The Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, delivered a speech at the "Green Saudi Arabia" that inspired several Saudi officials who highlighted the challenge during their demonstration of the environmental dimensions of their projects, asking the public to hold them by their word next year.
Speaking on the second day of the Saudi Green Initiative forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Deputy Minister of Tourism Princess Haifa bint Mohammad called on the world to follow up on Saudi Arabia's accountability for its commitment to its environmental goals.
The Princess stated that tourism is vital in sustainability, reiterating that Saudi Arabia is committed to that.
She reviewed some projects that achieve sustainability in the tourism sector, including projects in NEOM, noting that the city was built with significant consideration to environmental dimensions, as construction does not exceed five percent on its land.
Princess Haifa announced that the Kingdom implemented a set of initiatives, including the Sustainable Tourism Global Center, a multinational and multilateral alliance aimed at accelerating the transformation of the tourism sector to net zero emissions.
The Kingdom also launched the Tourism Panel for Climate Change to promote tourism resilience to climate change.
Princess Haifa referred to tourism's most prominent challenges, including overcoming the losses created by COVID-19, as the tourism sector lost millions of jobs worldwide during the pandemic.
She pointed out that there is a positive indicator of recovery, but the climate change challenge will remain very important because it is crucial to establish a tourism sector capable of facing challenges, which is not possible without sustainability.
Also, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdallah al-Swaha gave a "climate ambitious" speech, confirming what Prince Abdulaziz said and noting that Saudi Arabia is a nation that does excellent work to serve the environment.
During the session, the minister reviewed several projects integrating the green and digital economies, stressing that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attaches great importance to digital initiatives.
He explained that next February will witness the launch of a $2 billion fund to finance 20 tech companies in climate and carbon sequestration, noting that the most significant carbon reservoir in the world will be completed by 2027 to serve the circular carbon economy.
The minister noted that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with the satellite company Planet to monitor greenhouse gases by satellite, and this investment would benefit Saudi Arabia and the whole world.
Swaha described the recent Saudi investments in space as extremely important, noting that if the Kingdom missed this chance today, great opportunities would be lost.
He indicated that all these projects are a translation of the slogan "ambition to action," noting that Saudi Arabia belongs to the camp of "a lot of ambition and work" as opposed to "a lot of ambition and little work."
