The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) in Doha, Qatar has initiated a project to rehabilitate 100 meadows over five years.

The goal of this project is to preserve the local ecosystem and address climate change. Qatar’s mainland has 1,273 open habitats or fields, vegetated with grass, herbs, and other non-woody plants, and the project aims to rehabilitate 36 meadows this year.

The rehabilitation process includes cleaning the meadows of waste and planting local trees.

The project aims to develop the plants that grow in the meadows and restore vegetation cover to their natural state.

The meadows will also be fenced to prevent vehicles from entering, while allowing individuals to enjoy the natural diversity these areas offer.

The project will prioritize meadows that are threatened by the destruction of their plant cover, including rare plants.

Some environmental and social standards will be considered in choosing the meadows for rehabilitation.

Each phase of the project will include the restoration of a specific group of meadows, after collecting data on these areas.

MoECC officials, including Assistant Undersecretary for Protection and Natural Reserves, Dr. Ibrahim Al Muslimani, and Director of the Wildlife Development Department, Muhammad Ahmed Al Khanji, recently visited Rawdat Al Qaiya, a meadow in the north of Qatar.

Al Khanji stated that the department’s priority is rehabilitating and protecting the Qatari mainland. The department is working to develop vegetation cover in all regions of the country and launch awareness programs.

The Ministry has developed plans to implement these steps over the coming years.

The department plans to complete the project for listing meadows in the country and launch its database next year.

The Ministry is making great efforts to protect meadows throughout the country since several meadows have been entirely closed to protect rare and endangered plant species.

Some meadows have also been partially closed for planting and rehabilitating them so that the vegetation can regain its normal condition and growth.

Some meadows have been preserved and protected as an important source of plant genetic resources in Qatar.

MoECC efforts over the past years have resulted in the rehabilitation of 31 meadows in various parts of the country.

Additionally, 17,463 wild trees have been planted in various rehabilitated sites, and 4,980 wild trees have been transferred from the sites of state infrastructure projects to meadows that are being rehabilitated under expert supervision.

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The UAE commits USD30 billion to Alterra, a climate investment fund launched at the United Nation’s climate change conference (COP28), making it the largest private investment fund for climate change.

Alterra’s primary objective is to concentrate on climate investments in emerging markets and developing economies, studies have revealed that there is an increasing funding shortfall in these regions.

The World Bank estimates that the escalating disparity to finance the climate transition is equivalent to the gap between the USD100 billion per annum committed by donor countries and the more than USD2.4 trillion required yearly by 2030.

Alterra’s plan involves two sections, the first one with USD25 billion pledged to invest to accelerate the transformation to a net-zero climate-resilient economy.

The second part, with funding of USD5 billion, is designed to mitigate risk to further incentivize investments into the global south.

Quotes:

Majid Al Suwaidi, CEO of Alterra and Director-General of cop28 in a panel discussion said, “The fund aims to amass and distribute USD250 billion globally by 2030”.

Al Suwaidi added: “The vision for Alterra was borne out of the COP28 Presidency’s Action Agenda focus on how we can make climate finance more available, accessible and affordable for all, and remove barriers impeding investment – especially into the Global South. Alterra is a key element in the COP28 Presidential Action Plan to help drive climate investment to the solutions and markets where it is most needed.”

During the panel session, the following individuals participated: Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund; Rajiv Dhar, Board Member of the National Infrastructure Investment Fund and Head of US India Green Fund; Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM); and Samir Suleymanov, Director of Finance at COP28.

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Construction projects in Saudi Arabia are expected to be worth around USD1.8 trillion when the country reaches its peak investment and economic plans in 2030 according to the Saudi Investment Minister.

Saudi Arabia has introduced a variety of projects with high budgets in the Kingdom to rebuild the economy in a way that doesn’t rely on oil exports.

Examples of said projects are the NEOM construction plans, these plans include up to 11 mega projects as of right now, with major cities estimated to house millions in total.

The biggest example is the Line City, a megaproject aiming to build a city in the shape of a line with a length of 170 kilometers.

Announced in 2021 and falls under the projects of NEOM with an estimated cost of USD500 billion.

The project is aimed to be completed in 2030.

construction projects include but are not limited to:

• King Abdullah Economic City.
• KA-Care Nuclear Plants.
• Jeddah Economic City.
• Jizan Economic City.
• The Red Sea Project.
• Renewable Energy Program – Round 2.

Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment said “investment opportunities in various sectors in the world’s largest oil exporter country are estimated at nearly USD3 trillion in the short term.

He also said “The largest opportunities involve the construction sector, we expect the value of such opportunities at nearly USD1.8 trillion in the short term.”

He finished with “These opportunities include large projects targeted in the Kingdom’s Vision2030 and set in place to build a sustainable economy.”

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• He stated that the Ministry of oil has prepared a draft for renewable energy law and is already waiting for approval by the parliament.
• Iraq is also planning to build a 130-megawatt solar power plant in south Iraq in addition to the Hydrogen plant.

Hayan Abdel Ghani, Iraq’s oil minister said that Iraq is planning to build its first green Hydrogen plant with a production capacity of 800 tons per year, “as part of a post war strategy to gradually switch to renewable energy” he added.

During his participation in the ninth Iraq International Energy Exhibition and Conference (IEE), Abdul-Ghani said that the government has begun the first tender to implement carbon conservation projects to reduce gas flaring in Baghdad’s eastern field, which has a capacity of 12 million cubic feet.

He also said in an energy conference in Baghdad on Monday that the project is planned to be set up in south Iraq and it includes a 130-megawatts solar power plant in addition to the hydrogen plant.

“The Oil Ministry has started taking steps to build a green hydrogen plant to be owned by the South Refineries Company,” he informed Iraqi publications.

The oil minister stated that his Ministry has prepared a draft for renewable energy law and sent it to the Iraqi parliament for approval.

Green hydrogen is created by electrolyzing water molecules to separate them into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy sources like solar or wind power, has a large potential for production in Iraq.

The country is rich in renewable energy resources especially solar and wind energy, projects may be developed due to the windy and solar filled region, current plans are being set to secure Iraq to be more dependent on green energy.

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