Saudi Gazette report

SHARM EL SHEIKH — Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman opened the second edition of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit on Monday in Egypt.

The summit, which is being held in conjunction with the COP27 was co-hosted by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt.

In his opening remarks, Prince Mohammed said that the MGI ambitious goals require regional cooperation and effective contributions from member states to contribute to achieving climate goals.

He announced that Saudi Arabia will establish and host a dedicated MGI secretariat and will allocate $2.5 billion to support MGI projects and governance.

"We seek to make renewable energy account for 50 percent of our energy consumption in 2030."

"The Kingdom aims to find solutions in order to provide more sustainable energy systems," Prince Mohammed said.

He announced that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) aim to reach net zero by 2050, the first sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East and one of the first globally to do so. "This will be achieved by financing projects that support the green transition and encourage further innovation."

In October 2021, the Crown Prince held the inaugural MGI Summit in Riyadh. Leaders from more than 20 nations participated in the summit's first-ever regional climate dialogue, which made it clear that cooperation and coordination are required to tackle climate change.

The MGI Summit lays out an ambitious and clear plan for regional climate action, assuring coordinated efforts and a cohesive approach to addressing the impacts of climate change on the regional countries.

The initiative also enables the development of significant economic opportunities in the region, which supports the advancement of economic diversification, job creation, and sustainable development, all of which will benefit present and future generations and open up opportunities for a green future.

The countries taking part in the MGI Summit 2022 aim to accomplish the regional objectives set forth by the Kingdom at the initiative's inaugural summit.

These include planting 50 billion trees in the region as part of the world's largest tree-planting initiative and reducing carbon emissions in the region by more than 10% of global contributions.