Holy cities, vast deserts, and energy are Saudi Arabia’s most famous features. As it diversifies its economy away from oil, the Kingdom is drawing on and preserving its oceans. The Kingdom is investing more than USD 3.2 trillion in its blue economy by the end of the decade to protect its waters and ensure inclusive and sustainable prosperity.
“Vision 2030” will bring blue economy investments to Saudi Arabia’s 2,640-kilometer coastline in the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea, which connects neighboring Gulf states and provides a major energy export route through Dammam. It also has over 300 islands and hundreds of islets.
This offshore treasure trove of resources makes United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (Life below Water), the least-funded SDG globally, a significant focus of the Kingdom’s sustainable development initiatives. Saudi Arabia has strict policy and regulatory frameworks to safeguard its air, land, marine, human, and wildlife habitats.
Innovative Protection Methods
Developing a new blue economy in the Kingdom is based on the traditional use of the ocean for shipping, fishing, and leisure, but advanced technologies, data, and analytics allow for renewable energy solutions to help preserve Red Sea ecosystems.
Saudi Arabia has launched dozens of “gigaprojects” to diversify the economy and establish world-class locations for technical innovation, tourism, entertainment, quality of life, and inclusive economic opportunities to realize “Vision 2030.”
Many of these massive projects focus on blue economy elements like regenerative tourism and maritime logistics. Amaala, part of Red Sea Global, and Sindalah, part of NEOM, are the world’s largest regenerative tourist initiatives and strive to improve their natural assets beyond environmental conservation. These goals require huge expenditures in renewable energy, sustainable materials, inventive design, and ecological restoration.
When finished, the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services will be one of the world’s largest shipyards, investing billions in traditional maritime areas. OXAGON, part of NEOM, will redefine industrial port city sustainability.
World Economic Forum’s Ocean Efforts
Our oceans span 70% of the earth and contain 80% of its biodiversity. Due to climate change and pollution, the ocean is more fragile than ever, but we need it for a healthy future. Leaders from business, government, and academia must collaborate to address ocean risks.
The Friends of Ocean Action, a partnership of global leaders from many sectors, meets at the World Economic Forum to safeguard the seas. The Forum’s Ocean Action Agenda includes a program to scale blue carbon benefits through coordinated action with governments to unlock finance, strengthen, and empower local communities and a global partnership to catalyze science-based actions towards healthy and sustainable blue food value chains. By 2030, the Forum hopes to support 1000 Ocean Startups that are innovating to solve global problems.
The Forum’s Ocean Action Agenda collaborates with offshore wind companies and ports to help them transition to a nature-positive and net-zero future. Rising temperatures and acidity threaten fragile ocean habitats. The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, which has lowered emissions in their companies by 9%, is one of several Forum efforts to help the low-carbon economy.
This maritime sector buildout and revolutionary investments in innovation and technology are positioned Saudi Arabia as a leader in the new blue economy, which harnesses ocean data and insights to create a sustainable, knowledge-based economy.
These initiatives focus on cutting-edge technology like environmental monitoring, zero-emissions desalination, regenerative aquaculture, shipping digitization, and advanced coral farming. As we restore our ecosystems, fresh chances to grow and create are flooding the country.
Many “Vision 2030” projects have developed start-up accelerators, venture builders, and investment funds to connect our technologies to their needs. To adapt to a changing world, an innovative R&D ecosystem has emerged.
The recently established Research Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA) will increase competitive R&D funding by 600%, showing that the Kingdom is willing to address the challenge of shrinking investments in new ideas and ventures at a time when innovation is most needed to address our converging climate crises, from food and water insecurity to biodiversity and ecosystem protection.
Dedicated To SDGs
The old maritime economy was exploitative. SDG14 requires the emerging blue economy to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Saudi Arabia made significant SDG14 commitments recently. The Kingdom has further pledged to safeguard 30% of its terrestrial and marine territory by 2030 under the Saudi Green Initiative, meeting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s “30×30” aim.
While the Kingdom was G20 president, the G20 adopted the Global Coral R&D Accelerator Platform Foundation. CORDAP, with a USD 100 million Saudi government investment, aims to avert the destruction of 70-90% of coral reefs within a decade due to climate change.
Also, NEOM, the Kingdom’s future special economic zone, and KAUST are collaborating to create the world’s largest coral garden. The WAVE initiative supports Saudi Arabia’s blue economy goals. Future Investment Initiative (FII)-powered WAVE brings together government, commercial sector, and civil society leaders to regenerate the ocean in a generation.
WAVE will enable public-private partnerships, worldwide programs, ocean insights, awareness and participation, and blue-tech innovation.
Ocean Innovation Acceleration
Additionally, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in January 2024, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Economy and Planning, which supervises United Nations’ SDG alignment, will form a cooperation to promote ocean innovation internationally. MEP and WAVE will help the Forum’s UpLink platform build innovation ecosystems of top innovators, investors, and partners to scale up ocean protection solutions.
Saudi Arabia is advancing ocean action. More funding and attention to the blue economy will help the world achieve a healthy, thriving ocean. Unlocking the blue economy’s USD 5 return on every USD 1 invested can maximize the maritime economy’s USD 3 trillion potential by 2030. Saudi Arabia and the world cannot lose this chance to promote development and sustainable economic growth.
Saudi Arabia relies on international partnerships to protect the environment. To restore healthy natural ecosystems and guarantee they thrive to support Saudi Arabia’s abundant marine life and biodiversity.