Sustainability ‘superpower’ Saudi Arabia to lead clean energy revolution, says expert at Riyadh’s WTTC Summit

Sustainability ‘superpower’ Saudi Arabia to lead clean energy revolution, says expert at Riyadh’s WTTC Summit

- UN’s Patricia Espinosa: We need ‘unity of purpose’ to tackle climate crisis

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:– Saudi Arabia can become a solar energy “superpower” that drives a global sustainability revolution and accelerates the world’s renewable energy transition, tourism leaders heard today.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, highlighted the region’s potential to lead a concerted push toward net-zero emissions during the 22nd World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) Global Summit in Riyadh.

“We need to inspire a sustainability revolution,” Sachs said. “Tourism can really change the world by being clean and green but also by showing everyone – politicians, business leaders and civic society advocates – that we are one world and one people. Another solution for this region is to become a superpower in solar and hydrogen power, which Saudi Arabia can lead in.”

With the world facing a climate and biodiversity crisis, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, former president of Indonesia, called on world leaders for a mindset shift and an end to the “blame game” between developed and developing nations.

“The main challenge we face in tackling climate change again goes back to cooperation and partnerships,” he said. “We need to improve cooperation and partnerships at a local