Mohammed bin Salman launches two initiatives at cost of $10.4 billion to combat climate change
October 26, 2021, 4:54 am

Mohammed bin Salman launches two initiatives at cost of $10.4 billion to combat climate change

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman-Saudi Arabia/Facebook

The Arab News reported, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit in Riyadh on Monday and announced two initiatives at a cost of SR39 billion ($10.39 billion) to combat climate change, of which Saudi Arabia will contribute about 15 percent of the entire cost.

Opening the summit, the Crown Prince said the gathering also planned to put a regional roadmap into place for combating climate change.

The Crown Prince said: “We gather today at this summit to join forces and coordinate our efforts to protect the environment, confront climate change, and develop a roadmap towards reducing carbon emissions in the region by more than 10 percent of global contribution, and plant 50 billion trees in the region, though the largest tree-planting program globally, this will contribute to achieving 5 percent of the global target for afforestation.”

The Crown Prince also said that the Kingdom will be establishing an investment fund for carbon economy solutions in the region, and a global initiative that contributes to clean fuel solutions to feed more than 750 million people worldwide.

He added that the Kingdom will build a regional program to reduce carbon emissions within the framework of the Green Middle East Initiative, and create a cooperation platform to implement the concept of a circular carbon economy.

He said: “There are gaps in the regional climate action system. And through coordinating regional efforts and sharing experiences and technologies, we can accelerate achievements in our initiatives.”

“To enable this, the Kingdom announces that it will establish a Cooperative Platform to implement the concepts of Circular Carbon Economy (CCE), establish a regional hub for climate change, develop a regional centre for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), a regional centre for early warning of storms; a regional centre for sustainable development of fisheries; and a regional cloud seeding program. These centres and programs will play a major role in establishing the necessary infrastructure to protect the environment, reduce emissions and raise the level of regional coordination.”

The Arab News mentioned that heads of state from around the world are taking part in the MGI Summit, including Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah II.

It noted that John Kerry, the first Special Envoy for Climate for the US, is also in attendance.

Source: arabnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.