The Saudi Green Initiative Forum (SGI Forum) has kicked off today as COP28 strives to mobilise world leaders towards serious action against climate change.
The third edition of the forum, launched in 2021, is being held under the slogan “From Ambition to Action”, and has started discussions on critical sustainability, primarily energy transition, protecting the seas, and unlocking climate finance to enable climate action at the UN Climate Summit.
This year, the forum puts a special focus on combating climate change, financing climate action, creating clean energy solutions, and protecting land and marine areas in the Kingdom.
One example of combating climate change, discussed today, is building new sustainable cities, such as Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project, a $500 billion “smart city” in Saudi Arabia, which will be 33 times the size of New York.
Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said during today’s forum that the line in NEOM will accommodate between nine to ten million people.
Further, Al-Nasr explained that the city will be powered by renewable energy, and there will be no cars to limit carbon emissions.
Around 95% of NEOM’s area will be protected for nature, he added.
“We aim to accommodate 9-10 million people in NEOM, who live in a way that would hopefully be an example to the whole world in building new and future cities around world,” Al-Nasr, noted, adding that new technologies are well-serving the design of the NEOM cit.
The Saudi Green Initiative aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 and is working to expand climate action in the Kingdom by activating 77 initiatives, representing an investment volume of more than $186 billion.
The initiative’s main goals include reducing carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030, planting ten million trees, and protecting 30% of land and marine areas in Saudi Arabia by the same year, according to the official website of Saudi “Vision 2030.”