Saudi Arabia Sees Traction with Green Initiatives as Kingdom Climbs Ranks of MIT’S Green Future Index

Saudi Arabia advanced 10 places in the second edition of the Green Future Index, issued by MIT Technology Review, evidence that the Kingdom is seeing progress in its goals outlined in the new Saudi Green Initiative announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year.

The Green Future Index 2022 is the second edition of the comparative ranking of 76 nations and territories on their ability to develop a sustainable, low-carbon future, according to the organization’s website. It measures the degree to which their economies are pivoting toward clean energy, industry, agriculture, and society through investment in renewables, innovation, and green policy.

The Kingdom ranked 51st out of 76 nations this year, improving from 61st out of 76 last year.

“Saudi Arabia’s domestic solar power only constitutes 0.5% of its energy mix. However, it has many international solar investments, including $10 billion committed to 10 African projects by state energy company ACWA Power,” the MIT-based initiative said.

With the aim of achieving several objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI), the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) —and the Circular Carbon Economy approach that the initiatives aim to advance — are key pillars to develop the roadmap to realize the Kingdom’s ambitious climate objectives.

As Arab News notes, the inaugural SGI Forum in October 2021 saw the announcement of a first suite of more than 60 new initiatives, with over SR700 billion in investments. The second editions of the MGI Summit and the SGI Forum, held under the theme ‘From ambition to action’, will take place next week in tandem with COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.