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Riyadh Named Arab Environment Capital

A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
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Riyadh Named Arab Environment Capital

A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)

Riyadh has been named the “Arab Environment Capital” for two years, during the 35th session of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment, held in Jeddah. Additionally, the Saudi Green Initiative received the award for the Outstanding Environmental Project in the government sector.

The 35th session brought about several key decisions focused on natural reserves, the Arab response to emerging climate change issues, and the follow-up on international environmental agreements and meetings, including policies connecting water and agriculture sectors.

The meeting, chaired by Saudi Arabia and organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture in collaboration with the Arab League, emphasized the importance of linking water, agriculture, and environmental policies in Arab nations.

Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture for Environmental Affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the session addressed numerous topics aimed at enhancing joint cooperation, unifying Arab positions on international environmental agreements, and coordinating with regional and international organizations.

One of the most notable outcomes of the session was the selection of Riyadh as the Arab Environmental Capital, following competition from 10 countries. Additionally, the Saudi Green Initiative won the award for Outstanding Environmental Project in the Arab Government Sector.

According to Faqeeha, this achievement reflects Saudi Arabia’s leading role in adopting strategic, innovative, and sustainable environmental projects through its initiatives at both the local and international levels. The Kingdom has hosted many international environmental gatherings, underscoring its leadership in this field.

Faqeeha added that the ministry is working under various strategies related to the environment, water, and agriculture, all of which place sustainability at their core. Efforts are underway to improve waste management, with the goal of reducing landfill waste by over 95% by 2035.

He also noted significant targets for increasing environmental protection, including expanding protected areas, which were only 4% in 2016 but have now reached around 18%.

For his part, Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, emphasized that Saudi Arabia embraces a comprehensive vision for ecosystems in line with its ambitious Vision 2030. He added that the Kingdom is committed to achieving its goals by implementing national strategies and plans aimed at protecting the environment, combating land degradation, preserving vegetation, enhancing biodiversity, ensuring food and water security, and launching national, regional, and global initiatives to combat land degradation and preserve habitats.

Water Crisis

Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, emphasized that the Arab world faces a more severe water crisis than any other region.

Dr. Ali Al-Malki, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Economic Affairs Sector at the Arab League, noted that this session comes following significant Arab participation in hosting COP climate change conferences, citing COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the UAE. He added that the positive outcomes and initiatives launched during these conferences received global recognition.

Saudi Arabia is also preparing to host the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in December. This session is expected to address critical issues for Arab countries, including the implementation of the UNCCD’s 2018-2030 strategic framework, as well as addressing drought and dust storms.

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Animals Found Living Underground Near Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
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Animals Found Living Underground Near Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS

A deep-diving robot that chiseled into the rocky Pacific seabed at a spot where two of the immense plates comprising Earth's outer shell meet has unearthed a previously unknown realm of animal life thriving underground near hydrothermal vents.

Giant tubeworms - the world's heftiest worms - and other marine invertebrates such as snails and bristle worms were found using the remotely operated underwater vehicle SuBastian. They were living inside cavities within the Earth's crust at an ocean-floor site where the Pacific is 1.56 miles (2,515 meters) deep. All the species were previously known to have lived near such vents, but never underground, Reuters reported.

"We discovered vent animal life in the cavities of the ocean's crust. We now know that the unique hydrothermal vent ecosystem extends into the ocean's crust," said marine biologist Sabine Gollner of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, one of the leaders of the study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

"To our knowledge, it is the first time that animal life has been discovered in the ocean crust," Gollner added.

The exploration was conducted at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge on the floor of the southeastern Pacific, running approximately parallel to South America's west coast. Earth's rigid outer part is divided into colossal plates that move gradually over time in a process called plate tectonics. The East Pacific Rise is located where two such plates are gradually spreading apart.

This area contains many hydrothermal vents, fissures in the seafloor situated where seawater and magma beneath the Earth's crust come together. Magma refers to molten rock that is underground, while lava refers to molten rock that reaches the surface, including the seafloor. New seafloor forms in places where magma is forced upward toward the surface at a mid-ocean ridge and cools to form volcanic rock.

The hydrothermal vents spew into the cold sea the super-heated and chemical-rich water that nourishes microorganisms.

"The warm venting fluids are rich in energy - for example, sulfide - that can be used by microbes, which form the basis of the food-chain," Gollner said.

Life flourishes around the vents - including giant tubeworms reaching lengths of 10 feet (3 meters), mussels, crabs, shrimp, fish and other organisms beautifully adapted to this extreme environment. The giant tubeworms do not eat as other animals do. Instead, bacteria residing in their body in a sack-like organ turn sulfur from the water into energy for the animal.

The researchers deployed SuBastian from the Schmidt Ocean Institute research vessel Falkortoo to the vent site deep below. The robot was equipped with arms that wielded a chisel that the researchers used to dig into the crust and uncover warm and fluid-filled cavities where the tubeworms, bristle worms and snails were spotted.

"We used a chisel to break the rock. We dug about 20 cm (8 inches). The lava plates were about 10 cm (4 inches) thick. The cavities below the lava plates were about 10 cm in height," Gollner said.

Larvae from these animals may invade these subseafloor habitats, the researchers said, in an example of connectivity between the seafloor and underground ecosystems.

"It changed our view on connectedness in the ocean," Gollner said of discovering the subsurface lair.