Sharm El-Sheikh hosts 2nd edition of Saudi Crown Prince’s initiative of Green Middle East
Under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and in partnership with His Excellency Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the second edition of the Green Middle East Initiative Summit will be held today, Monday, in conjunction with the World Leaders Summit at the COP27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
The Kingdom will highlight the most prominent climate challenges facing the region, and the progress made since the inaugural summit in 2021.
New programs that contribute to accelerating the pace of climate action in the region will also be announced.
The conference is attended by heads of state and government from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Middle East, the Arab Mashreq countries, and Africa. The conference is also attended by major international partners, including the United Kingdom and Greece.
About the Green Middle East Initiative
It is noteworthy that the Green Middle East Initiative is the first alliance of its kind in the region. It was launched by His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, to mitigate the effects of climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The Green Middle East Initiative presents an ambitious and clear roadmap for regional climate action. This roadmap ensures the coordination of efforts and a unified approach to addressing the consequences of climate change for the countries of the region.
The Green Middle East Initiative guarantees the creation of huge economic opportunities in the region, and the resulting sustainable development will push the wheel of economic diversification, provide job opportunities and stimulate private sector investments throughout the region, which will benefit future generations and open up prospects for a green future.
Green Middle East Initiative Summit 2021
His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted the first edition of the Green Middle East Initiative Summit in Riyadh in October 2021.
The summit enabled the first-ever regional climate dialogue, with participating leaders from more than 20 countries agreeing on the need to cooperate and join efforts to tackle climate change.
* The Green Middle East Initiative has set ambitious goals that require decisive regional action to combat climate change.
As part of the first objective, ongoing initiatives under the umbrella of the Green Middle East Initiative will plant 50 billion trees in the region. This will reclaim an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land.
The number of trees to be planted under the initiative is equivalent to 5% of the global afforestation target, which will reduce global carbon levels by 2.5%.
* In the second objective, the ongoing initiatives under the umbrella of the Green Middle East Initiative will contribute to supporting the region’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 10% of global contributions.
The Green Middle East Initiative will also help reduce carbon emissions from oil production in the region by more than 60%, by building strong partnerships and enhancing collaborative work.
Green Middle East Initiative Programs
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is playing a leading role in establishing centers and programs that help the region coordinate its efforts and cooperate. This will help the region achieve the goals of the Green Middle East Initiative.
* These programs and centers will help attract investments in key focus areas, such as the circular economy of carbon and afforestation.
Work is underway to establish six regional programs and centers under the umbrella of the Green Middle East Initiative:
A collaborative platform to accelerate the implementation of circular carbon economy concepts.
– Regional Center for Climate Change Regional Cloud Seeding Program.
– A regional center for early warning of storms.
– A regional carbon capture, utilization, and storage center (for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Iraq).