Middle East Green Initiative
Saudi Arabia recently committed 2.5 billion USD to the Middle East Green Initiative.
What is Middle East Green Initiative?
The Middle East Green Initiative is a first-of-its-kind regional alliance that was launched by the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021 to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the Middle East. It has a clearly defined strategy for regional climate action, ensuring a coordinated and localized response to climate change that is affecting the region.
It aims to reduce carbon emissions in the region by more than 60 per cent – more than 670 million tons of carbon equivalent. This plan includes increasing green cover by planting over 50 billion trees across the Middle East and restoring 200 million hectares of degraded land. It also seeks to increase the green land and marine reserves to 30 per cent of the total national area. The initiative will reduce the global carbon levels by 2.5 per cent.
About MGI Summit
The MGI Summit is a regional dialogue on climate that brings together countries from Middle East and North Africa. The inaugural edition of the summit was hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2021. During the event, leaders committed to multilateral cooperation while responding to climate change. The 2nd MGI Summit was held in Sharm El Sheikh at the sidelines of the COP27.
Saudi Arabia’s Commitments
Saudi Arabia recently committed a 2.5 billion USD contribution to the Middle East Green Initiative over the next 10 years. This is nearly a 1 billion USD higher than the previous announcement of the fund. The announcement was made at the 2nd MGI Summit. In 2021, Saudi Arabia had announced that it would contribute 1.56 billion USD (15 per cent) of the of the total 10.4 billion USD investment under the Middle East Green Initiative. During the summit, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the country is currently planning to depend on renewable energy for 50 per cent of its electricity generation by 2030. This will remove 44 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2035.
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Month: Current Affairs – November, 2022
Category: Environment Current Affairs • International / World Current Affairs