The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emphasized the importance of regional cooperation and joint action to support the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), and to advance toward achieving its objectives of protecting the environment, expanding vegetation cover, and addressing the challenges of desertification, drought, and climate change. The Kingdom also announced the launch of the initiative’s operational phase and preparations for the start of its ambitious projects.
This was stated during the speech of Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Alfadley, who is also chairperson of the second session of the MGI Ministerial Council, at the conclusion of the second Ministerial Council meeting held today in Jeddah. The meeting was attended by 30 member states from Asia and Africa, in addition to the United Kingdom, which participated as a non-regional observer, SPA reported.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture today, Alfadley called for intensified efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands and combat desertification. He underscored how these actions are vital to overcoming the region’s challenges with drought and land degradation. Additionally, he welcomed the new members, noting that their accession is a pivotal step toward meeting the initiative’s ambitious targets.
He praised the efforts of the regional member states to their national targets, which aim to expand vegetation cover through the planting of over 37 billion trees and the restoration of 92 million hectares of degraded land. Commending the progress achieved thus far—with 3.5 billion trees already planted and 550,000 hectares rehabilitated—he noted that these results demonstrate a steadfast dedication to both national and regional greening objectives.
The Ministerial Council Communiqué of the second Ministerial Council meeting of the Middle East Green Initiative was issued, and the council adopted several key decisions supporting the launch of the initiative’s operational phase. The council also renewed its commitment to enhancing regional cooperation to combat land degradation, halt desertification, strengthen resilience to drought, and adapt to its severe environmental, social, and economic impacts while mitigating their effects.
Furthermore, the council welcomed the accession of the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and the Syrian Arab Republic as new regional members of the Middle East Green Initiative, bringing the total number of regional member states to 34, in addition to the United Kingdom as a non-regional observer. The council noted that this number is expected to increase, reflecting the strong interest and commitment of countries in the region to achieving the initiative’s objectives.
The MGI Ministerial Council expressed its profound gratitude and appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their outstanding support of the Middle East Green Initiative. The council also extended sincere thanks to Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Alfadley and Chairperson of the Ministerial Council, for organizing the second meeting of the Ministerial Council, which marks a major milestone in advancing the implementation and objectives of the initiative. The MGI Ministerial Council also congratulated Eng. Ibrahim Alturki on his appointment as the Secretary-General of MGI.
The Ministerial Council took note of the MGI Executive Committee report and the MGI Secretary-General report, highlighting key achievements during the foundational phase, including the approval of the Country Host Agreement, the signing of the Fund Trustee Agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). It also noted the delivery of capacity-building and knowledge-sharing events, as well as the signing of several memoranda of understanding with relevant international organizations.
These steps pave the way for the operational phase and the launch of projects to develop vegetation cover and restore degraded lands in member countries. The council commended the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in coordinating and collaborating with the regional member countries and their representatives on the Executive Committee. It also praised the Kingdom’s support in equipping the General Secretariat and funding its operational budget. Furthermore, the council welcomed the progress achieved in securing the necessary components and enablers to launch the initiative’s implementation phase.
The council emphasized the importance of strengthening multilateral collaboration with regional and international organizations and acknowledged the critical role of the private sector, financial institutions, and civil society in addressing the challenges of land degradation, desertification, and drought. These contributions will play a key role in mitigating the effects of climate change and improving the quality of life. The council approved 35 regional and international technical and financial organizations and institutions to collaborate with, and to sign agreements and memoranda of understanding aimed at achieving the initiative’s objectives.
The council welcomed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s continued chairpersonship of the MGI Ministerial Council for the year 2026. This will ensure the continued development of the Initiative’s Secretariat and the completion of its institutional structure, in preparation for the launch of land rehabilitation projects in the initiative’s regional member countries.
According to SPA, the council also approved a rotating continental approach to the Chairpersonship of the Ministerial Council of the Middle East Green Initiative. Under this approach, the chairpersonship will rotate among member states from the two continents —Africa and Asia—starting in 2027. Africa will hold the chairpersonship in 2027, with countries assuming the role in alphabetical order in English.
The Ministerial Council congratulated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the outstanding success of the Sixteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Riyadh from December 2 to 13, 2024. The council emphasized its full support for the outcomes of COP16, which marked a historic turning point in advancing global support to the convention and significantly contributed to strengthening multilateral cooperation to address combating land degradation and drought challenges.
It further encouraged MGI regional member countries to actively participate in future UNCCD COPs and continue to play a leading role in promoting the implementation of the Convention objectives and raising international momentum to combat land degradation, halt desertification, accelerate land restoration, and enhance drought resilience.
The Ministerial Council welcomed COP16’s ambitious outcomes, most notably the Riyadh Declaration and the pioneering initiatives launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at COP16, such as the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, the International Initiative on Early Warning of Sand and Dust Storms, and the Business for Land Initiative.
The Ministerial Council also welcomed the launch of the Riyadh Action Agenda at COP16, which aims to shift from ambition to action, and commended the strong engagement of many countries, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society, which collectively launched around 40 initiatives under the Riyadh Action Agenda to deliver lasting and effective solutions for land restoration, sustainable land management, the empowerment of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and drought adaptation.
The Ministerial Council commended the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during its presidency of COP16 to strengthen synergies between the three Rio Conventions, and acknowledge Brazil’s strong focus on land protection and restoration during its presidency of COP30 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to November 21, 2025, which led to the launch of the Resilient Agriculture Investment for Net Zero Land Degradation (RAIZ) and the launch of Tropical Forests Forever Facility.
These initiatives will support land restoration efforts in alignment with the objectives of the MGI. The council also welcomed the COP30 decision to increase adaptation financing by 2035, as this decision will hopefully lead to allocation of more financial resources towards support nature-based solutions specially projects aiming to accelerating land restoration and strengthening drought resilience.
The council also welcomed the outcomes of the 7th Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7), which contributes to advancing international cooperation to address global environmental challenges. The council commended the leadership of the MGI member countries, notably the Sultanate of Oman’s presidency of UNEA-7, which follows the Kingdom of Morocco’s presidency of UNEA-6 in 2024.
The Ministerial Council welcomed the announcement by the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) to allocate $12 billion by 2030 to support global projects aimed at restoring degraded lands and building resilience to drought and desertification. The council commended the Group’s support for environmental priorities in the region and globally and reaffirmed the Middle East Green Initiative’s key role as a platform for the transformative projects.
On the sidelines of the Ministerial Council meeting, the Middle East Green Initiative Fund Secretariat Agreement was signed between the General Secretariat of the initiative and the Islamic Development Bank. The bank will manage the fund to support the operational phase and the implementation of the initiative’s projects.
