THEY'VE GOT PLENTY OF SUN TOO:

So what to make of the statement by Saudi Arabia's oil minister that the world's biggest oil exporter could stop using fossil fuels as soon as 2040 and become a "global power" in solar and wind energy?

Ali Al-Naimi's statement is striking as Saudi Arabia's wealth and influence is entirely founded on its huge oil wealth and the nation has been one of the strongest voices against climate change action at UN summits.

"In Saudi Arabia, we recognise that eventually, one of these days, we're not going to need fossil fuels," said Naimi at a business and climate conference in Paris on Thursday. "I don't know when - 2040, 2050 or thereafter. So we have embarked on a program to develop solar energy," he said in comments reported by the Guardian, Bloomberg and the Financial Times.

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