RIYADH — Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Space Commission Eng. Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Swaha affirmed that the Kingdom, as one of the G20 member states and a major source of energy in the world, is taking the lead in building a center for climate technologies in the Middle East and North Africa.

This came during his participation in a dialogue session, which was held Saturday under the title “How will the green economy change the world in the future” as part of the forum of “Saudi Green” Initiative.

Eng. Al-Swaha said that the world must rally around supporting science and technology if we want to address climate change, explaining that if the world continues to follow the current policies and technologies, our zero-emissions efficiency will be 30-40% lower, and the only way to address the zero-emissions gap is to increase investment in new, widespread technologies.

He also pointed out that drones can plant trees 10 times faster than traditional methods and at a lower cost 20% of the cost of manual farming, highlighting the most important lessons learned in the early stages of using technology in the climate field, using artificial intelligence and drones to support and accelerate reforestation, and the extent of the success of such technologies in all regions of the world.

This is in addition to the ways of success of afforestation projects and how trees can best be used to combat climate change, citing the importance of international cooperation that can ensure a rapid, comprehensive expansion of the cultivation of trees that are also planted specifically in the low afforestation areas of the world in order to combat desertification.

It is worth mentioning that the forum aims to mobilize the efforts of the entire community of participants and speakers from the leaders of the economy, governments and society, and to promote meaningful dialogue to reach effective solutions by reviewing the opinions supported by scientific evidence by the world’s leading environmental experts, and announcing a road map for the Saudi Green Initiative, in addition to highlighting the Kingdom’s commitment to combating climate change. — SPA