OFFICIAL international reports show that climate change is a serious cause for concern. The issues of environmental and climate protection are priority for Saudi Arabia's political agenda. Among the current challenges faced by industry and society are severe water shortage, controlling the greenhouse effect and preserving natural resources for future generations. The effects of this have been seen in terms of increasing global temperatures and in sea level rising, leading to disruption of many physical and biological systems, and causing flooding and drought. The Saudi International Environmental Technology Conference discovered scientists investigate a range of environmental issues affecting the Kingdom's environment. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is an independent scientific organization that encompasses both the Saudi Arabian National Science Agency and its National Laboratories. The investigation covers several research areas including: waste, pollution, air quality and the deterioration of natural resources. Only through developing advanced environmental technologies, the Kingdom can sustain its development in an environmentally friendly manner. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Saudi Arabia enjoys a continual period of rapid economic growth, high per capita income, a positive balance of trade and no public debt. “This process, largely fueled by oil revenues, has been accompanied by high rates of population growth and increasing pressure on the country's natural resources. The recent published plan — the 8th Development Plan — lays stress on protecting the environment and develop suitable systems consistent with sustainable development.” The Saudi International Agriculture Technologies Conference 2013 spoke about how extreme environmental conditions, overgrazing and indiscriminate logging result in barren deserts. However, desert plants are critically important in climate cooling and preventing desertification. This emphasizes the great need for desert landscaping and salt-tolerant planting techniques in swampy areas and seashores of the Kingdom. Greenhouses are considered one of the most important agricultural techniques in desert climates due to their success in protecting, increasing and controlling production, rationing irrigation water, and providing sustainable agriculture. As current greenhouse production techniques are imported, they don't meet the particular needs of the Kingdom's climatic conditions, therefore efforts are being made to advance greenhouse systems to achieve a developed level of production efficiency and to lower the costs of construction and maintenance, based on the Kingdom's needs. Saudi Arabia's depletion of underground water resources; the lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities. According to CIA studies Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world without a river; extensive coastlines on the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping through the Arabian Gulf and Suez Canal. Under the general practice area “Energy & Environment”, UNDP Saudi Arabia streamlines all its programs and projects into more specific “Service Lines” which steer UNDP's work. In the energy sector, UNDP works with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to meet the growing power and energy demand through efficient and rational consumption patterns. Private companies like Samsung have also played an important part in climate control. Samsung was the co-host of Climate Control Conference (C3), which brought together key officials in Saudi Arabia to explore cooling approaches and address fire safety concerns. Samsung has been dedicated to diverse businesses that span advanced HVAC technology, semiconductors, skyscraper and plant construction, petrochemicals, fashion, medicine, finance, hotels and more. Saudi Arabia's Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) and The Saudi Environmental Society (SENS), backed by business events and consultancy multinational BME Global Ltd (BME), revealed more about the country's environmental front at the Gulf Environment Forum. According to the forum, Saudi Arabia's ascent to the environmental sector's world stage has already proved to be swift and markedly ahead of many nations as its rulers spearhead the trend, embracing sustainability concerns within economic development. Clean technologies is an evolving sector in Saudi Arabia as the country works to safeguard its environment in the midst of an aggressive national economic diversification program. Saudi Arabia imports $50 million of air pollution control and monitoring equipment.
