RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is taking up a leading role in a global initiative to establish an early warning system in the Middle East to monitor sand and dust storms.

The announcement was made on Wednesday during the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to combat desertification, being held in Riyadh until Dec. 13.

Under the supervision of the World Meteorological Organization, Riyadh and other participating countries will contribute about $2 billion to this initiative aimed at addressing sand and dust storms, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The initiative for the early warning system aims to develop renewable solutions to tackle land degradation, drought and desertification.

Jamaan Saad Al-Qahtani, executive director of the Sand and Dust Storm Regional Center in Jeddah, said during the COP16 panel that “the initiative seeks to enhance global monitoring, surveillance, warnings and coordination related to sand and dust storms.”

According to environmental studies, desertification has generated about two billion tons of sand and dust yearly.

Saudi Arabia hosts the fourth global center in Jeddah affiliated with the World Meteorological Organization, which monitors dust storms in the GCC and the Middle East. The other three global centers are in Beijing, Barcelona and Barbados.

Qahtani said that Saudi Arabia would “enhance early warning systems in countries that currently lack the necessary capabilities.”

Osama Fakiha, Saudi deputy minister of environment, said that more than 1.8 billion people were affected by drought.

He stressed the need to shift from simply responding to drought conditions as they arose to taking proactive steps to address these challenges effectively, SPA reported.

“Through this initiative, we target 80 countries that are most vulnerable to drought,” Fakiha said.