A pulse check from Arab News on the Kingdom’s green and blue initiatives

When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the twin launch of the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives in March 2021, he made clear the scale of the challenge he was setting for both the Kingdom and the wider region.

“This is only a start,” he said. “The Kingdom, the region, and the world needs to go much further and faster in combating climate change.”

He added: “Given our starting point, beginning this journey to a greener future has not been easy.” But, as a major oil producer, Saudi Arabia fully recognized its share of responsibility in advancing the fight against the climate crisis and “we are not avoiding tough choices.”

He predicted, “just as the Kingdom underpinned energy markets during the oil and gas era, it is going to become a global leader in forging a greener world.”

The issue of sustainability is a key part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. At the launch of the wide-ranging blueprint for the Kingdom’s future in 2016, the crown prince said climate action would “enhance competitiveness, spark innovation and create millions of high-quality jobs.

“Young people, both in the Kingdom and the world, are demanding a cleaner, greener and more inclusive future, and we owe it to them to deliver on this.”

The story of how Saudi Arabia is now fulfilling that pledge is a remarkable one that deserves to be explained in detail. That is why Arab News decided to launch a new section, Green and Blue, dedicated to coverage of this historic journey upon which the Kingdom has embarked.

Why Green and Blue? These are the colors of life on our precious planet, reflected in the Kingdom’s ambition to restore and protect all elements of the environment on which we all depend.

At the inaugural SGI forum in Riyadh in October 2021, a number of climate-action programs and pledges were unleashed, addressing issues on land and at sea.

The SGI, “an ambitious national initiative that is focused on combating climate change, improving quality of life and protecting the environment for future generations,” has so far set in motion more than 80 separate programs designed to help the Kingdom hit three key targets: Reducing emissions, greening the country, and protecting land and sea.

The heroic determination and achievements of the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives should be documented and celebrated as an inspiration.

Noor Nugali

With more than 7,572 km of coastline and the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf lapping its shores, Saudi Arabia has become one of the 77 member states of the Global Ocean Alliance, dedicated to protecting an environment that is home to an incredible range of biodiversity, from microscopic krill to giant blue whales, responsible for half of the oxygen we breath, and the primary food source for 3.5 billion around the world.

Already, under the auspices of the SGI, tens of thousands of homes are being powered by clean energy, and numerous wind, solar, green hydrogen and carbon-capture projects are either live or under way, driving Saudi Arabia toward its first major milestone on the road to achieving net zero by 2060 — cutting carbon emissions by 278 million tonnes per year by 2030.

At Al-Jouf, in the north of the country, the Kingdom already has the largest wind farm in the Middle East. The 400MW Dumat Al-Jandal began generating electricity in August 2021. When fully operational, it will power 70,000 homes and offset a million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The ambition to green the country entails a commitment to plant 10 billion trees and rehabilitate 40 million hectares of degraded land, while some 30 percent of Saudi Arabia’s land and sea will be designated as protected territory.

This will create habitats in which indigenous fauna and flora can thrive and, where necessary, be successfully reintroduced, with agencies working in partnership with leading international organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Through the MGI, Saudi Arabia is also promoting sustainability across the entire region.

At the inaugural MGI summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022, the crown prince announced the Kingdom would host the organization’s headquarters and contribute $2.5 billion to its operations.

These included plans to reduce carbon emissions from regional hydrocarbon production by more than 60 percent, helping to reduce global carbon levels by 2.5 percent, plant 50 billion trees across the Middle East, and restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land.

In other words, there are many stories to be told.

Every Saturday, in print and online, Green and Blue’s dedicated writers, Haifa Alshammari, Sulafa Alkuniazi and Nada Alturki, will tell those stories, reporting on the multiple environmental initiatives unfolding in the Kingdom and the wider region.

In doing so, they will document and explain the great strides being taken toward the ultimate goal of transforming Saudi Arabia into a net-zero economy.

It is, of course, the work of experts across various fields who will plot the course ahead, for both the Kingdom and for the whole world. Each week, Green and Blue will therefore feature a column from an expert on the week’s topic.

Let there be no doubt: Saudi Arabia has set itself an extraordinarily ambitious target. Achieving it will demand much of all of us — from individuals and communities to companies and all departments of government.

But we at Arab News believe that the great efforts and sacrifices it will entail will be worth the ultimate prize of preserving our green and blue planet for our children’s children, and that the heroic determination and achievements of the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives should be documented and celebrated as an inspiration as we travel this path together.

• Noor Nugali is deputy editor-in-chief of Arab News