Co-chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister God bless him, and His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the second edition of the Green Middle East Initiative Summit launched today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Fraternal Arab world, against the backdrop of the broad participation of high-ranking world leaders, including heads of state and government from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Middle East region, the Arab countries of Mashriq, Africa and international partners.
His Highness the Crown Prince delivered the following speech:
Your Majesties, Your Excellencies and Highnesses,
Dear participants,
Peace, mercy and blessings of God,
I am delighted to be among you at the second Green Middle East Initiative Summit and convey to you the regards of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and his wishes for success in your work. this summit.
I also thank my brother, His Excellency President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi; To the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt for his kind and well-organized call for the success of this quality regional initiative, which is being held jointly with the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change (COP 27).
Dear brothers,
Achieving the desired goals of the ambitious Green Middle East Initiative requires continued regional cooperation and the active contribution of Member States to help achieve global climate goals and more rapidly meet their obligations under relevant international agreements.
Combined with regional efforts, this initiative aims to support efforts and cooperation in the region to reduce and eliminate emissions of more than 670 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
This is an amount that represents specific national contributions from all countries in the region, and also represents 10% of global contributions at the time the initiative was announced.
In addition to planting 50 billion trees, increasing the area covered by trees by 12 times, and reclaiming 200 million hectares of degraded land, which will reduce global emissions levels by 2.5%.
To achieve emission reduction targets, the Kingdom launched the Green Saudi Arabia initiative to reduce emissions by more than 278 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030.
By implementing a carbon circular economy approach and launching a number of other initiatives, including an international cooperation platform for this approach, a regional investment fund dedicated to financing solutions for carbon saving technologies, and a clean fuel solutions for food initiative. security.
The Kingdom has also accelerated the pace of development and deployment of clean energy technologies and sources represented by the use of renewable energy sources in order to manage hydrocarbon emissions.
The most notable of these steps is the diversification of the energy mix used for electricity generation in the Kingdom so that by 2030, 50% of electricity is produced within the Kingdom through the use of renewable energy sources.
And thus achieve the removal of 44 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2035, equivalent to 15% of the Kingdom’s contribution as currently determined nationally.
To achieve the goal of afforestation, which includes the use of natural solutions to counter emissions, several initiatives were launched at the previous summit, including the establishment of a regional center for climate change and a regional cloud seeding program.
To contribute to the goals of this initiative, the Kingdom has announced that it intends to plant 10 billion trees and increase terrestrial and marine protected areas to 30% of the country’s total area.
Your Majesties, Your Excellencies and Highnesses,
Dear participants,
In confirmation of the Kingdom’s commitment to international sustainable development efforts, it was announced that the Kingdom will host the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Green Middle East Initiative and its decision to contribute an amount of two billion five hundred million dollars in support of the initiative. draft initiatives and the budget of the General Secretariat for a ten-year period.
It was also announced today that the State Investment Fund aims to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through a circular carbon economy approach.
Become one of the first sovereign wealth funds in the world, and the first in the Middle East, to aim for zero neutrality by 2050, thereby enhancing the fund’s role as a major player in supporting global efforts to address climate change.
Taking into account Member States’ development plans and their ability to responsibly transition to and encourage investment in more sustainable energy systems in cooperation between governments, the private sector and regional and international organizations.
eventually,
The Kingdom reaffirms its commitment to work with the countries of the region to achieve the goals of the Green Middle East Initiative, which should become a global model for combating climate change.
We hope that today’s summit will produce results that will strengthen joint action to ensure a bright and prosperous future for our future generations.
We ask God for success and success in this summit and may God’s peace, mercy and blessings be with you.