Riyadh, March 29, 2021, SPA -- Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, praised the “Saudi Green” and the “Middle East Green” initiatives announced by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, stressing that they will chart the direction of the Kingdom and the region in protecting the nature, and facing environmental challenges. He affirmed that these initiatives will contribute significantly to preserving vegetation cover, reducing carbon emissions, combating pollution and land degradation, and preserving marine life, through a number of steps such as planting 10 billion trees within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the coming decades, and rehabilitating about 40 million hectares of land, increasing the area covered with trees, and raising the percentage of protected areas to more than 30% of the Kingdom's land area, exceeding the current global target of protecting 17% of each country's land. It will also contribute to reducing carbon emissions, through renewable energy projects that will provide 50% of electricity production in the Kingdom by 2030. Al-Hajraf praised the Kingdom's pioneering role in the region, as HRH Crown Prince indicated that the Kingdom will start work on Middle East Green Initiative in partnership with the member states of the cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), and Middle Eastern countries to plant an additional 40 billion trees in the region, and restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of land, and it achieves a reduction of 2.5% from global carbon levels. --SPA 00:13 LOCAL TIME 21:13 GMT 0001 www.spa.gov.sa/w1532303