In News: Recently, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Prime Minister, has unveiled two initiatives: the “Saudi Green Initiative” and the “Middle East Green Initiative.”
Background
- The current COVID19 pandemic highlights the importance of international cooperation to effectively solve global problems including pandemics and climate change.
- The pandemic has spawned an unparalleled epidemic that necessitates a world-class response.
- One of the key pillars of the Saudi G20 presidency was the slogan “protect the world.”
- Climate change has had a negative effect on the world, people’s lives, and their well-being, according to the Saudi leadership of the summit.
- Saudi Arabia has been sharing its experience and know-how with its neighbours to help them reduce carbon emissions from hydrocarbon production by 60% in the region and 10% globally.
What is the Saudi Green Initiative, and what does it entail?
- Its goals include increasing plant cover, lowering carbon emissions, combating pollution and land loss, and protecting marine life.
- 10 billion trees will be planted in Saudi Arabia as part of the Saudi Green Initiative.
- Via a renewable energy initiative, it seeks to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4% of global contributions by 2030, generating 50% of Saudi Arabia’s energy from renewables.
- It aims to increase the percentage of protected areas in the country to more than 30% of total land area, or approximately 6 lakh sq km, exceeding the global goal of 17%.
The Middle East Green Initiative
- Aims to protect marine and coastal ecosystems, increase the proportion of natural reserves and protected land, strengthen oil production regulation, speed up the transition to clean energy, and increase the amount of renewable energy generated.
Features
- Saudi Arabia will plant an additional 40 billion trees in the West Asian region in collaboration with Gulf Cooperation Council countries and regional partners.
- It accounts for 5% of the global goal of planting one trillion trees and reducing global carbon levels by 2.5 percent.
- Saudi Arabia will host an annual summit called the Middle East Green Initiative, where government officials, scientists, and environmentalists will discuss implementation specifics.
- Innovative approaches to irrigate from treated water, cloud seeding, and other purpose-driven solutions will be researched in collaboration with participating countries, such as planting native trees that need support for three years to grow before being able to live on their own with natural irrigation.
Source: The Hindu
