Saudi Green Initiative

The Saudi Green Initiative involves the forestation of various areas across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was proclaimed by Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March 2021, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiatives set for enhancing the quality of life, increasing the green cover, preserving the climate, environment, and land and marine nature, in addition to boosting dependence on clean energy.

The Saudi Green Initiative aims at achieving several purposes that include: planting ten billion trees across the entire Kingdom in order to turn its deserts into a green landscape, and rehabilitating forty million ha of land during the forthcoming decades. Forestation will reduce temperatures, combat desertification, decrease sandstorms, and enhance the quality of life.

The goal of transitioning towards clean energy is to achieve an increase by 50 percent in the Kingdom’s share of renewable energy by 2030. Diversifying the energy mix locally is an essential pillar for achieving sustainability. Clean energy projects will provide economic, social and environmental benefits, and will have a positive impact on the environment.

Clean energy projects will be activated across various areas of the Kingdom through modern technology, as well as via engineering innovations and solutions, a method that will generate new job opportunities and transform the way communities are supplied with sufficient energy.

The objective of reducing carbon emission, which is entailed in the Saudi Green Initiative, will be achieved through the implementation of an ever-growing number of renewable energy projects, the activation of initiatives that cut down on carbon emission, and the provision of various industries, means of transportation and buildings with their energy need in an effective and efficient manner. The objective is also meant to enhance, support, and unify efforts exerted towards tackling the climate crisis, combating the effects of climate change and restoring ecological stability.

Through its objective of preserving land and marine areas, the Saudi Green Initiative is increasing the area of natural reserves to constitute more than 30 percent of the Kingdom's total area in order to enhance biological diversity and revive the local natural environment.

Ten million trees were planted in various regions of the Kingdom as part of the Let's Make It Green campaign. Aramco planted four million Mangroves, including two million trees in 2020. With regard to the production of current renewable energy projects, its initiatives will produce sufficient energy to power 600,000 homes, and will reduce more than seven million t of greenhouse emissions annually.

Natural reserves in the Kingdom have jumped from 4 percent in 2016 to more than 16 percent in 2020. Furthermore, a number of projects will be activated through renewable energy, such as The Line and The Red Sea Projects. Moreover, the project of NEOM and Aqua Power for hydrogen production will generate sufficient energy to activate twenty thousand hydrogen-powered omnibuses on a daily basis.

Many projects were launched to achieve the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative, and increase the impact of climate action in the Kingdom. It involved over sixty initiatives in the field of environment and clean energy to support it in realizing three of the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative: reducing carbon emissions, achieving afforestation in the Kingdom, and protecting land and sea areas. As part of the Saudi Green Initiative, the Kingdom seeks to achieve its aspirations to build a more sustainable future for all, while taking practical steps to support its commitment to achieve sustainable development.

The Saudi Green Initiative Forum is held annually under the patronage of HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman. The forum provides a platform that brings together climate leaders to discuss best practices, highlight innovation, assess progress towards achieving national goals, and take concrete actions to address climate change.

On October 23, 2021, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee, HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, launched the first edition of the annual forum for the Saudi Green Initiative in Riyadh. The Saudi Green Initiative Forum is concerned with launching new environmental initiatives for the Kingdom, and following-up on the impact of previously announced initiatives, as to achieve the Saudi Green Initiative targets.

The Crown Prince announced the launch of the first suite of quality initiatives in the Kingdom to serve as a road map to protect the environment and address the challenges of climate change. These initiatives will seek to achieve the ambitious targets of the Saudi Green Initiative. This suite represents investments worth more than SAR700 billion which are meant to develop the green economy, generate quality jobs, and provide major investment opportunities for the private sector, in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030. Moreover, the Kingdom has launched initiatives in the field of energy that would reduce carbon emissions by 278 million t per year by 2030. Moreover, the first phase of afforestation initiatives was initiated by planting 450 million trees, rehabilitating eight million ha of degraded lands, and allocating new protected lands. Therefore, the protected areas in the Kingdom will constitute 20 percent of its total area.
The Crown Prince also announced the Kingdom's plan to reach zero neutrality by 2060 through a circular carbon economy approach.

In October 20, 2022, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, announced the launch of the second edition of the Middle East Green Initiative Summit on November 11 and 12 of 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh under the theme From Ambition to Action, in conjunction with the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27).

The 2022 Saudi Green Initiative Forum brought together ministers of governments, experts and thought leaders to discuss the progress made in the implementation of the initiatives announced by the Crown Prince in the inaugural edition of the Forum in 2021. The 2022 forum's theme reflects the Kingdom's vision to turn ambition into reality by promoting joint action to address the climate challenges facing the world.

On March 19, 2024, the Council of Ministers decided to make March 27 of each year an official day for the Saudi Green Initiative named "Saudi Green Initiative Day" to commemorate the launch of the Saudi Green Initiative on the same date in 2021.