CAIRO: The Saudi Green Initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was widely welcomed by world leaders and leading environmentalists.
The SGI aims to eliminate 278 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by 2030, up from a previous target of 130 million tons. The crown prince said the SGI initiative would involve investments of over SR700 billion ($190 billion) in that time period.
In a video message played at the forum on Saturday, Prince Charles said: “We have already seen great progress, which Saudi and Middle East green initiatives will accelerate.”
“We now have a dangerously narrow window of opportunity to accelerate climate change action,” the prince of Wales added.
Boris Johnson tweeted: “Saudi Arabia’s landmark pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2060 is a major step forward.”
Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International stressed the need to agree on a global goal for nature as “we have for climate — we need to talk about net positive biodiversity.”
“Only 20 percent of the companies within the G20 countries have climate targets,” said Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and executive director of the UN.
“We are all committed to lowering carbon emissions — each country with its own implementation program,” Tarek El-Molla, Egypt’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources said.
US climate envoy John Kerry is due to attend a wider Middle East green summit in Riyadh on Monday.
“An initiative of the (Saudi) crown prince, the summit is the first of its kind in the Middle East region,” the Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office said in a statement said.
Imran Khan is visiting Saudi Arabia to attend the launch of “the Middle East Green Initiative Summit” in Riyadh.