RIYADH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emphasized the significance of regional and global cooperation in addressing environmental challenges, especially in rehabilitating degraded lands and increasing the resilience of communities and ecosystems to drought, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
According to the SPA, these points were highlighted by the Kingdom’s Vice Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Mansour Al Mushaiti during the 26th meeting of GCC ministers responsible for environmental matters, held in Qatar.
Al Mushaiti called on GCC nations to ratify the Middle East Green Initiative Charter and include national targets for tree planting and land rehabilitation within the initiative’s targets. He advocated for increased support from national development funds in the GCC nations for vegetation development projects in the region.
KSA Urges Regional Cooperation on Environmental Challenges
The Minister noted that the GCC meetings have contributed to advancing environmental work and achieving sustainable development targets in the region. He also emphasized the significance of addressing environmental protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as balancing development with natural resource preservation.
Looking ahead, Al Mushaiti hoped that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) hosting of the 16th session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Conference of the Parties (COP16) in December will significantly impact global efforts to reduce land degradation and drought effects. He also called for effective participation from all GCC nations, states parties to the agreement, global and regional organizations, the private sector, and civil society in the conference activities.
