QNARiyadhThe State of Qatar announced Monday its commitment to planting one million trees before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will be the first carbon-neutral tournament, and to planting 10 million trees by 2030, in the framework of its support to the Middle East Green Initiative, launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.This came in the speech of the State of Qatar at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh, delivered by HE Minister of State for Energy Affairs Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi.At the beginning of his speech, HE Eng. Al Kaabi expressed deep thanks and appreciation to HRH Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for his invitation to participate in this summit.HE Al Kaabi said: "We praise the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and its keenness on launching the Middle East Green Initiative which we aspire to be a great leap in the joint environmental action at the global level."HE Al Kaabi added that the effects of climate change cast a shadow on various forms and areas of life in the world today, and there is no doubt that this summit confirms the consensus that collective cooperation constitutes the most important means of facing the challenges arising from this phenomenon.He underlined that the Middle East Green Initiative constitutes an important opportunity for coordinating regional and international efforts to contribute to achieving a number of environmental goals, foremost of which is enriching biodiversity in the Middle East, through intensifying, protecting and preserving vegetation, and combating desertification, in a way that contributes to the development of many ecosystems and combating climate change.In this context, HE Al Kaabi pointed out that the State of Qatar has made environmental development and its protection an essential pillar of its National Vision 2030. This year, Qatar submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change an update of its nationally determined contributions, in line with the pioneering and ambitious role that the State seeks to achieve in dealing with climate change and promoting sustainable development.He noted that the State of Qatar, based on its commitment to international cooperation to confront common challenges and in view of the catastrophic effects of climate change, has prepared a comprehensive national plan for climate change 2030 that includes more than 35 initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and more than 300 initiatives for adaptation. The plan cover all sectors including energy, water, transportation, construction, industry, agriculture, education and scientific research.HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs underlined that the State of Qatar is leading the track and package related to "climate financing and carbon pricing", in partnership with France and Jamaica, through the Climate Action Summit held at the United Nations Headquarters in September 2019, after which a global coalition was established to continue leading this track, which is one of the most important nine tracks of the Climate Action Summit.