The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Japan's Ministry of Environment to strengthening cooperation in the field of environmental protection.
The MoC was signed by H.E. Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen AlFadley and H.E. Japanese Minister of Environment Mr. KOIZUNI Shinjiro at a virtual ceremony.
The MoC aims to enhance collaboration on environmental protection and preservation and strategic planning and to promote environmental technology studies and capacity-building.
Both sides will boost collaboration, according to the MoC and in line with the laws and regulations in each country, to protect and preserve the environment through water quality and wastewater management, marine protection, combating land degradation and desertification, Integrated coastal zone management planning for the protection of coastal infrastructure, residential areas, industrial complexes, desalination plants and seaports, as well as early warning systems to reduce vulnerability due to extreme weather events.
The MoC also seeks to improve methods and techniques to monitor and control air pollution, develop methods and techniques to treat and dispose of contaminated soil (nonradioactive) and to reduce noise pollution and control vibration, improve environmental impact assessment procedures through studying the current status and management of waste including chemicals and hazardous waste.
For his part, the Japanese minister praised Saudi Arabia's determined leadership of the G20 in the face of the unprecedented global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also lauded the environmental initiatives that Saudi Arabia launched and the successful issuance of the G20 Environment Ministers Communique, which is issued for the first time in the history of the G20.
This MoC is among several memorandums of understanding and cooperation on environmental protection that the ministry signed in recent months.