Saudi Arabia to back climate change initiatives in Africa
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- One of the initiative’s deliverables is to plant 50 billion trees in the region, thus achieving the five per cent global target for afforestation.
The Saudi Arabian government has promised to support climate change initiatives that curb carbon emissions in the Middle East and Africa.
Through an independent and non-profit undertaking dubbed ‘Middle East Green Initiative,’ the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims at raising the level of coordination in protecting the environment in the Middle East and Africa.
Addressing delegates at the first-ever Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, said the main aim of the summit is to reduce “carbon emissions through nature based and adaptation solutions.”
One of the initiative’s deliverables is to plant 50 billion trees in the region, thus achieving the five per cent global target for afforestation.
“In facilitating and achieving the goals of the Middle East, the green initiative will also establish an international cooperation platform to implement the concepts of circular carbon economy both for the Middle East and Africa,” he said.
Action plan
He added that the initiative will establish a regional centre interested in climate change solutions like carbon capture.
A regional centre for early warning of storms and reducing the associated health risks resulting from dust storms will also be established.
The Saudi Arabian government also plans to establish a regional centre for sustainable development of fisheries to contribute to raising marine biodiversity and reducing the level of emissions in the fisheries sector by roughly 15 per cent.
Clean energy
“The kingdom will also work to establish a global initiative to contribute to providing clean fuel solutions to provide food to more than (750) million people in the world, and establish a fund to invest in solutions for circular carbon economy technologies in the region,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.
The investment in the initiatives will be at a tune of a little about $10b or 39b riyals, with the kingdom financing 15 percent of it.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the undertaking highlights “the importance of the environment and vegetation cover in Africa.”
