Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has announced ambitious proposals for a “green initiative” to tackle climate change with plans including the planting of 10 billion trees across the Kingdom.
The “Saudi Green Initiative” aims to reduce the country’s emissions by generating half of its energy from renewables by 2030. The move was championed by Saudi’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The proportion of Saudi Arabia’s land area covered by forest has remained unchanged since 1990 at about 0.5%.
Saudi Arabia’s tree planting target is recognized as one of the most ambitious globally, considering the challenging natural conditions faced by the Kingdom, with rainfall, arable land mass, and forest area below the global average.
Saudi Arabia’s tree planting target is recognized as one of the most ambitious globally, considering the challenging natural conditions faced by the Kingdom, with rainfall, arable land mass, and forest area below the global average.
Originally announced as rehabilitating 40 million hectares, the target has been revised to rehabilitating 74.8 million hectares of land.
Planting 10 billion trees contributes to 1% of the global greening target and 20% of the Middle East Green Initiative’s afforestation target of planting 50 billion trees across the Middle East.
Notably, the road map announcement follows the successful planting of 41 million trees in Saudi Arabia between 2017 and 2023.
As the tree-planting initiative unfolds, it will generate employment opportunities in various fields, ranging from tree growing and seed collection to landscape maintenance, urban water reuse network development, and the creation of parks and protected areas. Additionally, the initiative will support the development of innovative sustainability solutions.
Additionally, it aims to work with other Arab countries to plant an additional 40 billion trees throughout the Middle East. This would represent the largest reforestation project ever undertaken in a single phase on Earth. Because they can endure the harsh conditions of the desert, trees that are planted have a high rate of survival.
The Arab world’s water supplies and food production are under threat due to rising temperatures and increasingly frequent droughts. The opponents of this project claim that because Saudi Arabia is a desert country by nature, planting trees won’t stop the temperature from rising and harming daily living.
Trees that are being planted can survive for months without water and thrive in extremely arid circumstances where temperatures can exceed 58 degrees Celsius.
The World Economic Forum wants to protect, grow, and revitalize 1 trillion trees while promoting ecologically friendly alternatives to reduce emissions by one-third.
