Saudi Arabia and its full support for the "Green Middle East" initiative

The "Green Middle East" initiative is a strong proposal to work towards lowering carbon dioxide emissions with a view to their total elimination through natural solutions, adaptation to 10% of current global production and the planting of 50 billion trees in the region, which would represent 5% of global afforestation targets.

Saudi Arabia fully supports the proposal put forward in "Green Middle East" with Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the helm. In fact, the first summit of the initiative was hosted in Riyadh.

The official communiqué is reproduced below:

The summit of the "Green Middle East" initiative presents the following final communiqué:
"At the distinguished invitation of H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the first summit of the "Green Middle East" initiative was held in the city of Riyadh, with the participation of numerous leaders from African and Middle Eastern countries, in addition to leading international environmental and climate change actors.

During the meeting, participants discussed the first package of programmes and projects announced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that aim to contribute to achieving the goals of the ambitious "Green Middle East" initiative that seeks to synergise efforts and contributions in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions towards their complete elimination through natural solutions, adaptation to 10% of total current global production and the planting of 50 billion trees in the region, which would represent 5% of global afforestation targets.

And to achieve the purpose of the "Green Middle East" initiative, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced during the summit its intention to create an international collaboration platform aimed at realising the concept of the circular carbon economy, as well as the establishment of a regional climate change centre, the inauguration of a regional complex for the extraction, use and storage of carbon, the creation of a regional storm early warning centre to mitigate dust-related health risks, the establishment of a regional centre for the sustainable development of fisheries resources to increase marine biodiversity and reduce emissions in this sector by 15%, and the creation of a regional cloud seeding (artificial rain) programme to increase rainfall by 25%. These centres and programmes will play an important role in preparing the infrastructure needed to protect the environment, reduce emissions and improve the level of regional collaboration. The Kingdom will also launch a global initiative to deliver clean fuel solutions to provide food for more than 750 million people around the world, as well as create an investment fund on circular carbon economy solutions and techniques in the region. Investments in the two initiatives amount to 39 billion Saudi Riyal, of which the Kingdom will contribute 15 per cent. In addition, and mindful of the importance of protecting the environment and promoting greenery in Africa, the summit called for increased coordination and joint work to protect green fields, and the creation of a Green Initiative Foundation, an independent, non-profit instrument, which aims to elevate and enhance this coordination.

Based on shared responsibility for common environmental challenges, the leaders pledged to work together to develop a regional roadmap and work plan to address these challenges and achieve the goals of the Green Middle East initiative, considering the impact of this initiative on sustainable development in the region and the preservation of its biodiversity, for the benefit of the whole world.

The leaders expressed their appreciation and appreciation of the Kingdom's initiatives, as well as its efforts in the field of environment and the fight against climate change. They also expressed their gratitude to HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud for leading these efforts and inviting the leaders to this summit. The leaders agreed to establish joint working groups and to hold this summit on a regular basis in order to develop operational plans to realise the objectives of the initiative".