RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture led international discussions on environmental issues during the 79th UN General Assembly. With a primary focus on addressing the UNCCD aim of restoring 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030, the Kingdom’s incoming COP16 Presidency launched a series of events to raise awareness of these urgent challenges globally in advance of the upcoming UNCCD COP16.
The urgency of this mission was underlined in an interview with Arab News by Osama Faqeeha, the Saudi Deputy Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and advisor to the incoming COP16 President: “At the forefront of our actions in New York has been ensuring we raise international awareness of the urgency with which the world must tackle land degradation, drought, and desertification.”
Saudi Arabia did more than just spread awareness at the UNGA. The Kingdom actively participated in and hosted a variety of events with the goal of identifying long-term solutions. An important gathering called the “Road to Riyadh” brought together important players from the fields of environmental policy, government, science, and non-governmental organisations. With an emphasis on developing a workable plan to address a range of environmental issues, this gathering set the stage for talks that will continue until COP16. “We have been hosting and taking part in events at the UN General Assembly in New York that are aimed at finding long-term solutions to drought, desertification, and land degradation,” Faqeeha stated.
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