The Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia shed light on the local and global efforts it is making to maintain and
protect the environment. Its
efforts include the launching of several programs and initiatives in order to achieve
the goals of the national environment strategy, in conjunction with the
objectives of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals facing the challenges of
climate change.
It came during the
Stockholm+50 conference: "A healthy planet, prosperity for all - our
responsibility, our opportunity.", on June 2-3 2022. The Kingdom’s
delegation was headed by the Ministry of environment, water, and agriculture,
with the participation of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy
and Planning.
The delegation was headed on behalf of His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng.Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen AlFadley, his excellency the CEO of the National Center for Environmental Compliance Eng. Ali Saeed Al-Ghamdi.
In a speech to the Kingdom on this occasion, Eng. Al-Ghamdi affirmed the Kingdom's keenness to exert the sincerest efforts in achieving the objectives of the national strategy for the environment and protecting the environment, reviewing the Kingdom's efforts in the "Saudi Green Initiative" and "Green Middle East initiative" to achieve sustainable development goals and confront the challenges of climate change.
“The Kingdom is
determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling
lives. The Kingdom's Vision 2030 development and diversification agenda aims to
protect, improve, and sustain the country's natural environment. The national
environment program launched to raise the level of environmental commitment in
all developmental sectors, reduce pollution. Besides to develop natural vegetative
cover, combat desertification, protect wildlife, preserve biodiversity. Also to transform of a linear economy into a circular economy in waste management.This is being done by enhancing the participation of the private sector through service enhancements and stimulating innovation, as well as increasing public awareness about environment and strengthening the role of the non-profit sector." Al-Ghamdi added
Eng.Al-Ghamdi pointed to the important role that the Kingdom led through its presidency of the G20 which took place in Riyadh 2020, and leaders' declaration which aimed to reduce land degradation in the world by 50% by 2040. The G20 launched the global initiative on reducing land degradation and enhancing conservation of terrestrial habitats. Also, they announced the international coral reef initiative.
The Kingdom is cooperating with the other G20 member states to implement the two initiatives. In addition, Saudi Arabia pledges to reduce emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030, more than double the previous goal set in 2015. It has also announced its ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2060, within the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) framework. Furthermore, the Kingdom joined the Global Methane Pledge, which aims at limiting methane emissions by 30% compared with 2020 levels.
