Riyadh: Saudi Arabia celebrates its second annual Saudi Green Initiative Day today, March 27, commemorating the launch of the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) in 2021 by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for the SGI.
According to Saudi Press Agency, SGI is a community-driven effort to implement measurable environmental actions that aim to improve the quality of life across Saudi Arabia, aligning with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The SGI integrates environmental protection, energy transition, and sustainability programs with the aims of offsetting and reducing emissions, increasing afforestation and land restoration, and protecting the Kingdom's land and sea. It leads environmental efforts with a comprehensive approach and plays a key role in regional and international collaboration towards a sustainable future globally.
Marking the culmination of a month-long campaign, SGI Day emphasizes the importance of collective action under the theme 'Promoting a culture of environmental stewardship," uniting citizens, public institutions, the private sector, and non-profits to combat environmental challenges. Throughout March, communities across the Kingdom came together to demonstrate their shared responsibility for bringing about sustainable change. These efforts were supported by two awareness campaigns run by the SGI across its social channels.
SGI Day 2025 follows the significant momentum witnessed in Riyadh last December, when the Saudi Green Initiative Forum was hosted alongside the 16th session of the UNCCD 'COP16 Riyadh' Conference. The forum served as a platform for enhancing dialogue and exchanging insights on addressing environmental challenges and supporting green transformation pathways, with the participation of policymakers, business leaders, and experts.
With investments exceeding SAR705 billion, the initiative is actively driving over 85 initiatives across all 13 regions of the Kingdom, making progress toward achieving its key objectives. Last year, Saudi Arabia successfully connected 6.6 GW of renewable energy capacity to the grid, with a total of 44.2 GW currently under development. The Liquid Fuel Displacement Program contributes to reducing emissions by operating four efficient natural gas power plants with a total capacity of 5.6 GW. This aligns with the Kingdom's ambitions to achieve an optimal energy mix for electricity production by 2030.
As part of efforts to increase vegetation cover and combat desertification, 115 million trees have been planted, and 118,000 hectares of degraded land have been rehabilitated, equivalent to over 165,000 football fields, as of 2024. Additionally, over 7,500 endangered species have been rewilded through more than 10 breeding and rewilding programs, including the Arabian oryx, Arabian and sand gazelles, ibex, houbara, and cheetahs.
These efforts demonstrate the Kingdom's commitment to building a sustainable future for generations to come while fostering a thriving and sustainable economy, further solidifying its position in the global environmental landscape. More information on SGI Day is available at https://sgiday.com/en.