Riyadh (UNA/SPA) - The Saudi Green Initiative Forum, held in Riyadh under the slogan "We Take the Initiative by Nature", in conjunction with the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP XNUMX), witnessed a dialogue session entitled "Ecosystem Economics: The Value of Nature", which addressed the importance of integrating the concept of nature's capital into the decision-making process to achieve a balance between human prosperity and nature conservation.
The session was attended by the CEO of the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve Development Authority, Eng. Mohammed Al-Shaalan, the CEO of the National Center for Environmental Compliance Control, Eng. Ali Al-Ghamdi, and the Vice President for Economic Affairs at the Environment Fund, Hashem Al-Fawaz.
Eng. Mohammed Al-Shalan stressed that the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve Development Authority plays a pivotal role in achieving the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative, by contributing 14% to achieving the Kingdom’s goal of expanding protected areas to cover 30% of the country’s area by 2030, and planting 0.72% of the targeted 650 million trees.
He added that the authority allocates 23% of the land to protect wildlife, and seeks to rehabilitate 1% of degraded land, while reducing dust by 14 tons annually and increasing carbon sequestration by 228 tons until 2030.
He pointed out that the Authority relies on analytical methodologies to calculate the environmental cost and return, stressing that restoring ecosystems, such as wetlands, contributes to reducing the risks of natural disasters and lowering reconstruction costs, calling for enhancing cooperation between sectors and raising awareness of the capital of nature through initiatives such as “Green Saudi Arabia.”
For his part, Eng. Al-Ghamdi stressed that environmental compliance highlights the positive impact of sound policies and strategies, noting that land degradation and drought represent global challenges that require the combined efforts of the government, the private sector and civil society through responsible partnerships.
In turn, Hashem Al-Fawaz spoke about the economic indicators of natural capital and their role in motivating the private sector to participate by developing priority mechanisms that yield clear economic value.
The session concluded by stressing the importance of cooperation between different sectors to develop models that integrate environmental value into economic decisions, while raising public awareness and decision-makers about the importance of natural capital. The need to face the challenges of climate change with greater flexibility and enhance sustainable economic and social prosperity was emphasized.
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