STOCKHOLM — Saudi Arabia has reviewed its local and global efforts to protect and preserve the environment by launching a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the national environment strategy and sustainable development goals and confronting the challenges of climate change.

The Kingdom stressed the importance of international cooperation to take necessary measures for a better future for generations on the planet.

This came during the participation of an official Saudi delegation headed by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), with the participation of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economy and Planning, in the "Stockholm +50" Conference which was held on June 2-3, 2022 under the title: "A Healthy Planet for the Prosperity of All - Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity"

The delegation was headed by the CEO of the National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC), Eng. Ali Al-Ghamdi on behalf of the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdurrahman Al-Fadhli.

At the conference, Al-Ghamdi affirmed the Kingdom's keenness to make the most sincere efforts in achieving the goals of the national strategy for the environment and protecting the environment, reviewing the Kingdom's efforts in the "Saudi Green Initiative and Middle East Green Initiative" to achieve the goals of sustainable development and confront the challenges of climate change.

Al-Ghamdi also explained that the Kingdom believes in the necessity of securing human progress and prosperity, the safety of the planet, and the role of the international community to reach this.

He stressed that the directions of the ambitious vision of the Kingdom 2030 are working to protect, enhance and sustain the Kingdom's natural environment by adopting a holistic vision of ecosystems from the National Environment Strategy.

The national strategy emerged to raise the level of environmental commitment for all development sectors, reduce pollution and negative effects on the environment as the Kingdom also seeks to develop natural vegetation cover, combat desertification, protect wildlife, and preserve biodiversity.

The Kingdom also seeks to transform the waste sector from a linear economy to a circular economy by enhancing the participation of the private sector to raise the quality of services and stimulate innovation, too by raising environmental awareness among the public and enhancing the role of the non-profit sector.

The NCEC CEO also pointed to the important role that the Kingdom led through the statement of the G20 leaders meeting hosted by Riyadh in 2020, which aimed to voluntarily reduce land degradation in the world by 50% by 2040.

He cited the G20 leaders' launching of the global initiative to reduce land degradation and enhance protection terrestrial habitats to restore land and prevent its deterioration, as well as the global initiative to preserve coral reefs.

He explained that the Kingdom is currently working in cooperation with the member states of the Group of Twenty to take the necessary measures to implement the two initiatives.

He confirmed that the Kingdom has raised the level of its national contributions, by reducing emissions by 278 million tons annually, by 2030, which is equivalent to more than double what was previously announced in 2015, through many initiatives.

These initiatives include — for example — the provision of half of the Kingdom's domestic energy needs from renewable energy sources, and benefiting from carbon capture, use and storage technologies as the Kingdom also announced its goal to reach zero neutrality by 2060 through the circular economy approach to carbon, and joined the global pledge on methane, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels. — SPA