Crown Prince launches package of initiatives in Saudi Green Initiative Forum

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched today, Oct. 23, Saudi Green Initiative Forum.

In his opening speech to the forum, the Crown Prince announced the launch of the first package of qualitative initiatives in the Kingdom as a roadmap for protecting the environment and facing the challenges of climate change, which would contribute to achieving the ambitious goals of the Green Saudi Initiative.

He pointed out that the Kingdom launched initiatives in the field of energy, which will reduce carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030. This voluntary reduction represents more than double the Kingdom's announced targets in terms of reducing emissions.

The Crown Prince further confirmed the start of the first phase of afforestation initiatives by planting more than 450 million trees, reclaiming 8 million hectares of degraded lands, as well as designating an increasing area of land for protection in the coming years. This aims to achieve the first 20% of the goal to protect over 30% of the Kingdom’s total land area.

He also stressed his determination to transform Riyadh into one of the most sustainable cities in the world.

The Kingdom plans to join the Global Ocean Alliance, in addition to establishing a global center for tourism sustainability, and a non-profit organization to explore seas and oceans.

Further, the Kingdom targets to reach zero-net emissions by 2060 through the circular carbon economy (CCE) approach, in line with the Kingdom's development plans, which aims to enable its economic diversification, in line with the "moving baseline". This mainly aims to preserve the Kingdom's leading role in enhancing security and stability of global energy markets, amid the maturity and availability of technologies to manage and reduce emissions.

This first package of initiatives represents investments worth more than SAR 700 billion, which contributes to developing the green economy, creating quality job opportunities, and providing huge investment opportunities for the private sector, in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the Crown Prince concluded.