Cashing in on the green change

If you want to go green, you don’t have to part with the cash in your pockets.

That’s the awareness that experts and conservationists, grappling with Saudi Arabia’s environmental crisis, would like to create in communities. “Being green is not expensive. People have to let go of this myth that being green means spending more money,” Dr Frank Rijsberman, Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), said during his visit to the UAE recently. 

GGGI, an organization based in Seoul, South Korea, aims to promote green growth, a paradigm that is characterized by a balance of economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Reasoning that green growth is not a luxury but a necessity, Dr Rijsberman urged GCC governments to introduce policies and incentives that invariably have an impact at the grassroots level. “If the green policies and initiatives do not reach the people, then it is not going anywhere,” he said, adding that if the governments started taking climate change seriously, “half the job would be done”.

He said that even though Saudi Arabia is not a part of the GGGI, serious efforts have been taken to tackle environmental issues in the country – an observation corroborated by Mohammed S. Al-Surf, regional manager of the US Green Building Council’s [USGBC] Saudi chapter.

Al-Surf said that the Saudi government has been adopting green building practices since early 2007. “In 2008 we had the first LEED (or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. Now, in 2018, we have more than 400 certified projects under LEED and more than 1,200 projects registered and undergoing certification,” he said.

He added that the Kingdom is now in the process of making minimum level of sustainability mandatory for all government projects and new developments taking place in the country. “The government is applying sustainable methods. There have been several programs launched in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and as part of the National Transformation Plan 2020,” he said.

And while he lauded the country’s leadership in promoting green and sustainable growth, Al-Surf said a lot more needs to be done by the private sectors . “A lack of awareness,  incentives and qualified professionals are some of the major deterrents in promoting green growth in the country. The private sector, especially, has to get educated and equip their employees too,” he said.

Relaying the immediate impact on the environment due to a lack of awareness, Barbara M. Haig, a US-based environmental communications consultant, said that all is not lost as people want to embrace and be part of the change. “When I visited Saudi Arabia in 2017, it was disappointing to see all the plastic waste along the Red Sea near Jeddah. The good news is that many people are passionate about helping when they learn the benefits of reducing waste and protecting natural resources. And once businesses get involved – from sending a group of volunteers to pick-up waste to becoming more energy efficient in their buildings – it’s going to get even better," she said.

Detailing the findings of a 2013 study which indicated that government operations were responsible for more than 80 per cent of environmental violations on Jeddah's coastline, Haig said that helping Hajj participants be more aware of the environment was also a step forward in the right direction. According to the report, more than 42,000 tons of waste was produced during the Hajj season. “The recent Green Hajj movement was especially promising when special efforts were made to manage waste management," she said.

Al-Surf, on his part, said that the private sector continues to perceive environmental efforts, such as the Green Building method, as costly and ineffective. “We continue to see project teams treating sustainable design as a separate feature. This leads to the notion that green design is something that gets added to a project. They need to understand that green design is not an additional thing. It is part of the structure.”

A solution to this problem could be in the form of incentives offered by the government to the private sector to make their projects green. “For example, incentives should be provided to employees who get LEED accreditation. These include reduced down payments of residential units, subsidized electricity, extra fast licensing and issuance of building permits and guarantees on infrastructure and more,” he said.

Al-Surf also emphasized on the role played by educational institutions in teaching “children from K-12 on how to respect the environment and promote sustainability”.

Commending the Kingdom for its efforts, Haig said that Saudi Arabia is taking serious note of the situation. “The Saudi government is examining its environmental policies and practices, and indeed, action must begin at home,” she said.

From :Arabnews