Saudi Green initiatives: everything you need to know about plan to plant 50 billion trees

Saudi Green initiatives: everything you need to know about plan to plant 50 billion trees

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week announced the ‘Saudi Arabia Green Initiative' and ‘Middle East Green Initiative', two ambitious projects which aim to reverse environmental degradation and climate change.

Part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 programme to reshape its economy, the two environmental drives put Saudi Arabia at the centre of regional efforts to meet international targets on green projects and achieve its own goals.

 

What is the Saudi Green initiative?

Saudi Arabia will work to restore, conserve, and sustainably managing a billion hectares of land by 2040.

The Saudi Green initiative aims to plant 10 billion trees – the same as rehabilitating 40 million hectares of degraded land. The target also represents 4 per cent of the global drive to reverse land degradation and 1 per cent of the global effort to plant 1 trillion trees.

As part of the plan, 30 per cent of the kingdom – or 600,000 square kilometres– will be protected areas and efforts will be made to protect coastal environments.

The Middle East Green Initiative will roll out a similar plan for the region. Saudi Arabia will work with countries to plant 50 billion