Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivering speech from his office during the opening ceremony of the Saudi Green Initiative forum in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia on October 23 this year –Reuters file photoSaudi Arabia's crown prince launched a Middle East Green Initiative on Monday which he said aimed to invest 39 billion riyals ($10.4 billion) to reduce carbon emissions in the region and protect the environment. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom, which is the world's top oil exporter, would contribute 15 per cent of the funds and would work with other states and development funds on the funding and execution of the initiatives, reports bdnews24.com citing Reuters. Saudi Arabia would work to establish a regional carbon capture and storage centre, a regional early storm warning centre and a regional cloud seeding programme, he also said. On Saturday, the crown prince pledged that Saudi Arabia would reach "net zero" emissions by 2060 at the Saudi Green Initiative forum. The Gulf state is hosting the climate events ahead of COP26, the United Nations conference in Glasgow, which hopes to agree to deeper global emissions cuts to tackle global warming.

Source: bd News24 October 25, 2021 23:06 UTC