Saudi Arabia stressed its commitment to advancing environmental action at the national, regional, and international levels through the Saudi Green Initiative and the National Environment Strategy, supporting environmental protection, natural resource conservation, and environmental sustainability.
It made its statement at the 28th Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, held in Bahrain.
Deputy Minister for Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture Dr. Osama Faqeeha highlighted the achievements resulting from these efforts.
This includes a fourfold increase in the area of terrestrial and marine protected areas, a nearly 300% rise in waste recycling, more than one million hectares of degraded land rehabilitated, more than 180 million trees planted, and over 10,000 endangered wildlife species released into the wild.
Faqeeha commended GCC countries for supporting the Middle East Green Initiative, which has attracted the participation of 35 countries.
He noted that the Kingdom’s hosting of the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh marked a turning point for the convention. The conference adopted 37 resolutions and launched key initiatives, most notably Business4Land (B4L) and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.
Faqeeha added that the COP16 presidency continued to follow up on the implementation of these decisions ahead of the 17th session, held in Mongolia in September. He also noted that more than 200 initiatives worldwide had joined the Riyadh Action Agenda.
Faqeeha welcomed Egypt hosting the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18) in 2028, as well as the Kingdom hosting the upcoming meeting of environment ministers from GCC member states.
