Saudi Arabia is participating in the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference - hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy - armed with around 65 initiatives that are worth more than USD13 billion, which are aimed at combatting climate change and developing a relevant environment strategy.
During the opening of the Green Saudi Forum, which was recently held in Riyadh, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed the first package that will contribute to achieving green Saudi initiatives, pointing out that the Kingdom will seek to reduce emissions by more than 270 million tons annually, in addition to a number of other initiatives announced on the sidelines of the summit.
Saudi Arabia’s participation in the ongoing international conference reflects the importance it attaches to climate change and environmental protection, in line with the transformation program within Vision 2030.
The Kingdom has launched a process for structuring its environmental work system, which included the establishment of five environmental centers specialized in meteorology, environmental compliance, biodiversity, plant cover development, combating desertification and managing waste.
A week ago, Riyadh hosted the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, which witnessed the announcement of more than 59 initiatives, and the Green Middle East Initiative summit, in the presence of international stakeholders and regional leaders.
The Ministry of Energy also launched the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for Renewable Energy, which seeks to increase the percentage of renewable energy to reach the optimal mix, raise the efficiency of the electricity sector and achieve environmental goals by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, in addition to realizing a set of major economic goals.
The Kingdom aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 by implementing the carbon circular economy approach, through the first set of Green Saudi initiatives, with investments exceeding 700 billion riyals, in order to chart a more sustainable future.
Environmental Expert Dr. Ali Eshqi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Kingdom has recently played a major role in fighting global warming by increasing the area of green spaces, which contributes to raising the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere and reducing carbon dioxide.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s plans in the field of renewable energy sources included wind and solar energy, which will represent 50 percent of the energy used to produce electricity in the Kingdom by 2030.
Saudi Arabia will also join the Global Methane Pledge to reduce global emissions by 30 percent compared to the level of emissions in 2020.
Efforts to protect the environment and preserve its natural resources included establishing an environment fund to contribute to achieving financial sustainability for this sector, setting up special forces for environmental security, and developing national capabilities in the field of predicting natural disasters and early warning.
Moreover, the Saudi State has established the Council for Royal Reserves to develop natural reserves in six locations in the Kingdom, by raising the percentage of protected areas to more than 30% of the country’s land area, which exceeds the current global target to protect 17% of each country’s lands.
In a more remarkable development, Saudi Arabia has started implementing the first phase of afforestation initiatives, which seeks to plant more than 450 million trees, rehabilitate 8 million hectares of degraded lands and allocate new protected lands, bringing the total protected areas in the Kingdom so far to more than 20 percent of its total surface.
Eshqi said: “If we plant 10 million trees in the Middle East as planned in the Saudi initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, we will reach a natural balance with the percentage of existing gases, especially carbon dioxide.”
The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture worked on the optimal investment of water wealth through rationalization and the use of treated and renewable water and the establishment of an integrated project for waste recycling, as well as raising the percentage of waste diversion from landfills to 94 percent.
The Kingdom’s pioneering initiatives in the field of climate action include two projects to establish a fund to invest in solutions for circular carbon economy technologies in the region, and a global initiative to provide clean fuel solutions to provide food to more than 750 million people around the world.
