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Int'l Gathering to Unveil Saudi Green Initiatives’ Roadmap

Riyadh will host a global forum on the Green Saudi Initiative on Oct. 23-25. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh will host a global forum on the Green Saudi Initiative on Oct. 23-25. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Int'l Gathering to Unveil Saudi Green Initiatives’ Roadmap

Riyadh will host a global forum on the Green Saudi Initiative on Oct. 23-25. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh will host a global forum on the Green Saudi Initiative on Oct. 23-25. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia revealed on Tuesday an international trend to draw a green roadmap aimed at pushing efforts towards preserving the environment and supporting climate protection, through the establishment of the Green Saudi Initiative Forum, which will convene later this month in Riyadh.

The international forum will be held on Oct. 23-25, in the presence of regional and international stakeholders, to announce a roadmap aimed at achieving the goals of the Green Saudi Initiative, and launching innovative solutions to address climate change.

In March, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the Green Saudi Initiative and the Green Middle East, stressing that they will both seek to protect land and nature and make a huge contribution to achieving global targets.

The forum will highlight the Green Youth Summit, a platform to raise awareness on the importance of environmental issues and develop policies to address them. Participants will seek to shape the future of climate action in a framework of interactive activities and intense discussions.

The Forum will be attended by Minister of Energy, the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the President of NEOM, and the CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, along with international and regional experts and global leaders, who will discuss the Green Middle East Initiative and the upcoming steps to meet common environmental obligations.

According to official information, the forum will discuss the oceans, atmosphere, space, waterfront, species and ecosystems, in addition to the presentation of a study on the circular bioeconomy.

The Green Saudi Initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4% of global contributions, through renewable energy projects that will provide 50% of electricity production inside the Kingdom by 2030 and projects in the field of clean hydrocarbon technologies that will erase more than 130 million tons of carbon emissions, in addition to raising the rate of diversion of waste from landfills to 94%.

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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

China's central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system as Beijing assembled a last-ditch stimulus assault to pull economic growth back towards this year's roughly 5% target, Reuters reported.
More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before China's week-long holidays starting on Oct. 1, after a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds.
On the heels of the Politburo huddle, China plans to issue special sovereign bonds worth about 2 trillion yuan ($284.43 billion) this year as part of fresh fiscal stimulus, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
Capital Economics chief Asia Economist Mark Williams estimates the package "would lift annual output by 0.4% relative to what it would otherwise have been."
"It's late in the year, but a new package of this size that was implemented soon should be enough to deliver growth in line with the 'around 5%' target," he said.
Chinese stocks are on track for the best week since 2008 on stimulus expectations.
The world's second-largest economy faces strong deflationary pressures due to a sharp property market downturn and frail consumer confidence, which have exposed its over-reliance on exports in an increasingly tense global trade environment.
A wide range of economic data in recent months has missed forecasts, raising concerns among economists that the growth target was at risk and that a longer-term structural slowdown could be in play.
On Friday, data showed industrial profits swinging back to a sharp contraction in August.
"We believe the persistent growth weakness has hit policymakers' pain threshold," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
As flagged on Tuesday by Governor Pan Gongsheng, the People's Bank of China on Friday trimmed the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, known as the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), by 50 basis points, the second such reduction this year.
The move is expected to release 1 trillion yuan ($142.5 billion) in liquidity into the banking system and was accompanied by a cut in the benchmark interest rate on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by 20 bps to 1.50%. The cuts take effect on Friday and Pan, in rare forward-looking remarks, left the door open to another RRR reduction later this year.

Given weak credit demand from households and businesses, investors are more focused on the fiscal measures that are widely expected to be announced in coming days.
Reuters reported on Thursday that 1 trillion yuan due to be raised via special bonds will be used to increase subsidies for a consumer goods replacement program and for the upgrade of large-scale business equipment.
They will also be used to provide a monthly allowance of about 800 yuan, or $114, per child to all households with two or more children, excluding the first child.
China aims to raise another 1 trillion yuan via a separate special sovereign debt issuance to help local governments tackle their debt problems.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that China is also considering the injection up to 1 trillion yuan of capital into its biggest state banks.
Most of China's fiscal stimulus still goes into investment, but returns are dwindling and the spending has saddled local governments with $13 trillion in debt.
The looming fiscal measures would mark a slight shift towards stimulating consumption, a direction Beijing has said for more than a decade that it wants to take but has made little progress on.
China's household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average. Investment, by comparison, is 20 points above but has been fueling much more debt than growth.
The politburo also pledged to stabilize the troubled real estate market, saying the government should expand a white list of housing projects that can receive further financing and revitalize idle land.
The September meeting is not usually a forum for discussing the economy, which suggests growing anxiety among officials.
"The 'shock and awe' strategy could be meant to jumpstart the markets and boost confidence," Nomura analysts said in a note.
"But eventually it is still necessary for Beijing to introduce well thought policies to address many of the deep-rooted problems, particularly regarding how to stabilize the property sector."