Saudi Arabia’s unique environment, characterized by a hyper-arid climate and minimal renewable water sources, provides a challenging backdrop for its national development plans. Rapid urbanization, industrial growth, and historic reliance on resource extraction have placed considerable strain on its fragile desert and coastal ecosystems. This economic model, built heavily on hydrocarbon wealth, has created complex environmental issues that the nation must address to ensure long-term sustainability.
Extreme Water Scarcity and Desalination Reliance
The Kingdom is one of the most water-scarce nations globally, with per capita renewable water availability far below the absolute water scarcity threshold. This profound shortage has resulted in the unsustainable depletion of the nation’s non-renewable fossil groundwater reserves. Extensive agricultural development programs, particularly during the late 20th century, heavily relied on “mining” this ancient water, leading to significant drops in water tables, such as the estimated 150-meter decline in the Al-Ahsa aquifer over 25 years.
To meet the high domestic and industrial demand, Saudi Arabia has become the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, which accounts for about 70% of the Kingdom’s drinking water supply. This process, however, is intensely energy-intensive. The environmental cost of this reliance is concentrated in the discharge of hypersaline brine effluent back into the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.
This brine discharge is often warmer than the ambient marine environment. The localized increase in salinity and temperature stresses coastal ecosystems, potentially harming marine life and affecting biodiversity near the outfall points. The use of chemicals, such as chlorine, in the pre-treatment process can also add trace contaminants to the discharged water, posing further risks to the shallow coastal waters, which have limited turnover.
Air Quality and Hydrocarbon Emissions
Air quality is impacted by industrial activity, dense urban traffic, and natural events. The energy sector contributes substantial emissions, including carbon dioxide and other pollutants released from oil and gas processing and the flaring of excess gas.
In heavily populated urban centers like Riyadh and Dammam, vehicular traffic is a major source of air pollution, releasing nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and uncombusted hydrocarbons. These anthropogenic emissions combine with a significant natural source of air contamination: wind-blown dust and sand storms. Particulate matter (PM), particularly fine particles like PM2.5 and PM10, is a major concern, with dust storms accounting for a large portion of the measured PM mass in some cities.
Industrial activities and dust events both contribute to elevated levels of PM, which frequently exceed international safety thresholds. Other atmospheric pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and ground-level ozone, are also monitored as part of the total ambient air quality index.
Desertification and Land Degradation
Land degradation is driven by hyper-arid conditions and exacerbated by human activities. Rapid urban expansion consumes natural desert fringe areas, disrupting fragile soil structures and increasing surface runoff. The encroachment of desert sands threatens infrastructure, agricultural land, and settlements, a phenomenon intensified by the loss of stabilizing vegetation cover.
Poor land management practices, including intensive overgrazing by livestock, remove the sparse native vegetation that holds the desert soil in place. This loss of cover accelerates wind and water erosion, leading to a decline in soil fertility and the loss of arable land. The combination of these factors results in the loss of native biodiversity, as habitats are degraded and ecosystems are no longer able to support the species adapted to them.
The resulting soil degradation and desertification reduce the land’s capacity to store carbon and support ecological functions. This loss of productive land necessitates large-scale intervention to restore ecological balance and mitigate the socio-economic impacts on local communities.
Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Stress
The coastal environments of the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf face pressures from industrial activities and infrastructure development. The Arabian Gulf, in particular, is vulnerable due to its shallow depth and limited water exchange, making it susceptible to pollution accumulation. A major source of stress is the frequent oil transport and the risk of spills, which can devastate coastal habitats like mangroves and mudflats.
Coastal construction and landfilling for development projects are also a significant cause of habitat degradation. This physical alteration directly impacts mangrove forests, which serve as nurseries for marine life and natural coastal buffers. Furthermore, coral reefs, which thrive in the Red Sea’s clear waters, are stressed by rising sea temperatures and the increased turbidity and nutrient runoff from coastal development.
The discharge from desalination plants introduces stress to the marine environment. The concentrated brine can inhibit the growth of phytoplankton and negatively affect the food chain, impacting commercially important species. Species like the hawksbill turtle and dugongs, which inhabit these coastal waters, are vulnerable to habitat loss and pollution.
National Strategies for Environmental Sustainability
In response to these environmental challenges, Saudi Arabia has launched ambitious national programs centered around Saudi Vision 2030. The primary vehicle for environmental action is the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI), which aims to drive sustainability and combat climate change across the Kingdom. This initiative has activated over 80 projects and committed investments exceeding $186 billion toward a green economy.
A core SGI objective is a massive afforestation campaign with a target of planting 10 billion trees across the Kingdom. This effort is coupled with a plan to rehabilitate 74 million hectares of degraded land, which will help combat desertification and improve air quality by reducing dust storms. Concurrently, the Kingdom has set a goal to protect 30% of its total land and sea area by 2030, enhancing biodiversity conservation.
In the energy sector, the national strategy targets generating 50% of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, displacing liquid fuels currently used for power generation. This transition away from fossil fuels for domestic power is intended to reduce carbon emissions significantly. The strategies focus on emissions reduction, afforestation, and the protection of natural land and sea environments.