Al-Abdulqader to Asharq Al-Awsat: COP16 to Advocate for Strategies Against Desertification

A green space in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A green space in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Al-Abdulqader to Asharq Al-Awsat: COP16 to Advocate for Strategies Against Desertification

A green space in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A green space in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Dr. Khalid Al-Abdulqader, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, stated that the upcoming 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), set to kick off in Riyadh on Monday, represents a significant opportunity to strengthen international collaboration.

He added that the event will serve as a platform to showcase Saudi Arabia’s achievements in combating desertification, highlight successful initiatives such as tree-planting and sustainable projects, and encourage other nations to adopt similar strategies.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Abdulqader revealed that the conference would present numerous investment opportunities for local and international private sectors in nature-based solutions to combat desertification. These include plans for 10 investment projects in wild plant nurseries, proposals to involve private companies in the afforestation and management of selected national parks, and the development of 30 eco-tourism sites within vegetated areas. These initiatives aim to expand green spaces and mitigate desertification across the Kingdom.

Additionally, he pointed to the establishment of a dedicated unit to support and guide investors by fostering innovative ideas and providing necessary assistance in accordance with national regulations.

Green Belts and Desertification Control Efforts

Saudi Arabia prioritizes combating desertification and protecting vegetation, particularly given its challenging climatic conditions. The government is actively working to expand forests, rehabilitate degraded lands, develop national parks, conduct ecological research, and protect native plant species through initiatives like green belts.

Al-Abdulqader emphasized the importance of global cooperation in addressing desertification. COP16, he said, would strengthen international efforts to combat drought, land degradation, and their adverse effects, adding that hosting the conference underscores Saudi Arabia’s growing role in global environmental advocacy.

He also said that the Kingdom has launched significant initiatives, including the Saudi Green Initiative, which aims to plant 400 million trees by 2030 and a total of 10 billion trees by 2100, restoring approximately 40 million hectares of degraded land.

Additionally, the Saudi official revealed that the National Center for Vegetation Cover is preparing to launch the 2024 National Afforestation Season under the slogan “We Plant for Our Future”. Sponsored by the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, this campaign seeks to involve government agencies, local communities, and individuals in afforestation efforts to expand green cover, rehabilitate degraded lands, raise awareness, reduce harmful practices, and improve overall quality of life, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Al-Abdulqader stressed that Saudi Arabia’s environmental efforts reflect its commitment to achieving the goals of Vision 2030, which prioritizes sustainability and environmental protection.

He highlighted the center’s vital role in fulfilling the vision’s environmental objectives by managing natural resources, supporting afforestation projects, rehabilitating damaged areas, and raising awareness of the importance of vegetation cover through public campaigns.

Al-Abdulqader further noted that the center contributes to international initiatives, including Saudi Arabia’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.

Global and Regional Cooperation

The center also supports the goals of the Middle East Green Initiative and the Saudi Green Initiative. To date, more than 95 million trees have been planted in collaboration with public, private, and nonprofit sector partners, increasing green spaces and restoring degraded lands, the official underlined.

He pointed to several international partnerships through memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with countries such as Pakistan and organizations including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and ELAWCAT for sustainable land management.

Al-Abdulqader revealed that future agreements are in progress with China, the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), and Morocco for vegetation development and desertification control, adding that Saudi Arabia is also collaborating with Egypt on stabilizing sand dunes and engaging in partnerships with Somalia, Albania, Costa Rica, Burkina Faso, and Tajikistan on environmental protection and sustainability.



Tariff Deal Talks to Dominate IMF-World Bank Meetings This Week

 A view of ships under construction at the Shanghai Shipyard in in Shanghai, China, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Chinatopix via AP)
A view of ships under construction at the Shanghai Shipyard in in Shanghai, China, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Chinatopix via AP)
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Tariff Deal Talks to Dominate IMF-World Bank Meetings This Week

 A view of ships under construction at the Shanghai Shipyard in in Shanghai, China, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Chinatopix via AP)
A view of ships under construction at the Shanghai Shipyard in in Shanghai, China, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Chinatopix via AP)

Hundreds of global finance leaders will descend on Washington this week, each with a singular mission: Who can I talk with to cut a trade deal?

The semi-annual gatherings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group are bustling affairs with high-level multilateral policy talks, but also one-on-one meetings between finance ministers eager to broker deals on things like project financing, foreign investment back home and, for poorer economies, debt relief.

This year, rather than policy coordination on climate change, inflation and financial support for Ukraine's struggle against Russia's invasion, one issue will dominate: tariffs.

More specifically, how to get out from under - or at least minimize - the pain from US President Donald Trump's unprecedented barrage of steep import taxes since his return to the White House in January.

And the focus may be largely on one man, new US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is Trump's lead negotiator for tariff deals and whose support for the IMF and World Bank remains a question mark.

"Trade wars will dominate the week, as will the bilateral negotiations that nearly every country is trying to pursue in some way, shape or form," said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center. "So this becomes a Spring Meetings unlike any others, dominated by one single issue."

'NOTABLE MARKDOWNS'

Trump's tariffs are already darkening the IMF's economic forecasts, due to be released on Tuesday, which will put more pressure on developing country debt burdens.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last week that the World Economic Outlook's growth projections will include "notable markdowns but not recession," largely due to "off the charts" uncertainty and market volatility caused by the tariff turmoil.

Although Georgieva said the world's real economy continues to function well, she warned that increasingly negative perceptions about the trade turmoil and concerns about recession could slow economic activity.

Lipsky said a potential new challenge for policymakers is whether the dollar will still be a safe haven asset, after Trump's tariffs sparked a sell-off in US Treasury debt.

The IMF and World Bank meetings, along with a sideline gathering of Group of 20 finance leaders have proved crucial forums for coordinating forceful policy actions in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

This time, with trade ministers in tow, delegations will be aiming to shore up their own economies first, policy experts say.

"The focus of these meetings in the past couple of years, which has been heavily on multilateral development bank reform and to some extent on strengthening the sovereign debt architecture, will fall by the wayside," said Nancy Lee, a former US Treasury official who is a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington.

BESSENT TARIFF TALKS

Japan, pressured by Trump's 25% tariffs on autos and steel and reciprocal tariffs on everything else that could hit 24%, is particularly keen to sew up a US tariff deal quickly.

With talks more advanced than those of other countries and participation by Trump, Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is expected to meet with Bessent to resume the negotiations on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank gathering.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok also accepted an invitation from Bessent to meet this week to discuss trade, Seoul's finance ministry said as the export-dependent US ally seeks to delay implementation of 25% tariffs and cooperate with the US on areas of mutual interest such as energy and shipbuilding.

But many participants in the meetings have questions over the Trump administration's support for the IMF and the World Bank. Project 2025, the hard-right Republican policy manifesto that has influenced many of Trump's decisions to reshape government, has called for the US to withdraw from the institutions.

"I really see a key role for Secretary Bessent in these meetings to answer some very basic questions," Lee said. "First and foremost, does the US view support for MDBs (multilateral development banks) as in its interest?" Lee said.

US FINANCIAL SUPPORT

World Bank President Ajay Banga said last week that he has had constructive discussions with the Trump administration, but he did not know whether it would fund the $4 billion US contribution to the bank's fund for the world's poorest countries pledged last year by former president Joe Biden's administration.

Banga also is expected to expand this week on the bank's energy financing pivot from primarily renewables to include nuclear and more gas projects and a shift towards more climate adaptation projects -- a mix more in line with Trump's priorities.

Bessent did back the IMF's new, $20 billion loan program for Argentina, traveling to Buenos Aires last week in a show of support for the country's economic reforms and saying the US wanted more such alternatives to "rapacious" bilateral loan deals with China.

Three former career Treasury officials who later represented the US on the IMF executive board called the Fund "a great financial deal for America."

Meg Lundsager, Elizabeth Shortino and Mark Sobel said in an opinion piece published in The Hill newspaper that the IMF offers the US, the dominant shareholder, substantial economic influence at virtually zero cost.

"If the US steps back from the IMF, China wins," they wrote. "Our influence allows us to shape the IMF to achieve American priorities."