How the Saudi Green Initiative has moved from ambition to action, two years on

Special How the Saudi Green Initiative has moved from ambition to action, two years on
As a part of the Saudi Green Initiative, the Kingdom aims to plant 10 billion trees. (Supplied)
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Updated 29 March 2023

How the Saudi Green Initiative has moved from ambition to action, two years on

How the Saudi Green Initiative has moved from ambition to action, two years on
  • Two-year anniversary of SGI’s launch seen as a milestone on the path to a sustainable future
  • The anniversary is being celebrated as a whole-of-society effort to usher in a greener future

JEDDAH: When one thinks of Saudi Arabia, one imagines scenes of rolling sand dunes as far as the eye can see — a vision not far from the truth in some of the more remote corners of the peninsula.

Looking closer at this vast landscape and its sprawling urban areas, however, many would be surprised by the vast green spaces now changing the face of the Kingdom, from dense forests to lush city parks.

Two years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched one of the world’s most significant climate initiatives, which set out to enhance the quality of life while integrating environmental protection, energy transition and sustainability programs.




Green cover of Riyadh. (RCRC)

Celebrating its second anniversary, the Saudi Green Initiative, an ambitious multi-entity collaboration, has already reached several important milestones since its launch.

It has made a significant dent in its target of planting 10 billion trees across Saudi Arabia, chalking up 18 million to date.

Of the 40 million hectares of degraded land it aims to rehabilitate, 60,000 hectares have been restored, while more than 60 sites have been set aside for the sustainable planting of trees across the Kingdom.

INNUMBERS

  • 2 Years since Saudi Green Initiative was launched. 
  • 10 billion Target number of trees to be planted.
  • 18 million Trees planted in Saudi Arabia in 2022.
  • 60,000 Hectares of land rehabilitated in 2022.
  • 250,000 Cultivated shrubs in AlUla nurseries.
  • 62 Sites approved for tree planting.
  • 150,000 Homes powered by renewable energy.
  • 1,200 Endangered animals rewilded.

Historically, most resources for conservation efforts have been invested in areas considered wild and, therefore, less populated. Preserving these “untouched” places is critical for many reasons.

However, due to a noticeable increase in annual heat waves and extreme weather patterns, scientists and urban planners have turned their focus on urban areas to develop new strategies for resilient built environments.

For decades, rapid urbanization across the Kingdom and the lack of sustainable development on the ground led to polluted air, soaring temperatures, severe dust storms, and other harmful byproducts.

Saudi Green Initiative: An overview

There is a mechanism for defining specific places for afforestation and selecting suitable species for cultivation. Experts and specialists supervise the selection of planting sites before implementing, where available space and assured protection of the sites are mandatory to ensure the preservation and maintenance of trees. This is in addition to the suitability of the trees planted in these sites, whose types are chosen to make them compatible with the type of the soil in which they are planted. The National Center for Vegetation Coverage Development and Desertification Control has selected about 26 sites in various regions of the Kingdom to serve as alternative sites if the partner agencies do not have sites to implement afforestation campaigns. These sites meet all the requirements, including for protection and care.

The Environmental Awareness Initiative is one of the many efforts of the National Transformation Program to enhance and raise societal awareness of environmental issues and establish a sense of individual and collective responsibility for preserving natural resources in the Kingdom. The initiative aims to contribute to reducing pollution of all kinds and achieving environmental sustainability. This is being achieved through afforestation campaigns and directing the efforts of agencies, institutions and individuals toward afforestation. Afforestation campaigns are being launched with the private sector or environmental associations in coordination with the National Center for Plant Cover Development and Combating Desertification. The “Let’s Make It Green” campaign aims to increase the green area in the Kingdom and combat desertification, in addition to rehabilitating degraded vegetation sites and raising awareness of the importance of reducing harmful vegetation practices. The objective is to improve the quality of life in Saudi Arabia per the goals of Vision 2030.

  • Saleh Bindakhil, spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

This led to the rise of the urban heat island effect — a phenomenon that occurs when cities replace land with dense concentrations of buildings, pavement, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat.

Scientists at Nanjing and Yale Universities analyzed satellite data from across 2,000 cities around the world from 2002 to 2021. They found that cities are warming by a rate of 0.56 degrees Celsius per decade during the day and 0.43 C per decade at night.

The study compared the rise in temperatures to that of rural areas and found that urban areas are warming 29 percent faster on average.

This data should ring alarm bells for any nation with growing ambitions and growing cities.

In recent years, an international team of climate scientists, economists, and energy systems modelers have built a range of new “pathways” that examine how global society, demographics, and economics might change over the next century.

They are collectively known as the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, which analyze how the world might evolve in the absence of climate policy and how different levels of climate change mitigation could be achieved in five different ways.

According to the G20 Climate Risk Atlas, Saudi Arabia will experience severe climate impacts if it follows a high-emissions pathway. Without urgent action, the Kingdom will see an 88 percent increase in the frequency of agricultural drought by 2050.

Heatwaves will last longer, and the combination of sea level rise, coastal erosion, and more extreme weather events will cause chaos for Saudi Arabia’s economy, which stands to lose around 12.2 percent of its gross domestic product by 2050 if it fails to act.

Data analysis from the Climate Change Knowledge Portal’s simulations shows that a rise in temperatures in the Kingdom is evident in the coming decades.

However, research has also shown that large variations in afforestation-related climate cooling can modify local surface temperatures and reduce them.

Saudi Arabia is committed to making a sizable impact on rising temperatures through collaborations between government entities, the private sector, and local communities.

TIMELINE

  • 2016 King Salman launches renewable energy initiative.
  • 2017 National Renewable Energy Program announced.
  • 2018 Launch of the National Environment Strategy.
  • 2019 Creation of the Special Forces for Environmental Security.
  • 2020 “Let’s Make it Green” campaign launched to halt desertification.
  • 2021 Inaugural Saudi Green Initiative Forum and Middle East Green Summit.
  • 2030 Target to plant +600 million trees, protect 30 percent of land and sea, cut CO2 emissions by 278 million tons per annum.
  • 2060 Target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

To increase vegetation in urban areas and mitigate the effects of climate change, 77 initiatives and programs were activated under the broader SGI umbrella.

The Green Saudi Cities initiative, launched by the Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing Ministry, aims to plant up to 32 million trees in public parks and gardens across the capital city, Riyadh.

The scheme will be conducted over three phases and will undertake new greening projects in Riyadh, equivalent to an area of 437.5 sq. km. The project is set to be completed by 2031.

The capital is also undergoing a massive overhaul as the Green Riyadh project sets out to increase the proportion of green space to 9 percent and to plant 7.5 million trees by 2030.

At the heart of it all, work is underway to establish the King Salman Park, the largest urban park project in the world, in which 11 sq. km of its planned 16.6 sq. km park will be covered in green spaces and more than a million trees.

Similarly, the “Green Qibla” initiative aims to plant 15 million trees in the holy city of Makkah. The project, led by the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites, is projected to finish by 2036.




Abdulaziz Al-Moqbel, Director of the Green Riyadh Program, participating in planting the first seedlings in the afforestation project in Al-Jazeera neighborhood (east of Riyadh) on Thursday, March 16, within the activities of “Green Riyadh” program.‎ (Supplied)

Other viable paths to increase sustainability and mirror the projected positive effects of urban greening projects and afforestation initiatives are renewable energy and the use of electric vehicles.

Efforts within cities to transform high-emissions human activities such as transportation, energy production, and waste generation are increasing as 150,000 homes are now powered by renewable energy sources.

Last month, the Kingdom’s first electric public transport bus began operating in the western city of Jeddah. Studies have shown that electric public transport, powered through renewable energy, could cut 250 million tons of carbon emissions by 2030, improve public health, and reduce noise and air pollution.

“We are working on using other alternatives for taxis and public transport, and we have various tests to use alternatives that reduce carbon emissions, as a target for the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, until we reach a 45 percent reduction in carbon emissions in transportation, leading to clean energy,” Rumaih Al-Rumaih, acting chairman of the Public Transport Authority, told Arab News.




Environmental and wildlife conservation go hand in hand in changing Saudi Arabia. (NCW)

In 2018, a European Environment Agency report titled “Electric vehicles from life cycle and circular economy perspectives,” confirmed that the greenhouse gas emissions of EVs are approximately 17-30 percent lower than the emissions of petrol and diesel cars.

Although the study referred to EVs using the EU energy mix (petroleum products including crude oil, natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, and solid fossil fuels), the report also stated that EVs emit zero exhaust emissions at the street level, improving local air quality.

Using such alternatives will not bring back the lakes and grassland that once spilled across the Arabian Peninsula centuries ago. However, tree planting is widely touted as one of the most effective tools to combat the climate crisis and restore biodiversity.

Government agencies, businesses, and communities across the Kingdom have all pledged to drive forward the large-scale tree planting initiative, not only to make the Kingdom greener but to create healthy ecosystems and improve the overall quality of life.

 


Saudi Arabia and US to continue Sudan talks

Saudi Arabia and US to continue Sudan talks
Updated 15 sec ago

Saudi Arabia and US to continue Sudan talks

Saudi Arabia and US to continue Sudan talks

Saudi Arabia and the US are keen to continue talks with the Sudanese negotiating delegations, said the foreign ministry on Sunday.


KSreleif provide prosthetic limbs for 216 civilians in Yemen’s Marib

KSreleif provide prosthetic limbs for 216 civilians in Yemen’s Marib
Updated 04 June 2023

KSreleif provide prosthetic limbs for 216 civilians in Yemen’s Marib

KSreleif provide prosthetic limbs for 216 civilians in Yemen’s Marib

Riyadh: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) provided prosthetic limbs for 216 civilians mutilated during the war in Yemen during the month of April, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Prosthetic Limbs and Rehabilitation Center project in Marib Governorate provided various medical services to citizens who had lost their limbs. The prostheses were manufactured and mounted, and 60 patients underwent rehabilitation through physiotherapy; 156 patients were given specialized consultations.
Amputations performed on civilians have been a prominent feature of the vicious war in Yemen, with many requiring assistance from KSrelief after suffering life-changing injuries from bombs and landmines.
Elsewhere, the center managed on Saturday to distribute 75 food packages to more than 549 displaced families in Gezira state, in Sudan, as part of the Saudi relief air bridge that KSrelief is running to help the Sudanese people.


Global Research Council re-elects Saudi Arabia as MENA region chair

Global Research Council re-elects Saudi Arabia as MENA region chair
Updated 03 June 2023

Global Research Council re-elects Saudi Arabia as MENA region chair

Global Research Council re-elects Saudi Arabia as MENA region chair
  • The decision came during the 11th annual meeting of the Global Research Council in The Hague
  • The Kingdom presented a working paper on the challenges and opportunities faced by the research councils in the MENA region

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has been re-elected to represent the Middle East and North Africa region on the governing board of the Global Research Council during its 11th annual meeting in The Hague, The Netherlands, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
The President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Dr. Munir Eldesouki, will continue to represent Saudi Arabia at the GRC and his re-election reaffirms the Kingdom’s prominent position in the scientific and research fields and its commitment to enhancing joint cooperation among research centers in the MENA region.
This achievement is also a testament to the unwavering support of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is head of the Higher Committee of Research, Development and Innovation.
During the annual meeting, which took place from May 29 to June 2, Eldesouki chaired a meeting of the heads of research councils from the MENA region and participated in a panel discussion on the funding of climate change research, in which the participants endorsed a statement to strengthen international cooperation, research outputs, scientific communication, financing strategies, taking into account social and economic conditions, local cultures and knowledge, capacity building in science, innovation and entrepreneurship, and identifying best practices.
Eldesouki, who is also the general supervisor of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority, met with a number of heads of international research councils from Singapore, Canada, the US, Turkiye, Britain and Germany to discuss areas of cooperation on the sidelines of the annual meeting.
The Kingdom presented a working paper on the challenges and opportunities faced by the research councils in the MENA region and the delegation participated in a number of other key meetings, including the council’s executive committee, the international consultative committee, and the working groups concerned with equality, diversity and inclusion, responsible evaluation of research, and international multilateral funding.
Saudi Arabia has played a pivotal role in the GRC’s work since its establishment in 2012, including strengthening cooperation between research funding institutions, exchanging best practices and expertise in supporting scientific research, and exploring ways to support the scientific community across the world.
The Kingdom currently occupies the position of vice-chair of the GRC’s board of governors and also represents the regional research councils of the MENA region on the board, as well as on the executive committee.


Dhahran students win big at first Formula 1 in Schools event in Saudi Arabia

Dhahran students win big at first Formula 1 in Schools event in Saudi Arabia
Updated 04 June 2023

Dhahran students win big at first Formula 1 in Schools event in Saudi Arabia

Dhahran students win big at first Formula 1 in Schools event in Saudi Arabia
  • Three teams showing great promise have qualified for Formula 1 in Schools World Finals in a first for Saudi Arabia

DHAHRAN: The Kingdom’s first Formula 1 in Schools event took place at the King Abdulaziz Center for Culture (Ithra) recently.

The three-day event featured F1 race car displays and discussion sessions led by F1 experts, as well as the announcement of the Saudi teams who will represent the Kingdom in the Aramco F1 in Schools World Finals in Singapore later this year: Shaheen from Dhahran, Oryx from Dhahran, and Abiyya from Riyadh.

The five regions represented were Dhahran, Al Ahsa, Riyadh, Madinah and Jeddah. Dhahran won big, collecting seven of the 13 national awards.

The three-day event at Ithra included race car displays and discussions. (SPA)

According to the official statement, “F1 in Schools is a global educational program that aims to raise awareness of STEM and Formula 1 among school students. Students are challenged and inspired through a STEM-based learning program covering topics such as physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacturing, branding, graphics, sponsorship, marketing, leadership/teamwork, media skills and financial strategy.

“The students will then apply what they learn in a practical, imaginative, exciting and competitive environment that echoes a scaled-down version of an F1 team.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• F1 in Schools is a competition where students form teams to design and manufacture miniature F1 race cars.

• The Saudi teams that won the national finals are Shaheen from Dhahran, Oryx from Dhahran, and Abiyya from Riyadh.

Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of F1 in Schools, told Arab News: “I’ve just attended the first ever Saudi Arabia national final, it’s been absolutely incredible.” He noted that 68% of the participating students were female.

The F1 in Schools World Finals will take place in Singapore in September. (Supplied)

“We’re over the moon,” he continued. “I can’t wait to see the three teams in Singapore in September in the World Finals.”

During the awards ceremony, Ithra director Abdullah Al-Rashid offered words of encouragement to the students. He said Saudi Arabia is known for its energy — but will also be now known for the energy of its youth.

He noted that the F1 in Schools program not only helped to create young leaders of the future, but built friendships that he hoped would last a lifetime. The students “didn’t just build a car,” he told the crowd.

Dhahran also is sending F1 in Schools’ second place winners, ORYX team, to Singapore to represent the Kingdom. (Supplied)

Aramco announced its plan to sponsor F1 in Schools as a title partner back in 2019. Ithra, being an Aramco initiative, took the wheel in the Kingdom, in partnership with the King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals.

Through a rigorous selection process, 16 teams from across Saudi Arabia were chosen to participate. Each team had a local training hub, including specialist facilitators and a state-of-the-art research and development lab. The training included creating a brand identity and marketing plan, as well as learning about the engineering involved in F1 cars.

We call ourselves Shaheen. It is the fastest supercomputer in the world (located in KAUST). And it’s also Arabic for ‘falcon,’ which represents the culture of our country, Saudi Arabia.

Noor Alsadat, Shaheen project manager

David Palfreeman, one of the judges, who flew in from Australia for the occasion, has been a judge in the program since 2018. He noted that the students in Saudi Arabia were already at the same level as some of the graduate students he has met.

“Super, super-impressed with the quality of the presentation and documentation, the standard is really high. Just very, very well presented. Really well thought-out, consistent,” he told Arab News. “The Saudi students are all so articulate, they’re so confident. It’s really exciting.”

Riyadh’s ABIYYA team won third place and is also heading to Singapore in September to represent the Kingdom. (Supplied)

Ithra also hosted a few interactive sessions to coincide with the announcement of the winners. The Great Hall had F1 simulator stations, exhibition booths, a Lego workshop, a pit-stop challenge and a “Formula 1 Through the Years” exhibition.

In the main plaza, a neon-green Aston Martin car with the Aramco logo could be seen and was likely the most photographed item during the three-day event. There was also a booth selling official Aramco and Aston Martin F1 merchandise, including gilets, caps, t-shirts and other items.

The big winners of the day, team Shaheen, were led by project manager Noor Alsadat, who jumped up and down with her whole team as the crowd rose to their feet to applaud them.

“We are very happy that we won first place. I’m very proud of my team. We came from different schools, we met in the Khobar Hub and we created our team,” Alsadat told Arab News. “We call ourselves Shaheen. It is the fastest supercomputer in the world (located in KAUST). And it’s also Arabic for ‘falcon,’ which represents the culture of our country, Saudi Arabia.”

 


Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources begins official visit to Egypt

Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources begins official visit to Egypt
Updated 03 June 2023

Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources begins official visit to Egypt

Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources begins official visit to Egypt
  • Bandar Alkhorayef is set to meet with various government officials and investors
  • His visit will explore opportunities to enhance cooperation in the industry and mining sectors

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef began an official visit to Egypt to discuss bilateral relations and explore opportunities to enhance cooperation in the industry and mining sectors, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
Alkhorayef, who is being accompanied by Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Osama Al-Zamil, is scheduled to meet with various government officials and investors in the industrial and mining sectors from both countries, and will conduct field visits to multiple companies and factories.
This visit is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to bolster the role of the industrial and mining sectors in the national economy and attract investors from around the world. His trip will also look to review investment opportunities and highlight the Kingdom’s initiatives to develop the two sectors.
Last year, the volume of Saudi non-oil exports to Egypt exceeded SR11 billion ($2.9 billion), while imports totalled SR10 billion. The Kingdom’s primary exports to Egypt included petrochemicals, building materials, and medicines, while key imports consisted of food products, heavy machinery, and electronics.