Dr. Majda Aburas, deputy director of the Saudi Environmental Society, and Dr. Kishan Khoday at the Gulf Environment Forum held in Jeddah last week. — Courtesy photoBy Amal Al-Sibai Saudi Gazette The Gulf Environment Forum attracted hundreds of environmentalists, scientists, economists and policy makers over the course of three days last week in Jeddah to discuss and propose solutions to a wide range of environmental challenges the Kingdom is facing. Speakers explained that the Kingdom still has a long way to go in implementing a green economy, but it will be starting out on the right track in the foreseeable future. At the forum, Dr. Kishan Khoday, Deputy Resident Representative to Saudi Arabia from the United Nations Development Program, announced the Kingdom's plans to implement projects that will set the Kingdom on the road to a green economy, at a total cost of SR5 billion. One main goal of these projects is to combat the widespread desertification which has grave negative impacts on the wildlife, agriculture and economy of the country. Dr. Khoday stressed the importance of implementing strategies to reduce desertification because more than half of Saudi Arabia is made up of dry land. Essential and massive changes need to be made in agricultural processes, water desalination, transportation systems, energy production, tourism and a host of other sectors to achieve a green economy in the Kingdom. A green economy means that the economic development and growth is concerned with sustaining the ecosystems that will ensure the preservation of the limited natural resources and a healthier environment for future generations. An economic system that respects the integrity of ecosystems and protects the life-supporting systems that people usually take for granted must be created. Dr. Khoday revealed that the United Nations Development Program invested SR15 million in the installation of 20 different projects for alternative sources of energy generation in the Kingdom. An official in corporate banking in the National Commercial Bank (Al-Ahli Bank), Khalid Bin Malik, stated that the average person in Saudi Arabia has the misconception that water and electricity are practically free. Bin Malik further said that if the average Saudi consumer did not feel a financial pinch when paying the electricity bill, he/she will not be motivated enough to practice electricity conservation measures in his/her daily life. In his opinion, sustainable development and growth can only be achieved in the Kingdom if citizens' reliance on energy sources is switched from natural oil and fuels to renewable sources such as solar energy, wind energy and nuclear energy. __
