Opening the Youth Green Summit (YGS) is a panel on how young people in Saudi Arabia can contribute towards the climate transformation in the Kingdom.

In this session, we’ll hear from those working in the country’s energy sector on how they’re contributing to the SGI pledges set out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on day one of the event.

Of note is Saudi Arabia’s plan to double its target for reducing carbon emissions.

Read the full story here:

After a day of discussing Saudi Arabia’s climate pledges as part of the inaugural Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) Forum, delegates have returned to Tuwaiq Palace for the second day of the event (24 October).

Day two, titled the SGI Youth Green Summit, focuses on young Saudi and international climate activists, with panels and workshops throughout the day.

The Independent will be reporting on the highlights from the event throughout the day, as well as exclusive interviews with experts and climate leaders.

The inaugural SGI Forum has now concluded with a promise that it will return.

There’s more to come at the Youth Green Summit (24 October) and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit (25 October).

Follow the coverage on The Independent’s SGI hub.

The inaugural SGI Forum has been a day of wide ranging discussions, with plenty to consider. So what’s next?

Mohammed Alkhalid, founder and CEO of NABATIK, a platform that gives citizens of Saudi Arabia an easy way to plant trees anywhere in the Kingdom, considers this question as he closes the day.

As a young Saudi, Mr Alkhalid says he is optimistic about the future.

Watch his statement of intent here:

Following on from an earlier panel on sustainable cities, the conversation has moved onto sustainable societies.

This is also the final panel for the first day of the inaugural SGI Forum.

One major challenge to sustainable societies is how to transition in a way that’s affordable and accessible to all. And how to do it in a way that takes into consideration the jobs that might be lost and how to train a skilled labourforce that can fill the ones that might be created.

Speaking on the panel are Dr Malegapuru William Makgoba, interim chair of the board of South Africa’s state-owned public electricity company, Eskom; Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, president of the Islamic Development Bank; Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, minister of hydrocarbons for the Republic of the Congo; Pearnel Charles Jr, minister of housing, urban renewal, environment and climate change for Jamaica; Dr Nayf Almusehel, deputy minister for policies and strategic planning for Saudi Arabia’s ministry of energy; and Dr Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, director-general and CEO of the OPEC Fund for International Development.

Speaking on the panel on Saudi giga-projects are Jerry Inzerillo and Nadhmi Al-Nasr.

Jerry Inzerillo is the CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA). He oversees the development at Diriyah Gate, a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination with a Unesco World Heritage Site just outside of Riyadh.

Diriyah was the original home of the House of Saud, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, which makes this development particularly important to the country. This means that like the developments at AlUla, the development plans here are sensitively created to preserve the history and culture in the area while also taking into consideration future economic requirements.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr is the CEO of NEOM, a new mega city being developed in north-west Saudi Arabia. This futuristic planned city will be an important tourism destination for the country but as it’s entirely planned from scratch, it’s also incorporated many sustainable considerations into the design.

To transform its society from the ground up in a sustainable way, Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in giga-projects. These large-scale developments encompass everything from new tourism destinations to eco-friendly transport. In essence, a new way of living – sustainably.

In the next panel, we’ll hear from CEOs of two of Saudi Arabia’s giga projects, Diriyah Gate and NEOM.

But first, a keynote address from the Saudi minister for tourism, Ahmed Al Khateeb. The ministry will play a key role in transforming the country into a sustainable leisure destination.

In a panel earlier today, Saudi Arabia’s governor of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City explained why ambitious urban planning is key to delivering environmental objectives.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the under secretary general and executive director of the UN Human Settlements Programme, was also on the panel.

She said: “Cities are hubs of innovation, and Covid-19 has shown us the weaknesses and opportunities that cities can bring through that innovation.”

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There have been conversations and interviews throughout the day in the TV studio at the SGI Forum.

You can watch some of the coverage and exclusive interviews on IndyTV here.

The live event is now turning to money.

Experts are explaining what it takes to make green projects work financially, what are some of the risks of investments and the changes to legal frameworks and processes that need to happen for the whole system to work.

Watch the live stream here:

In a follow on panel, CEOs and leaders from major petrochemical and green energy companies weighed in on how CCUS and green hydrogen technology could be scaled up.

Both of these processes could provide credible solutions to climate challenges.

As discussed in an earlier panel, CCUS processes use captured carbon to produce usable and saleable products. It’s a way to reduce emissions, and add value at the same time.

Green hydrogen, meanwhile, is produced from sustainable energy sources and can in turn be used as a source of energy. When it burns, water vapour is the only emission, making it an extremely clean energy source. What’s more, hydrogen is able to generate almost three times the amount of energy compared to gasoline.

To make a real impact, however, these technologies need to be scaled up to an industrial scale.