KSA unveils 66 new climate programs to scale climate action: Saudi Arabia presented 66 new initiatives designed to scale climate action as part of the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) launched at COP26, Arab News reports. The new programs are classified according to four thematic areas, SGI project manager Albaraa Aldhahri told the news outlet: The circular carbon economy; extending vegetation coverage and reducing degraded land; protecting wildlife habitats and biodiversity; and promoting sustainability.

New targets announced: The SGI is aiming to reduce emissions by 278 mn tons/year by 2030, Aldhahri is quoted as saying. It aims to plant 10 bn trees “in the coming decades” and increase protected coastal areas and land by “more than 30% of the total area of Saudi Arabia,” he added. The vast majority of the approved initiatives will extend vegetation coverage or reduce degraded land, he’s quoted as saying.

About the Saudi Green Initiative: The SGI’s overall goal is to promote programs that support environmental protection, energy transition and sustainability, to “rapidly scale climate action,” its website notes. It does this by bringing together Saudi government ministries, the private sector, and non-Saudi players, facilitating collaboration, the website adds.

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