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KAUST Supports Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of
by KAUST
Leading the world’s scientific communities and advancing global policy
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In September 2020, KAUST hosted scientific communities from the world’s largest economies to propose science-driven solutions to the most pressing challenges. Placing the university firmly on the map, the high-profile Science 20 (S20) meetings of major nations provided KAUST with a unique opportunity to publicize its research and showcase its talents among global peers.
This year the S20 was led by KAUST under the chairmanship of Dr. Anas Alfaris of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The S20 is one of the official G20 engagement groups. Its purpose is to develop specific recommendations and implementable actions for policymakers of the G20, the world’s largest economies. The theme of this edition was “Foresight: Science for Navigating Critical Transitions”, with major sub-themes including the future of health, the circular economy, the digital revolution and connecting the dots. The S20 is composed of task forces that formulate detailed policy papers. These proposals form the basis of the S20 Communiqué that is officially presented to the G20 leaders for consideration. The S20 Communiqué comprises a list of consensus-based recommendations from the national science academy of each G20 member state. This year’s S20 Summit was a virtual event, hosted by KAUST in September. S20 discussions and task force meetings were held throughout 2020. During virtual S20 international workshops, KAUST President Dr. Tony Chan emphasised the importance of education to ensure that the promise of future technology is fulfilled, as is global collaboration and science’s accountability to society.
The Leaders’ Summit of the G20 was held in November 2020 in Riyadh as a virtual gathering among world leaders. Two major recommendations pioneered by Saudi Arabia, with the support of KAUST researchers, were included in the final G20 Communiqué. These included the launch of a global coral reef protection initiative and the endorsement of a new paradigm for managing global carbon emissions, known as the circular carbon economy (CCE). Recognising the need to conserve marine environments, the G20 launched the Global Coral Reef R&D Accelerator Platform to conserve and aid recovery of coral reefs globally. The initiative includes a commitment to increase global coral reef recovery by 10%, and KAUST will be the central node for the undertaking.
G20 leaders also endorsed the CCE platform, which was led by Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud and supported by a decade of CCE-related research at KAUST.
As described in the Leaders’ Declaration, the CCE is a voluntary, holistic, integrated, inclusive, pragmatic and complementary approach to promote economic growth, while enhancing environmental stewardship through managing emissions in all sectors, including energy, industry, mobility and food. The approach takes into account national circumstances when recognising the urgent need to act on climate change as the world population continues to grow and emissions rise. Adopting an economic model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, while supporting economic growth and sustainable development, has become more imperative than ever, and the G20 will need to be at the forefront of this process. In December 2020, KAUST launched its own Circular Carbon Initiative to support efforts to create a national platform that promotes, adopts and rapidly deploys CCE technological solutions (see Special Section).
Saudi Arabia’s 2020 presidency of the G20 marks the first time the summit was held in the Middle East. Gathering the leaders of the world’s largest economies is one of the most important forums for international economic cooperation. G20 members represent approximately 80% of the world’s GDP, 80% of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. Saudi Arabia set the overarching theme of “Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”, with key focus areas including women and youth empowerment, energy and climate change, and food and water security.
Established in 2017, the S20 is one of the newest engagement groups of the G20. It supports the G20 by fostering official dialogue with the scientific community and is normally led by the national science academy of the host country.
MINISTRY OF ENERGY
Yehia Khoja, Advisor to the Minister of Energy
