The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will launch the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative which aim to protect the planet by a clearly defined road map that rallies the region and significantly contributes to achieving global targets in confronting climate change in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
In announcing the two initiatives on March 27, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that as “a leading global oil producer, the Kingdom fully recognizes its share of responsibility in advancing the fight against the climate crisis. Just as the Kingdom underpinned energy markets during the oil and gas era, it is going to become a global leader in forging a greener world.” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman added that the Kingdom and the region face significant climate challenges, such as desertification, an immediate economic risk to the Kingdom and the region. He noted that annually, dust storms result in regional economic losses of $13 billion while air pollution from greenhouse gases shortens average Saudi life expectancy by 1.5 years.
“We will work through the Saudi Green Initiative to raise vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution and land degradation, and preserve marine life. This initiative will include a number of ambitious initiatives; most notably the planting of 10 billion trees within the Kingdom in the upcoming decades, the equivalent to rehabilitating roughly 40 million hectares of degraded lands which translates to a 12-fold increase from current tree covers and represents the Kingdom‘s contribution of more than 4% in achieving the goals of the global initiative to limit the degradation of lands and fungal habitats, and 1% of the global target to plant 1 trillion trees.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the Kingdom will also work to raise the percentage of protected areas to more than 30% of its total land area, representing roughly 60 million hectares, exceeding the current global target of 17%, in addition to launching a number of ambitious initiatives to protect marine and coastal environments.
“The Saudi Green Initiative will also work to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4% of global contributions, through an ambitious renewable energy program that will generate 50% of the Kingdom’s energy from renewables by 2030, and several other projects in the fields of clean hydrocarbon technologies, estimated to eliminate more than 130 metric ton of carbon emissions, alongside raising the rate of waste diversion from landfills to reach 94% in the Kingdom,” the Crown Prince said.
“Whilst there is still a lot more to be done, the Kingdom is determined to make a lasting global impact, we will start working on the Middle East Green Initiative in coordination with neighboring and sister countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Middle Eastern countries to plant an additional 40 billion trees in the Middle East,” the Crown Prince said.
“This overall regional 50 billion tree planting program is the largest reforestation program in the world, twice the size of Africa’s Great Green Wall in the Sahel region. This project, will restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land, representing 5% of the global target of planting 1 trillion trees and reducing 2.5% of global carbon levels.”
Currently, the share of clean energy production in the Middle East does not exceed 7%, and technologies used in hydrocarbon production in the region are ineffective. To solve these issues, Crown Prince Mohammed said the Kingdom will work with regional partners “to transfer our knowledge and share our experiences, which will contribute to reducing carbon emissions resulting from hydrocarbon production in the region by more than 60%.” These joint efforts and various other initiatives, will achieve a reduction in carbon emissions by more than 10% of global contributions.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman concluded by stating that the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives are only the start, “the Kingdom, the region and the world need to go much further and faster in combatting climate change. Given our starting point, beginning this journey to a greener future has not been easy.”
