Earlier this week, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud, announced two initiatives, the ‘Green Saudi’ and ‘Middle East Green Initiative’, which are intended to reduce carbon emissions in the region by 60 percent, tackle deforestation, preserve the marine and coastal environment and increase the proportion of natural reserves. Under these initiatives, the Kingdom plans to plant 10 billion trees in the years to come in the country, and also support a larger reforestation programme in the region in which 40 billion trees will be planted.
These initiatives will contribute toward global targets of confronting climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss under the three Rio Conventions (the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). They also reinforce the commitments set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its Vision 2030 and during its G20 presidency last year, highlighting the importance of protecting the global environment through the launch of the Global Initiative to Reduce Land Degradation and the Coral Reef Platform.
The Kingdom’s strong commitment to tackle biodiversity loss, land degradation, invest in nature-based solutions and protect the environment is an important contribution to international efforts to combat environmental challenges, while also inspiring innovation and creation of jobs. These initiatives will also support the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/284, which will run from 2021 through 2030.
UNEP has had a long-standing partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2020, UNEP signed a strategic agreement that complements the ongoing efforts to address environmental challenges in the Kingdom, strengthen environmental protections, safeguard its natural resources and support its objectives to reach its global environmental goals while forging ties with the United Nations System at large.
