His Excellency the Vice Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Eng. Mansour Hilal Almushaiti, said Saudi Arabia is playing an active role in shaping major multilateral environmental agreements and is working to align global efforts to confront environmental challenges while balancing development needs with environmental protection.
This came during His Excellency's address today at the COP16 Presidency during the seventh session of the U.N. Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. Eng. Almushaiti highlighted key outcomes from the sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16), which Saudi Arabia hosted in December 2024 with broad international participation.
Eng. Almushaiti said the Kingdom is advancing environmental action at the national, regional, and international levels through the National Environment Strategy, the Saudi Green Initiative, the Middle East Green Initiative, and other initiatives. He underscored the COP16's role in strengthening global cooperation to mitigate land degradation—an issue affecting more than three billion people and threatening water security, food supplies, biodiversity, and social stability.
He noted that COP16 adopted 37 resolutions aimed at supporting the Convention's goals, including measures to safeguard and sustainably manage agricultural lands, protect vital rangelands, advance research and innovation, and enhance support for local communities, women, youth, civil society groups, and financing mechanisms.
According to Almushaiti, the conference also included several outcomes with a significant impact on strengthening international cooperation. The implementation of the Convention's objectives was further strengthened through the launch of the Riyadh Action Agenda, which includes nearly 40 initiatives to mitigate land degradation and the effects of drought. Foremost among these is the Riyadh Global Drought Preparedness Partnership, which aims to enhance the resilience of the most vulnerable developing countries by adopting a proactive approach to drought mitigation.
Almushaiti also pointed to efforts to expand private sector engagement through the Business for Land initiative, to encourage global businesses to set comprehensive targets and action plans that support economic growth while advancing land management.
In concluding his remarks, Eng. Almushaiti stressed the importance of integrating environmental-agreement goals into national development plans, boosting knowledge transfer and capacity building for developing countries, and improving coordination among agreement secretariats to maximize the impact of their collective work, which contributes to the sustainability of our planet's environment for future generations.