Saudi Arabia has been actively engaged in the fight against climate change, as demonstrated by its participation in a series of international climate events, Saudi Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Essam bin Saleh Al-Jutaili, told Report.
The diplomat revealed that Saudi Arabia will host the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in December this year. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is set to host COP29 in November.
"We are working together on issues of combating climate change and global environmental challenges, cooperating as two host countries of important international conferences," he stated.
Saudi Arabia is also actively preparing for COP16 in Riyadh this December, he said adding that prior to that, the country will participate in a climate meeting in New York in late September as part of the UN General Assembly.
The ambassador noted that Saudi Arabia will be represented at COP29, but the head of the delegation will be announced later.
Saudi Arabia will host COP16 from December 2 to 13, 2024, with representatives from over 197 countries expected to attend. This event will be the largest meeting on combating land degradation and droughts, and it will be held in the Middle East for the first time.
The main theme of COP16 will be the need to intensify efforts to restore land and build resilience to droughts, especially in light of the 29% increase in aridity since 2000. The event will serve as an important platform for promoting initiatives to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030, which is necessary to achieve global land degradation neutrality.