Saudi Green Initiative

The Saudi Green Initiative and The Middle East Green Initiative that are to be launched soon aim to chart a path for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region in protecting the planet, by clearly defining an ambitious road map that rallies the region and significantly contributes to achieving global targets in confronting climate change.

A press release quotes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying that, as a leading global oil producer, the Kingdom fully recognizes its share of responsibility in advancing the fight against the climate crisis. Just as the Kingdom underpinned energy markets during the oil and gas era, it is going to become a global leader in forging a greener world.

As the Crown Prince added, the Kingdom and the region face significant climate challenges, such as desertification, an immediate economic risk to the Kingdom and the region (USD 13Bn is currently lost due to dust storms in the region every year), Air pollution from greenhouse gases also is estimated to have shortened average Saudi life expectancy by 1.5 years. We will work through The Saudi Green Initiative to raise vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution & land degradation, and preserve marine life, this initiative will include a number of ambitious initiatives; most notably the planting of (10 billion) trees within the Kingdom in the upcoming decades, the equivalent to rehabilitating roughly (40 million) hectares of degraded lands, translating to a 12-fold increase from current tree covers, this represents the Kingdom's contribution of more than (4%) in achieving the goals of the global initiative to limit the degradation of landsand fungal habitats, and (1%) of the global target to plant (one trillion) trees.

The Kingdom will also work to raise the percentage of protected areas to more than (30%) of its total land area, representing roughly (600,000) square kilometers, exceeding the current global target of (17%), in addition to launching a number of ambitious initiatives to protect Marine and Coastal Environments.