RIYADH — The Minister of Education Dr. Hamad Bin Mohammad Al-Sheikh conveyed Monday the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince to participants in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Conference on the Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development 2030, wishing for a better and more sustainable future for our societies.

Within the work of the conference, Dr. Al-Sheikh said in his speech, "We meet today to be proud of our achievements, as we reaffirm that we will continue joint efforts to achieve the seventeen sustainable development goals through our educational systems."

He stressed that the sustainable future lies in our educational systems and the development of our societies.

The Minister of Education added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made great progress over the past few years, whereas a national committee has been established to track the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).

Dr. Al-Sheikh pointed out that Saudi Vision 2030 aspires to a prominent international position for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in all economic, social and cultural fields, indicating that this vision directs all efforts towards what achieves sustainable development, realizing a higher standard of living and a better quality of life for the Saudi people.

The minister said that the fifth anniversary of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 coincides with many new programs and initiatives to support sustainable development in line with the UN 2030 Agenda.

For example, the Crown Prince launched the “Saudi Green” and the “Middle East Green” initiatives to cultivate 50 billion trees to confront the climate crisis.

In another initiative that affirms that Saudi Arabia is aware of its responsibility towards our planet and chooses what will achieve more sustainable future, the Crown Prince announced THE LINE, a city of a million residents with a length of 170 km that preserves 95% of nature within NEOM, with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions.

In the Crown Prince's recent interview on Saudi TV on April 27, 2021, he spoke of education as a major driver to support the realization of Vision 2030, in line with the 17 sustainable development goals, the minister added.

The minister concluded his speech by reiterating that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is determined to continue its noble work towards achieving a sustainable future for our planet and by expressing his confidence that through continuing to work together, we will provide at least a solid foundation for the sustainability of our societies and this planet for future generations. — SPA