Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Engineer Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, announced a significant shift in regional environmental action, confirming that the Middle East Green Initiative has effectively moved from its foundational phase to the field implementation phase. This important announcement came during his chairmanship of the second ministerial meeting of the initiative, hosted by Jeddah, where he revealed that the total commitments made by member states to develop vegetation cover have exceeded 22 billion trees.
A new phase of institutional work and governance
Minister Al-Fadhli explained that the second ministerial meeting represents a pivotal turning point, as precise and transparent governance frameworks for project management were agreed upon, ensuring efficient performance and achieving the ambitious targets set by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, when the initiative was launched in 2021. These steps come to consolidate the commitment of the Kingdom and member states to combat climate change based on well-studied scientific and practical foundations.
International expansion and strategic partnerships
In a clear indication of the initiative's successful environmental diplomacy and growing international confidence in it, Al-Fadhli noted the increase in member states from 18 at its inception to 34 currently, welcoming the accession of Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Syria. The meeting also witnessed a strategic step: the signing of an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank to manage the initiative's financial fund. This enhances the sustainability of funding and ensures that resources are directed efficiently toward the most impactful projects in the region.
Comprehensive environmental and economic dimensions
This initiative is of paramount importance given the climate challenges facing the region and the world, as member states aim to rehabilitate nearly 90 million hectares of degraded land. The benefits of these efforts extend beyond the environmental sphere, encompassing substantial economic and social returns through the creation of green jobs, enhanced food security, and the fight against desertification and dust storms, which inflict significant annual losses on the region's economies.
Saudi Arabia's leadership in climate action
At the national level, the Minister reviewed the Kingdom’s pioneering efforts through the “Saudi Green Initiative”, which has succeeded in planting more than 151 million trees so far, and raising the percentage of nature reserves to more than 18% of the Kingdom’s area, with plans to reach 30% by 2030. These figures confirm the Kingdom’s seriousness in fulfilling its international commitments and leading the region towards a more sustainable and greener future, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Environment Strategy.
