Qatar pledges to plant 1mn trees before World Cup

State of Qatar

Qatar announced on Monday its commitment to planting 1mn trees before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will be the first carbon-neutral tournament, and to planting 10mn trees by 2030, in the framework of its support to the Middle East Green Initiative, launched by Saudi Arabia. This came in a speech delivered by HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh. HE al-Kaabi expressed deep thanks and appreciation to Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, for his invitation to participate in this summit. HE al-Kaabi said: "We praise the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and its keenness on launching the Middle East Green Initiative which we aspire to be a great leap in the joint environmental action at the global level." He added that the effects of climate change cast a shadow on various forms and areas of life in the world today, and there is no doubt that this summit confirms the consensus that collective cooperation constitutes the most important means of facing the challenges arising from this phenomenon. He underlined that the initiative constitutes an important opportunity for co-ordinating regional and international efforts to contribute to achieving a number of environmental goals, foremost of which is enriching biodiversity in the Middle East, through intensifying, protecting and preserving vegetation, and combating desertification, in a way that contributes to the development of many ecosystems and combating climate change. In this context, HE al-Kaabi pointed out Qatar has made environmental development and its protection an essential pillar of its National Vision 2030. This year, Qatar submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change an update of its nationally determined contributions, in line with the pioneering and ambitious role that the State seeks to achieve in dealing with climate change and promoting sustainable development. He noted that Qatar, based on its commitment to international cooperation to confront common challenges and in view of the catastrophic effects of climate change, has prepared a comprehensive national plan for climate change 2030 that includes more than 35 initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and more than 300 initiatives for adaptation. The plan cover all sectors including energy, water, transport, construction, industry, agriculture, education and scientific research. HE al-Kaabi underlined that Qatar is leading the track and package related to "climate financing and carbon pricing", in partnership with France and Jamaica, through the Climate Action Summit held at the UN Headquarters in September 2019, after which a global coalition was established to continue leading this track, which is one of the most important nine tracks of the Climate Action Summit.