The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Ukraine spoke about the country's initiatives in environmental and green energy issues.
In an exclusive statement to IP "Ukraine in Arabic", Ambassador Al-Musger spoke in more detail about the Kingdom's initiatives, noting that their announcement expresses the ambitious vision of the Saudi Arabian leadership to protect the planet, stop desertification, preserve the environment and protect future generations, and is a clear indication of the country's leadership's interest in protecting and developing the environment as one of the goals of the 20-30 vision.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, striving to protect the environment, combat climate change and confront environmental challenges that have become an economic threat to the Region, announces the launch of two initiatives - "Green Saudi Arabia" and "Green Middle East", which will determine the direction of the Kingdom and the Region as a whole in protecting the Earth and nature.
What is the "Green Saudi Arabia" initiative?
This is a national KSA initiative aimed at planting 10 billion trees in KSA within 10 years, expanding the area of existing nature reserves in the Kingdom by 30%, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4% of the global volume, developing a Renewable Energy Projects Plan that will increase the share of clean energy from energy production in the Kingdom to 50% by 2030.
What is the "Green Middle East" initiative?
This is a regional initiative aimed at coordinating efforts to significantly contribute to achieving global climate change goals by improving the efficiency of hydrocarbon technologies in the Region and launching the world's largest reforestation plan, which aims to plant 50 billion trees in the Middle East and as a result achieve a reduction in carbon emissions.
To achieve its goals, KSA will act in partnership with member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Middle Eastern countries and other interested countries and organizations, hold an annual summit called "Green Middle East Initiative" to discuss the details of the initiatives and mechanisms for their implementation, as it fully understands the challenges facing the Region due to water scarcity, financial and technical resources and geographical difficulties.
The Kingdom is ready to help countries lacking resources, share technologies and experience to reduce carbon emissions and develop innovative irrigation methods using recycled water, rainwater and finding other solutions.
In this context, KSA has undertaken a comprehensive restructuring of the environmental sector, established a special force responsible for environmental security issues in 2019, and increased the coverage of nature reserves from 4% to over 14% of the Kingdom's area. Over the past 4 years, the Kingdom has increased its vegetation cover by 40%, achieved the best carbon dioxide emission level for oil-producing countries, successfully produced and exported 40 tons of blue ammonia as part of its search for innovative solutions for clean energy production, and launched one of the world's largest green hydrogen production projects in the city of Neom, valued at 5 billion US dollars, with a daily production of approximately 650 tons.