ESG

SAUDI SETS OUT A PATH TOWARDS GOING GREEN

Riyadh is leading Saudi Arabia’s fight against climate change. In December, authorities announced The Green Riyadh Program, one of the capital’s four mega projects, which includes planting trees in residential neighbourhoods to adorn and create an environmental canopy across the city

The programme aims to plant trees in more than 120 residential areas where designs have been developed based on global environmental standards. It will take into consideration the local environment as it prioritises the construction of green spaces like neighbourhood parks, allotting space for trees and pedestrian crossings on pavements, and planting of trees on secondary streets, around mosques, schools, parking lots, and valleys in Riyadh.

The Green Riyadh Program is part of the Saudi Green Initiative, which involves the planting of 10 billion trees across the kingdom. In Riyadh, the initiative will focus on planting 7.5 million trees, boosting the city’s green area to 9.1%, raising the per capita green area from 1.7 square metres (sqm) to 28 sqm, which is around 16 times the current rate. It also aims to upgrade the urban environment of the Saudi capital by planting trees in residential neighbourhoods. To ensure the sustainability of green spaces, the programme seeks to create a network to irrigate green areas, and reuse 100% treated water, which could amount to as much as one million cubic metres per day.

The kingdom also recently launched the "Culture & Green Future" initiative, which aims to boost awareness of sustainable development, as well as help citizens and small businesses take measures to reduce their carbon footprint.

In addition, the government will launch a "Culture and Sustainability Report in the Arab World", which features these themes: culture and sustainable development, knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences to create a green future, climate change, and local cultural policies.

 

COLLABORATION WITH CHINA

The kingdom is also collaborating with its international partners in combatting climate change and boosting investment in sectors that can reduce the world’s carbon footprint.

In a meeting in December, Saudi’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Chinese president Xi Jinping agreed to increase co-operation on various sustainable sectors.

“The two sides agreed to continue their co-ordination on energy policies through the use of circular carbon economy as a tool to manage emissions and achieve climate targets. They also agreed to urge developed countries to take their historic responsibilities seriously, through the fulfilment of their obligations by greatly reducing emissions before the target date, and to tangibly help developing countries through financial, technical, and capacity building support,” according to a joint statement.

In addition, the two countries are planning to explore investment opportunities in the petrochemicals sector; develop promising projects in petrochemical conversion techniques; and enhance joint co-operation in a number of fields and projects including electricity, PV energy, wind energy, and other sources of renewable energy, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The countries also agreed to develop projects that will benefit the energy sector, including innovative uses of hydrocarbon resources, energy efficiency, localisation of energy sector components and its supply chains, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and development of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence.

 

MINING DEVELOPMENT

Saudi Arabia is also hoping to tap its formidable reserves to accelerate the development of renewable energy sources. The mining of several minerals and metals including lithium, copper, and cobalt, are vital for the development of solar and wind energies.

The government held a conference on the global ministerial mining sector in January to highlight the vital role that Saudi Arabia, as well as other Middle Eastern and Central Asian mining resources, can play in shaping the transition to a sustainable future and equitable economic development.

“We wanted to place this vast mineral heartland on the world’s net-zero transition stage,” said Bandar Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi’s minister of industry and mineral resources. “In our second event, interest has only increased. This shows our joint commitment to the net-zero transition and a resource-efficient, resilient and responsible future. It also demonstrates the challenge this change poses to our generation.

The Saudi and other regional governments also collaborated further and highlighted their point of view late last year during COP27, the annual climate change summit, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt