RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the UN Environment Programme will mark World Environment Day on June 5, to be held this year under the theme “Our Land, Our Future.” The ceremony will be at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, and will be attended by dignitaries, officials, as well as experts and specialists from various countries. According to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, by hosting World Environment Day the Kingdom confirms its commitment to protect the environment and promote sustainable development, in line with the Vision 2030 goals. Focus will be on land restoration, combating desertification, and ensuring drought resilience. The event will emphasize the need for global investment in nature conservation, land rehabilitation and sustainable practices. The event highlights the importance of national and international collaboration and aims to promote efforts to rehabilitate worldwide ecosystems to achieve sustainable development goals. The ministry also said that World Environment Day activities will help bolster the Kingdom’s efforts in land restoration and rehabilitation, and display Saudi Arabia’s initiatives in this respect at national, regional and international levels, which focus on vegetation development, combating desertification, protecting natural habitats and reducing carbon emissions. The event will also reinforce the G20 Global Land Initiative, launched during the Kingdom’s presidency of the G20 Summit in 2020. It will call for effective global participation in the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, scheduled to convene in Riyadh this December. World Environment Day is one of the largest global platforms for environmental outreach, supporting vital ecosystem restoration work worldwide. Countries worldwide have committed to restoring 1 billion hectares of land, protecting 30 percent of land and sea for nature and restoring 30 percent of the planet’s degraded ecosystems. Supporting the 2030 agenda for a sustainable, resilient world, World Environment Day 2024 will boost climate action efforts by gathering support for ecosystem restoration. Earlier, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli said Saudi Arabia takes a holistic approach to the environment, focusing on protecting the natural environment and preserving biodiversity. He said that the country has implemented a suite of national legislation, strategies and plans dedicated to environmental protection and sustainability, such as the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives. Al-Fadhli said Saudi Arabia had a central role in initiating the Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats Initiative, a show of its ongoing commitment to global involvement.