuwait is heading in that direction until alternative energy replaced the energy coming from oil.
Kuwait has upgraded its oil refineries in order to reduce harmful emissions, enabling them to producing pollutant-free products, he said, and added that the government was spending USD billions to improve the output of the refineries.
"Kuwait is looking forward to have a cleaner environment," said Al-Omair.
The climate summit, attracting leaders from around the globe, aims at signing a new climate change agreement in Paris next year.