Saudi Arabia Looks to Partner with Rajasthan in Tackling Climate Change

Riyh: Saudi Arabia's arid climate challenges are similar to those of regions like Rajasthan, creating a unique opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing, a Saudi minister official stated on Monday.

Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, and visor to UNCCD COP16 Presidency, me se remarks ahe of COP16 meeting in Riyh, scheduled from December 2 to 13, under me "Our Land. Our Future."

"Successful initiatives like Ghandivan project in Jaipur, which has transformed a barren wasteland into a thriving ecosystem through community-driven efforts, offer valuable insights that can be apted across different regions,” he said, he also ded that Saudi Arabia is leveraging water conservation practices and pursuing ambitious rural development programs as part of its efforts to dress climate challenges.

“We are focused on raising awareness of impact of land degration, drought, and desertification. scale of our challenge is stark: globally, we lose land equivalent to four football fields every second, amounting to 100 million hectares annually,” Faqeeha said.

According to minister, degration of land is threatening food security, forcing people to be displaced from ir countries and increasing international conflict. “dressing se challenges cannot be done in isolation and that is why we are garing international community in Riyh to achieve lasting change,” he emphasised.

Faqeeha underlined that Saudi Arabia’s arid climate challenges are similar to regions like Rajasthan, creating natural opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange.

He said COP16 in Riyh will utilise and build on this framework to strengn drought resilience globally and increase monitoring.

“Under Saudi Arabia’s UNCCD COP16 Presidency first Drought Resilience Observatory is set to launch at COP16 in Riyh to help turn science and data into urgent action,” Faqeeha said, ding that this is a particularly pressing global issue. “One-quarter of world’s population is alrey affected by drought, and three out of four people are projected to face water scarcity by 2050,” he said.

Citing Indian government policy think tank Niti Aayog, Saudi official said water scarcity is a critical issue, particularly in countries like India where around 600 million citizens face high to extreme water stress.

“At UNCCD COP16, sustainable water resource management in agriculture will be a key focus area – in recognition of vital connection between water security and land degration,” he said.

Noting that over 130 countries have participated in Land Degration Neutrality Target Setting programme with more than 100 having determined ir national targets, Faqeeha said while this represents progress, at COP16 Saudi will push for more stringent, universally enforced criteria and enhanced global cooperation to achieve se goals.

UNCCD is global voice for land and one of three major UN treaties known as Rio Conventions, alongside climate and biodiversity.

Conference of Parties (COP) is main decision-making body of UNCCD’s 197 Parties – 196 countries and European Union.

(with agency inputs)