Environment

With Saudi Arabia’s 10th Development Plan the Kingdom has committed itself to responsible stewardship of the environment. The plan emphasises the importance of creating incentives and regulations that will underpin environmentally sustainable growth moving forward. Initiatives currently under way include moves towards more fuel-efficient cogeneration plants, carbon capture and storage, and investment in various renewable energy sources. In urban areas, major population growth has prompted several sustainable rehabilitation projects, with the most high-profile scheme set to transform one of Riyadh’s main water courses from a sewer into a clean, green ribbon of riverside parkland. Meanwhile in Damman, on Saudi Arabia’s east coast, urban wastewater is being treated and used for irrigation purposes, in the hope that the initiative’s success will encourage similar undertakings across Saudi Arabia by both state authorities and the private sector.