Celebrating SGI Day: a journey of progress, unity, and bold ambition

The path to climate action is too often hindered by divisiveness and doubt. But in Saudi Arabia, we are not waiting for consensus — we are creating it. 

With optimism as our compass, pragmatism as our guide, and responsibility as our strength, the Kingdom is charting a course to build a better, greener world with an unwavering commitment. Not simply with words, but with action.  

The Saudi Green Initiative is a living testament to what purposeful progress can lead to… grounded in the belief that climate action needs not to be a distant hope — but part of today’s agenda, fueled by the power of our collective will.

This week, we celebrate the second annual SGI Day. It is a day to take a moment to recognize how far we have come. But also, to focus on what comes next and where we need to go to build a sustainable tomorrow. To come together with a shared sense of purpose.

SGI Day is not just a commemoration. It is a rallying call across our nation and a reminder that everyone can play a part in a greener future. We will celebrate progress, not as milestones, but as inspirations for bolder steps, bigger dreams, and unrelenting momentum.

Since its inception in 2021, the Saudi Green Initiative has led to unprecedented transformation and bold action. We are slashing emissions, planting forests where once there was only sand, and safeguarding our land, coastlines, and seas with determination.

Last year, the Kingdom stood tall on the global stage, hosting the 16th Conference of the Parties, or COP16, to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification — the largest gathering of its kind. Nearly 200 nations united in a shared mission to heal the earth. The result? Over $12 billion pledged to combat drought and restore degraded landscapes — yet another example of Saudi Arabia’s work as a force for good and its role as a bridge for global cooperation, uniting diverse interests in a common cause.

At home, the fruits of SGI are blooming vividly. We are making rapid progress toward our renewable energy goals, with a portfolio now surpassing 44 gigawatts — 6.6 GW already lighting up more than a million homes. 

Imagine: a million families powered by the sun and wind, a million lives benefiting from the promise of clean energy. That is something that would have been considered a fantasy just a few years ago.

Meanwhile, our hands are deep in the soil, planting over 115 million trees and breathing life into 118,000 hectares of once-barren land as we march toward our audacious goal of 10 billion trees planted, restoring 40 million hectares of degraded land — an area larger than Germany — a vision as vast as our horizons.

And in our wild places, conservation continues to triumph with over 7,500 endangered animals roaming free once more, and cheetah cubs — born on Saudi soil for the first time in over 40 years — symbolizing nature’s rebirth. These are stories of resilience and a narrative of a nation reaffirming its bond with the planet.

Yet our gaze is fixed firmly on the future. In 2025, the world will gather at COP30 to weigh our collective progress — a moment that will shape the course of global climate action. As the current UNCCD Presidency holder, Saudi Arabia will not merely participate — we will lead. Desertification and land degradation are not abstract threats; they strike at the heart of economies, communities, and lives. We will champion solutions that will reverberate far beyond our borders, proving that environmental stewardship is inseparable from human prosperity. 

SGI Day is more than a celebration — it is a clarion call. To governments, we say: act with courage. To businesses, we urge: innovate with purpose. To every individual, we invite: join us with conviction. The road to sustainability is not paved by a single triumph but by the steady drumbeat of action — day after day, choice after choice.

The future is not something that comes at us; it’s something we create. Saudi Arabia is indeed creating that future, not with words alone, but with solutions that stand as proof: climate action is not a dream — it is a reality we are building together.

The years ahead will test us all with defining choices. Saudi Arabia’s choice is unwavering: to harness our momentum, pioneer answers, and deliver impact that endures. SGI Day embodies that resolve — a beacon of optimism, a commitment to action, and a promise that the greatest force for change lies within each of us.

Let us seize the day together and show the world what is possible when a nation harnesses its potential.

• Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud is Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US.