Middle East Green Initiative Summit is a strategic regional platform that promotes cross-border cooperation, knowledge exchange, and discussion between Heads of State, relevant government ministers, and policymakers which hosted its second gathering alongside COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh. The summit supports accelerating the transition towards a green economy and building a more sustainable future for future generations. The Middle East Green Initiative signifies Saudi Arabia’s commitment to international sustainability efforts with the aim of supporting regional climate initiatives through an ambitious road map that contributes to global targets.

In 2021, under the leadership of HRH The Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the inaugural Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) in Riyadh unveiled the roadmap to scale Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy capacity, reduce emissions, and invest in pioneering new green technologies. The framework announced Saudi’s aims to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2060 with initiatives in the energy sector also designed to reduce carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030.

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, announced today the launch of the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (GSCRI). The GSCRI aims to make Saudi Arabia a location of choice for leading global industrial companies looking to drive competitive advantage and improve business resilience.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is at the centre of global trade – bordering two of the world’s busiest shipping routes (Red Sea and Arabian Gulf). A strong economy and a strategic location, linking three continents. It will help to strengthen regional and global supply chains while giving investors a competitive advantage. The GSCRI complements Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of achieving economic growth and diversity. An ambitious sustainability agenda, supported by the Saudi Green Initiative, which includes the expansion of the renewable energy sector.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attended the bi-annual Maritime Cyprus 2022 Conference in Limassol, Cyprus organised by the Shipping Deputy Ministry in cooperation with the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners.

The IMO theme for 2022 “New Technologies for Greener Shipping” supports the green transition of the maritime sector towards a sustainable future, while ensuring that no one is left behind. The Kingdom is committed to ensuring that an equitable technology exchange and transfer is possible for all IMO member states. This is the key component of Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping (IMOCARES) Foundation Project funded by Saudi Arabia which seeks to pursue a holistic tangible mechanism to guide technology demonstrations and technology transfer between the global north and global south as well as research and development.

The Kingdom has made significant strides towards implementing green technologies in the maritime sector as seen through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by H.E. Saleh Al Jasser, Minister of Transportation and Logistics and President of Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) Dr. Adbullah Bin Sharaf Alghamdi regarding increased cooperation in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence applications in the transport and logistics sector. The memorandum aims to expand the use and employment of these tools within the transport and logistics sector in several areas including multimodal transport modeling, forecasting future demand, improving mobility and service efficiency and enhancing the integration of transportation and supply chain patterns.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is delighted to have been elected as Vice-Chair of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) of the 28th General Assembly. This achievement reflects the Kingdom’s involvement and active participation in the organization and continued support for the organisations activities and future development.

September 29th marked the International World Maritime Day for 2022, dedicated to honouring seafarers and their commitments as well as our continued close relationship with the maritime world. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrated the significant holiday on the world stage at the International Maritime Organization HQ in London, as well as illuminating key buildings blue in Riyadh to symbolize the vital role that the maritime sector provides in the world economy and international trade

In September 2021, H.E. Saleh Al-Jasser, The Minister of Transportation and Logistics of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia met with the Secretary-General Kitack Lim to sign the partnership agreement to fund the preparatory stage of IMO Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping (IMO CARES) Foundation Project.

Saudi Arabia has been awarded the US Marine Quality Certificate of the 21st Century (USG), making it the first country in the Middle East to be provided with this prestigious award and only one of 26 countries in the world to achieve this accomplishment. The certificate comes as a result of the Kingdom’s naval fleet successfully compiling, completing, finalising standards and requirements while in American Ports set out by the US Coast Guard. This thereby showcased the efficient and excellent marine environment and safety protection levels achieved by Saudi Arabia.

September 14th, 2022 marked the first session of the International Maritime Organisations (IMO)’s Sub Committee on the Carriages of Cargoes and Containers. This featured the IMO’s return to in-person meetings in a hybrid format for the first time since 2020.

The IMO CARES (Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping) Foundation Project financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with MTCC Africa and the IMO Department of Partnerships and Projects, hosted the third virtual workshop IMOCARES workshop. The workshop focused on Maritime Decarbonization R&D Africa and Global Perspectives and heavily featured MTCC Africa, one of five regional centres of the Global MTCC Network (GMN) for promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector. The event was attended by Her Excellency Nancy Karigithu, Principal Secretary, State Department for Shipping and Maritime and Special Envoy for Maritime and Blue Economy for Kenya as well as international organisations and prominent delegates.

June 25th marked the 12th celebration of the Day of the Seafarer.

In celebration of seafarers, Eng. Essam Alammari, The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Transport General Authority, participated as a panellist on the Oceans Arena ‘Welcome on Board’ webinar. During this event, he discussed his time as a seafarer and experience in the field. He additionally participated as a member for the International Maritime Organization team during the 100km Mission to Seafarers cycling ride on Saturday, June 25th. Eng. Essam noted, ‘I want to raise awareness to the vital role seafarers play in the global economy and ask everyone to give their respect, appreciation, and gratitude to them.” 

The IMO CARES (Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping) Foundation Project financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, hosted the first virtual workshop in collaboration with the Maritime Technical Cooperation Centres across the world. This virtual workshop which took place on the 22nd June involved MTCC Caribbean and representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Bahamas, Guyana, Barbados and Haiti. MTCC Caribbean is one of five regional centres of The Global MTCC Network (GMN) for promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector and is headquartered at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

As part of the ongoing IMO CARES (Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping) Foundation Project financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a side event took place during the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon alongside the IMO, MTCC Africa and in collaboration with the Government of Kenya. The event titled ‘Maritime Promoting and Strengthening Sustainable Ocean-Based Economies through Regional Cooperation on Maritime Decarbonization (Focus: Africa)’ was attended by delegates from across Africa as well as regional and technology experts and government delegates.

In celebration for World Oceans Day under the theme ‘activating collection action for the oceans,’ The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife hosted the workshop, ‘The Role of Scientific Research and Cooperation in Preserving Red Sea Environments’ under His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdul Rahman Al Fadhli and Dr. Mohammed Ali Qurban Qurban, the CEO of National Center for Wildlife. This commendable initiative served to highlight the work of the kingdom in maritime environmental protection and sustainable development.

In celebration of the inaugural international day for women in maritime The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Mission supported Arab Women in Maritime Association (AWIMA) and IMOGENder Network alongside the United Arab Emirates to present the first regional virtual roundtable discussing issues women are facing in the maritime sector

May 18th celebrated the inaugural International Day for Women in Maritime. In light of this historical occurrence, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Mission to the International Maritime Organization celebrated the valuable contribution of women to the maritime industry through numerous events and celebrations.

In September 2021, H.E. Saleh Al Jasser Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics met with IMO Secretary General Mr. Kittack Lim and signed the IMO Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping (IMO CARES).

This was followed by the launch of the prepatory phase of the IMO Coordinated Actions to Reduce Emissions from Shipping (IMO CARES) on April 2nd 2022 at the IMO-Singapore Future of Shipping Conference during Singapore Maritime Week 2022.The IMO CARES Foundation Project, financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ,will undertake all the preparatory activities to develop and design the long-term global programme.

In line with Vision 2030, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to make advancements in logistics and transportation innovations. The latest being the launch of 5G Smart Ports which brings together resources to modernize and transform Saudi ports and to automate operations.

The 15th Annual Shiptek Maritime Conference which took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from the 7th – 8th March brought together key decision makers and high-level policy leads in the maritime industry. The event focused on market trends and insight into current and future maritime affairs and was attended by Eng. Essam Al Ammari as a keynote speaker and permanent representative for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the International Maritime Organisation.