The Ministerial Council of the Green Middle East Initiative was launched in Jeddah
The eyes of the international community and environmental stakeholders will be on Jeddah next Thursday, as the city prepares to host the second session of the Ministerial Council of the Green Middle East . The meeting will be chaired by the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Engineer Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, and will see broad participation from ministers and officials from 31 regional countries across Asia and Africa, in addition to the United Kingdom attending as an observer. This event marks a significant milestone in regional climate action.
Strategic shift towards implementation
This meeting is of exceptional importance as it marks a major turning point for the initiative, moving from the "foundational phase," which focused on establishing legal frameworks and structuring the secretariat, to the concrete "implementation phase." The Council is expected to make crucial decisions that will unleash transnational environmental projects, translating international commitments into tangible actions aimed at protecting the planet and addressing the growing climate challenges.
Historical context and leadership vision
These steps complement the efforts led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the initiative at the Riyadh Summit in 2021, which outlined a regional roadmap for combating climate change. This vision was further strengthened during the Sharm El Sheikh Summit in 2022, where the Kingdom announced a substantial financial commitment, including a grant and its sponsorship of all operational costs for the initiative's secretariat, headquartered in Riyadh, for ten years. This reflects a firm Saudi commitment to ensuring the institutional sustainability of the initiative.
Ambitious goals: 50 billion trees
The initiative has set targets that are among the largest globally in the field of afforestation, aiming to plant 50 billion trees across the region. This enormous number will contribute to the rehabilitation of 200 million hectares of degraded land, meaning that the Middle East alone will contribute 5% of the global targets for developing vegetation cover. The benefits are not limited to aesthetics; they extend to combating desertification, stabilizing soil, and reducing dust storms that inflict significant annual losses on the region's economies.
Reducing emissions and protecting biodiversity
On the carbon reduction front, the operational plans to be discussed by the Ministerial Council aim to support regional efforts to reduce carbon emissions by 670 million tons, representing 10% of the total required global contributions. This substantial reduction will positively impact air quality and public health for the region's inhabitants, as well as provide safe havens for wildlife and protect endangered species, thus restoring the region's ecological balance.
The convening of the council in Jeddah comes to confirm the Kingdom’s leading role in leading the green era in the region, and to unify regional efforts to confront common environmental risks that do not recognize the political boundaries of countries.
