Saudi Arabia Launches Middle East Green Initiative in October

Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah with Saudi Ambassador Prince Sultan bin Saad al-Saud (KUNA)
Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah with Saudi Ambassador Prince Sultan bin Saad al-Saud (KUNA)
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Saudi Arabia Launches Middle East Green Initiative in October

Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah with Saudi Ambassador Prince Sultan bin Saad al-Saud (KUNA)
Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah with Saudi Ambassador Prince Sultan bin Saad al-Saud (KUNA)

Saudi Arabia will launch the Middle East Green initiative in late October in Riyadh.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman sent a letter to the Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, focusing on bilateral relations and the Saudi green Middle East initiative, launched on October 25.

Saudi Ambassador Prince Sultan bin Saad al-Saud handed the letter to the Crown Prince during a reception attended by senior officials at al-Bayan Palace, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The Green Middle East Initiative is the largest reforestation program globally, as it aims to plant 40 billion trees in the Gulf and the Middle East.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the initiative last March. It was highly welcomed by the international community due to the importance of addressing the environmental damage caused by desertification, water shortage, environmental pollution from factories, and other environmental challenges facing the Middle East.

The initiative calls for partnerships with regional countries to face the environmental challenges in the region, improve the quality of life, and implement the largest afforestation project in the world that will contribute to restoring millions of hectares of degraded land and reduce global carbon levels.

The initiative also aims to reduce carbon emissions in the region by 60 percent, tackle deforestation, enhance the efficiency of oil production, and increase the contribution of renewable energy, in addition to multiple efforts to preserve the marine and coastal environment and increase the proportion of natural reserves.



Saudi Arabia: Lack of Accountability Encourages Israeli Escalation

Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Saudi Arabia: Lack of Accountability Encourages Israeli Escalation

Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 28, 2024. (AFP)

Saudi Arabia stressed on Saturday that lack of accountability, despite its violations of international and humanitarian laws, has encouraged Israel to escalate its actions in the region.

Speaking at the 79th United Nations General Assembly, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah warned that Israel’s actions have dangerous repercussions and may expand the violence and conflict in the region.

The actions threaten the security and stability of the region, he added.

Saudi Arabia rejects and condemns the “heinous Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” he declared.

Israel’s “latest crimes against innocent civilians in Gaza is only a chapter of the suffering of these fraternal people,” he said.

The Palestinians have suffered for decades at the hands of the Israeli occupation and the “barbaric Israeli practices in the past year have cost tens of thousands of Palestinians their lives,” he went on to say.

The world is witnessing several crises that have deepened because they are not practically addressed due to lax international efforts and selectiveness in applying international law, he lamented.

He urged commitment to the principles of the UN Charter and joint work to reach long-term peaceful solutions that protect civilians and end fighting and wars.

Prince Faisal stressed that given the tensions between countries, Saudi Arabia has sought an approach that shies away from political polarization in the interntaional community, rather seeking dialogue, understanding and rapprochement between countries to bolster global peace and security.