His Majesty the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, welcomed the initiative of Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Deputy Prime Minister, regarding the Green Middle East initiative to confront environmental challenges and their economic, social and health impacts on the Middle East region.
He also expressed his support for what the initiative included in terms of afforestation programs, clean energy, and the use of modern and innovative means and new technologies, stressing the Sultanate of Oman’s support for all efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in this regard.
The Sultanate of Oman is considered a pioneer in matters of environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources, and it has a long and continuous history for decades in this regard. Indeed, its interests went beyond Oman’s borders and extended to include preserving the global environment.
The Omani participation in the international concern for the environment goes back five decades, when the Sultanate participated on the fifth of June 1972 in the first international conference on the environment in Stockholm, Sweden, under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Sultanate has also raised its interest in the environment to advanced levels, establishing a ministry specialized in environment and climate affairs, and building bridges of cooperation and joint work with all bodies and organizations working in this field at all regional, Arab and international levels.
The Sultanate’s vision towards protecting the environment was also embodied three decades ago in the speech of the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said, which he presented on June 3, 1990 to the United Nations Environment Conference held in “Rio de Janeiro” in Brazil, which was known as the Earth Summit. It was from what he said at the time: Preserving the environment is a collective responsibility that is not limited by the political borders of countries, and people, wherever they are, must contribute to preserving the environment, reconcile with it, deal with it rationally, and pay attention to the many causes of pollution, whether natural and biological, or industrial, chemical and physical.