Saudi Arabia announced in March 2021 the plan to host the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative summits. Both are in line with the Vision 2030 released by the leadership in the country. Both the initiatives aim at paving a path for the protection of the planet by setting specific goals in confronting climate change. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the Middle Eastern region will work to bring in the best possible results from the Middle East Green Initiative Summit which will take place in October 2021.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend the summit too. This falls in line with the MoU that was signed between the two countries in 2019. India has been quite vocal on several platforms about the need for supporting such initiatives for a greener and better future. It is likely that the Indian participation will help the initiative too.
According to the official press release about the initiative, it will work to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4% of the global contributions. The areas of focus include climate change challenges like the desertification, air pollution from green houses, combating pollution, preserving marine life as well as working together with international partners to take the two initiatives forward. Saudi Arabia has engaged with many organisations around the world to help the cause of green economy. In fact, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia H.E. Mohammad Bin Salman said that instead of calling environment friendly choices as “tough”, it must be realised that climate action will “enhance competitiveness, spark innovation and create millions of high quality jobs.”.
The Reuters reported that the Prince has been in partnership with the countries of the region to start the world’s biggest reforestation plan by planting 50 billion trees. This initiative is a part of the practice of reduced dependency on oil revenues, expanded avenues for revenue and job creation and improvement of the quality of life. All these together will bring about a big revolution for the country as well as the world.
Saudi Arabia has been actively working during its G20 Presidency to bring about changes in the developmental model by stressing on climate and environment friendly strategies. It has put forward the idea of using nature based solutions to understand the nuances of Climate Change Education (CCE). Although climate change is one of the most critical issues for the whole world, it is even more important for the Middle East to reduce their reliance on oil and continue to work in the movement being guided by Saudi Arabia.
