RIYADH (UNA/SPA) - The President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Munir bin Mahmoud Al-Desouki, welcomed the Kingdom's joining the Planet Earth Observation Group, which aims to produce user-driven artificial intelligence solutions that guide decisions and accelerate action on global, societal and environmental challenges. He also welcomed the establishment of a global science-policy alliance for Earth, which provides a promising framework to inspire effective, fair and informed action around the world.
During his chairmanship of the Science, Technology and Innovation Day, entitled “Restoring Our Planet: Enabling Science and Technology to Remediate Land and Combat Desertification for a Sustainable Future,” as part of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, His Excellency explained that the alliance aims to address environmental challenges related to climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, and seeks to improve access to science, data, and decision-making support.
Dr. El-Dessouky stressed that science and technology are a fundamental pillar for ensuring a sustainable future and achieving an effective balance between economic growth and environmental conservation, indicating that adopting sustainable practices such as green technologies and renewable energy contributes to building a strong economy that protects our environment for future generations.
His Excellency said: “The Kingdom launched the Saudi Green Initiative, with the aim of converting 30% of its lands into nature reserves, planting 10 billion trees, and restoring 40 million hectares of degraded lands. The Kingdom is also leading regional efforts through the Middle East Green Initiative to plant 40 billion trees to combat desertification, protect ecosystems, and provide food and hope for communities.”
He added: “Combined efforts and collective action will lead - God willing - to achieving a greater goal of planting 50 billion trees, which represents 5% of the global reforestation target, and reviving 200 million hectares of land, so that we can embark on an unprecedented journey towards a sustainable future, inspired and motivated by scientific and technological progress.”
Dr. Al-Desouki explained that the Kingdom has set an ambitious goal to benefit from 90% of waste by 2040, which reduces the land allocated for waste, to protect the environment and biodiversity, and to reduce biological land degradation.
His Excellency reviewed the initiatives and projects implemented by the Kingdom in the field of environmental, water and agricultural development, such as: biological treatment of saltwater at the Yanbu 3 desalination plant, carbon dioxide capture, biomass production for animal feed, extraction of high-value metabolites for medicines, and generation of thousands of tons of sustainable algae biomass, stressing that these projects will work by 2026 to enhance sustainability.
Dr. Al-Desouki explained that the combined efforts of the parties within the Kingdom resulted in the establishment of the National Center for Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture (Istidama), the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Food Security, and the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, as these centers are interested in directing their activities and research towards enhancing food and water security and improving productivity and quality in economic crops through biotechnology applications.
His Excellency pointed out that the Kingdom has won many awards in recognition of its contribution to combating desertification, its commitment to sustainable development, and the promotion of global environmental initiatives; it won the Gold Award
In the Stevie Awards for Sustainability in the Middle East and North Africa for the year 2024, it also won five awards and achieved world records in the Expo Doha 2023 for Horticulture, and won 11 awards in the Green World Awards 2023, and the Kingdom launched a global award with Almarai for innovation in food and agricultural technologies.
The panel discussion, which was part of the Science, Technology and Innovation Day, and which was attended by two UN assistants, Dr. Shen Xiaoming and Yana Gevorgyan, discussed the importance of expanding the scope of science and data.
To address global environmental crises.
(is over)
