His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurated today in Riyadh the “Green Middle East Initiative” summit, with broad international participation led by heads of state, leaders and decision-makers in the world, to draw a regional roadmap for preserving life and raising its quality, in an initiative presented by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to make a global difference in preserving nature, humans and animals and confronting the challenges of climate change.
At the beginning of the summit proceedings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince delivered the following speech:
Your Highnesses, Excellencies, and States,
Distinguished guests,
May the peace, blessings, and mercy of God be upon you,
We welcome you today to your second home, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the first summit of the Green Middle East Initiative.
We are meeting today at this summit to coordinate efforts towards protecting the environment and confronting climate change, and to develop a roadmap for reducing carbon emissions in the region with more than (10%) of global contributions.
Planting (50) billion trees in the region according to a program that is considered the largest tree planting program in the world, and contributes to achieving the (5%) percentage of the global target for afforestation.
Our aim today at this summit is to work together to develop a regional roadmap and methodology to enable the achievement of these ambitious goals.
Distinguished guests,
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that traditional energy sources were the most important reasons for the transformation of countries in the region and the world from traditional economies to globally active economies, and the main driver and impetus towards the fastest economic growth that humanity has ever known.
Today we are launching a new green era for the region, leading it and reaping its fruits together, believing that the effects of climate change are not limited to the natural environment only, but also include the economy and security.
However, we recognize that climate change is an economic opportunity for individuals and the private sector, which will be stimulated by the Green Middle East Initiative, to create quality jobs and promote innovation in the region.
Distinguished attendees
There are gaps in the climate action system in the region, and by coordinating regional efforts and sharing experiences and technologies, we can achieve rapid progress in our initiatives.
To enable this, the Kingdom announces its intention to establish a collaborative platform for implementing the circular carbon economy concept, a regional climate change center, a regional carbon capture, utilization, and storage complex, a regional storm early warning center, a regional center for sustainable fisheries development, and a regional cloud seeding program. These centers and programs will play a significant role in developing the necessary infrastructure for environmental protection, emissions reduction, and enhanced regional coordination.
Building on the Kingdom’s leading role in developing energy markets, we will establish a fund to invest in circular carbon economy technologies in the region, and a global initiative to provide clean fuel solutions for food security for more than 750 million people worldwide. The total investment in these two initiatives is approximately SAR 39 billion, with the Kingdom contributing around SAR 151 TP3T. The Kingdom will work with countries and regional and international development funds to explore ways to finance and implement these initiatives.
In order to raise the level of coordination, we announce the establishment of the Green Initiative Foundation, as a non-profit organization to support the work of the summit.
In conclusion, confronting climate change requires us to work together towards developing technologies and creating the appropriate environment for financing them, preserving the natural resources that our region possesses, and strengthening cooperation among us for this purpose.
I now invite the brothers and sisters to participate in the summit proceedings and deliver their speeches, wishing our work every success.
Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.
The summit was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy; His Royal Highness Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State and Member of the Council of Ministers; His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior; His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of the National Guard; His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs; His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture; His Excellency Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce; His Excellency Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Minister of Investment; and His Excellency Eng. Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, Advisor at the Royal Court.
