The Middle East Green Initiative, or MGI, saw the stars align with 11 countries promising to be on the ambitious path undertaken during its inaugural Ministerial Council session in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia led the session, which focused on environmental challenges the region must address and global climate targets.
The meeting saw the attendance of representatives from 29 countries and several international bodies, thus ensuring Saudi Arabia’s interest in regional cooperation in environmental protection. New members comprise Algeria, Chad, Kenya, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Gambia, Nigeria, Guinea, and the Central African Republic. The United Kingdom was also admitted as a nonregional contributor with observer status.
The council endeavored to the newly admitted members and portrayed the importance of their role in attaining the ambitious goals of the initiative while at the same time encouraging both regional and non-regional countries to participate further. Technical and financial support to meet both regional and global environmental objectives was presented as necessary.
The Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture of Saudi, Abdulrahm Al Fadley, pointed that enhanced regional cooperation is one important way to protect natural resources and improve food and water security as well as safeguard biodiversity. According to him, this is one of the big steps for the promotion of regional governance in the issue of desertification and climate change.
Planting of 50 billion trees in the Middle East, with an aim to restore 200 million hectares of degraded land, will be one of the areas that MGI targets. In Saudi Arabia, planting trees is expected within its boundaries; however, the remaining 40 billion will be shared within the region over the coming decades.
The council also adopted the organizational structure and internal policies of the MGI secretariat, appointed the secretary-general, and designated the MGI Fund Trustee, which in turn paved the way for the implementation phase.
To this end, the council also expects the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification set for next December in Riyadh to be an important site for discussion of the global challenges of land degradation and drought.
