When the region settles after the American war with Iran, and it will, American and European travelers will come back. Not just for spectacle or headline projects, but for places that feel real. Places that haven’t been engineered to impress and which get into your soul.

We predict that visitors to Saudi Arabia will want to see places like Rijal Alma.

About 28 miles west of Abha, in the mountains of Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, Rijal Alma sits along steep slopes that fall toward the Red Sea. The village is known for its tall, narrow houses, some rising six stories—built from stone, mud, and wood. They’ve been standing for generations, holding their shape in heat, wind, and time.

This is vernacular architecture in its pure form. Long before eco, regenerative and sustainability became buzzwords, builders here figured out how to work with the climate. Thick earthen walls absorb heat during the day and release it at night. Small windows limited direct sun and gave privacy which is what Muslim families expect. The stacked design helps air move through the structure. Nothing is decorative for the sake of it. Everything has a purpose.

Saudi Arabia today is pushing forward with massive projects which have either failed or been postponed, like NEOM, Trojena, Shebara—designed to redefine how people live in extreme environments. They’re bold, expensive, and built to draw attention. But they also raise a question. Is oil money only buying the new and fantastic? As the world weans itself on oil, Saudi Arabia and its family owned oil company Saudi Aramco, will return to humble roots like the House of Saud, a ruling family that once lived in a mud palace.

Rijal Alma shows a different approach to building. The materials are local and the scale is human.

Under the House of Saud, there’s been more interest in restoring historic sites like this one. That’s a start. But preservation alone isn’t enough. The real shift would be using these ideas again, not as decoration, but as a base for new construction.

In a hotter world, that kind of thinking matters. Buildings that cool themselves. Materials that don’t rely on long supply chains. Designs that last.

When travel feels safe again, visitors from the US and Europe will likely make their way here. Not just to see something old, but to understand how people built before energy was cheap and space was unlimited. Walk through Rijal Alma and you notice it right away. The temperature drops in the shade. The walls feel solid. The streets are narrow for a reason. Nothing is random.

It’s not nostalgic. It’s practical. And we love that.

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Neom, a bombastic collection of futuristic cities and resorts, has flopped as Saudi oil prices roll back reality. The Saudi plan of hosting the 2029 Asian games to be held at Trojena, a ski report in the desert, has been cancelled.

The 2029 Asian Winter Games were supposed to be Saudi Arabia’s big moment for tourism and Vision 2030, hosted at Trojena, the ambitious mountain ski resort being built inside the $500 billion Neom megaproject in the northwest desert. It would have been the first winter sporting event ever held in an Arab-speaking country, a remarkable geopolitical flex for a nation with essentially no winter sports tradition and barely any snow. (Read here about Snowmax and the dangers of artificial snow).

The Olympic Council of Asia announced the games would be postponed last month, and within days announced they would instead move to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Al Arabiya Gulf News gave no reason for the change, but the context is hard to ignore.

With oil prices down, Saudi Arabia is in fiscal trouble, and oil is the core of the problem. The kingdom’s budget deficit widened in the fourth quarter of 2025 to its highest level in five years, as lower oil prices squeezed government finances, according to Arab News.

Saudi Arabia needs crude at around $91 a barrel to balance its budget, but prices have been stuck in the low $60s for months Securities Finance Times, a gap of nearly 30% between the dream and reality.

That gap is starting to show in the kingdom’s grand ambitions of building The Mile, a 15-minute city on the Red Sea.

Saudi officials have signaled a pivot to “wiser” spending, and the government has made clear it will not hesitate to walk away from costly projects that no longer fit its priorities.

Trojena, which was already facing significant construction delays and had missed its original 2026 completion target, appears to be one casualty of that reckoning along with The Line.

Saudi officials have been quietly reviewing some of the biggest Vision 2030 projects and though they are not canceling them outright, they are stretching timelines and trimming scope.

Almaty, by contrast mades sense. Kazakhstan previously hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games and the 2017 Winter Universiade, so the infrastructure is already there.

For Saudi Arabia, losing the games is more than a sporting embarrassment. It’s a signal that Vision 2030’s most spectacular promises: a ski resort in the desert, a linear city in the wilderness, a new Las Vegas on the Red Sea were always contingent on oil staying expensive. And one by one, reality is doing the editing that ambition refused to do. If Americans pull through on fusion (see Xcimer), OPEC oil will be over.

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As world leaders and billionaires descend on Riyadh for this year’s Future Investment Initiative — better known as “Davos in the Desert” — we wonder where the planet fairs in all this political business talk. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan has turned the kingdom into an unlikely global stage for innovation and investment, drawing over 20 heads of state, 50 ministers, and hundreds of financiers, tech executives, and policy shapers.

Some of the “diplomats” include Syria’s newest leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, a Syrian politician, revolutionary, and former leader of Al Qaeda, that once had a bounty of $10 million USD on his head. We can see where this is going.

I am always hopeful, if not naive. Can this gathering of powerbrokers truly help save the planet, or is it another round of green-tinted self-congratulation? The event’s stated goal is to explore “new pathways for global prosperity.” In practice, that has meant spotlighting artificial intelligence, clean energy, healthtech, and new financial models.

The 2025 program dedicates half its panels to technology — a smart move given AI’s potential to optimize energy grids, improve climate modeling, and make sustainable materials scalable. Yet the conference’s foundation remains an oil-wealth economy seeking reinvention.

That contradiction — a fossil-fuel kingdom hosting a climate-focused summit — is what makes Davos in the Desert both fascinating and ridiculous.

Those attending read like a cross-section of global capital: sovereign wealth fund managers, CEOs of major banks, and tech visionaries courting Middle Eastern investment. Delegations from Africa, Asia, and Europe are also there, positioning their nations for partnership in a rapidly diversifying Gulf. Deals worth billions will likely be announced — infrastructure, AI, renewables, even biotech.

Yet the “green” voice remains muted. Few grassroots environmentalists or Indigenous leaders will sit beside the financiers. And while Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in solar, hydrogen, and reforestation, the absence of climate justice advocates, biodiversity scientists, and youth voices limits what the event can achieve beyond rhetoric.

Who Should Be Invited Next Year?

If Davos in the Desert wants to pivot from an elite networking forum to a genuine force for ecological regeneration, the guest list must evolve. Imagine Indigenous guardians of the Amazon, coral reef scientists, African solar entrepreneurs, and women leading rewilding projects in the Sahel sharing the stage with Wall Street executives. These are the people who embody solutions already working on the ground — the missing link between boardroom strategy and planetary repair. Or real, proven climate tech leaders who don’t mince words? Where do the voices of reason get lost when big money is on the table?

Saudi Arabia’s desert may seem an unlikely place to host a green renaissance, but it could become one as we showed with the investment in the company iyris, a greenhouse tech developed by foreigners from the UK and Turkey. Water scarcity, heat, and rapid urbanization make the region a living laboratory for resilience. If the FII community directs even a fraction of its capital toward desert greening, regenerative agriculture, and circular infrastructure, it could turn the Gulf into a model for climate adaptation. Oil is not going to last forever. Wells may keep getting “released” but the moment we fix fusion and have limitless energy, the Gulf Countries will become obsolete. Their fancy cities will look like a mirage.

To save the planet, investment summits like this must go beyond pledges. They must measure success in restored ecosystems, revived species, and resilient communities — not just in GDP growth. Until then, Davos in the Desert remains but a mirage: shimmering with possibility, but still waiting for its true oasis moment.

Read more on Green Prophet about Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, AI in climate innovation, and how deserts could lead the next green revolution.

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Saudi Arabia, a nation better known for its oil wealth, is rapidly reinventing itself as a marine sustainability player. Positioned between the ecologically sensitive Red Sea and the economically strategic Arabian Gulf, the Kingdom now has its sights set on becoming a global hub for blue economy innovation.

As part of this shift, Jeddah will host the Ocean Action Forum on October 27–28, 2025, at the Jeddah Hilton, gathering policymakers, scientists, investors, infrastructure developers, marine engineers, and climate strategists. The event promises not just high-level discussion but a new governance model for ocean-positive development in the Gulf.

According to the official agenda, the forum is designed to “shed light on key industry trends and issues, foster strategic partnerships, and explore cutting-edge solutions to safeguard marine ecosystems.”

Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has made an unusual promise for a hydrocarbon nation: to restore coastal ecosystems, expand marine protected areas, scale mangrove forests, and build new “nature-compatible” infrastructure across its rapidly developing coastal cities.

In early 2025, the Kingdom took a symbolic global step by assuming the Secretariat of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), giving it a front-row seat in shaping global coral protection policy. This forum is the first major marine policy gathering since that appointment, making it a signal moment in the Kingdom’s environmental diplomacy.

Related: We’ve reach coral reef tipping point

A Closer Look at Day One

The event opens with remarks by Dr. Vienna Eleuteri of the Saudi Red Sea Authority, who will set the tone with a call for “long-term marine stewardship backed by measurable outcomes and inclusive governance.”

From there, discussions quickly move from policy to hard innovation:

• Marine Spatial Planning as Climate Defense
  How do you balance tourism, fishing, shipping lanes, and offshore development without collapsing delicate marine ecosystems? Experts from KAUST, Fujairah Research Centre, and Buro Happold will debate new zoning and monitoring tools.

• Turning Ports into Reefs
  In one of the most anticipated talks, Ocean Ecostructures CEO Ignasi Ferrer will present how AI, robotics, and bio-designed structures can convert concrete seawalls and breakwaters into living habitats, transforming industrial coastlines into biodiversity zones.

• Aquaculture Reimagined
  With global pressure on wild fisheries, KAUST’s Aquaculture Development Program will outline how precision aquaculture and filtration technologies could make farmed fish part of a regenerative, not extractive, ocean economy.

Mangroves, Microplastics and Machine Learning

Late-afternoon sessions focus on restoration at scale, including Saudi-led platforms like Netzero’s Mangrove Action initiative, which uses satellite monitoring and digital tracking tools to verify coastal restoration outcomes—a shift toward data accountability for nature projects.

There will also be a tech spotlight on microplastic-free aquaculture, with filtration innovators from TraCon GmbH showcasing Aqua BIO Kat, a new German-engineered system designed to reduce contamination and protect human health through clean water cycles.

From Coastal Luxury to Coastal Responsibility

Saudi Arabia’s massive Red Sea tourism projects—including NEOM, the Red Sea Global regenerative tourism initiative, and luxury island developments—have drawn both investment interest and ecological scrutiny. The Ocean Action Forum appears to be the Kingdom’s answer: framing development and marine restoration not as opposing forces, but as parts of a “regenerative coastal economy.”

The success of the event will depend on what happens after the panel lights turn off—whether restoration targets, monitoring systems, and local community roles become embedded in policy, not just PowerPoint slides.

But one thing is clear: Saudi Arabia is no longer observing the marine sustainability movement from the sidelines. It is positioning itself to lead it. The Ocean Action Forum 2025 at the Jeddah Hilton may well be the moment the region begins to define its own blueprint for marine resilience—not borrowed from Europe or island nations, but rooted in the realities of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.

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Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, who served as the kingdom’s top religious cleric for over 25 years, has died in Riyadh. He was 84. Funeral prayers were attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. The funeral was held at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh.

As grand mufti since 1999, Sheikh Abdulaziz held one of the most influential religious roles in the Sunni Muslim world. Saudi Arabia, home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the annual Hajj pilgrimage, has long tied state legitimacy to clerical authority under its strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.

Sheikh Abdulaziz’s role as grand mufti put him in the spotlight because of every Muslim’s goal of attending the annual Hajj pilgrimage required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their lives. The grand mufti’s words are carefully followed. (Related: take these steps and jump into the Green Prophet guide for a greener Hajj).

Blind from a young age, Sheikh Abdulaziz was appointed grand mufti by the House of Saud’s King Fahd. Fahd was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005.

Sheikh Abdulaziz’s rulings reflected decades of Islamic ultraconservative thought, once condemning mobile phone cameras as a threat to morality and he compared chess to gambling. (This year the Taliban banned chess). He opposed women driving and described gender mixing as “evil and catastrophe” before later softening his stance as the state changed course. Saudi Arabia decided to let women drive in 2018.

At times, his comments provoked international backlash. In 2015, he reportedly told Kuwaiti officials it was “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region” in the Arabia peninsula— remarks his aides later attempted to downplay. He also issued sectarian statements against Shiite Muslims, particularly following Iran’s criticism of Saudi Arabia after the deadly 2015 Hajj stampede.

Luckily for the western world, and peaceful prospects in the region through the Abraham Accords, he condemned al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State, calling them “enemy No. 1 of Islam.” After 9/11, when Saudi Arabia battled an al-Qaida insurgency within its own borders, he rejected militant jihad as “fake.” We should not forget that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.

From Wahhabism to Vision 2030

Sheikh Abdulaziz’s career spanned a period of dramatic transformation under the House of Saud, a grand kingdom that rose from rules in mud castles. Once aligned tightly with the religious establishment, the monarchy gradually moved to curtail clerical power — especially under Saudi Arabia’s young visionary Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In 2018,  under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia ended the ban on women driving — a watershed reform that the grand mufti eventually supported.

The University of Novarra’s Naomi Moreno, pens a piece on Saudi reform saying it might be being more for optics than for real change within: “While some perceive the crown prince’s actions to be a genuine move towards reforming Saudi society, several indicators point to the possibility that MBS might have more practical reasons that are only tangentially related to progression for progression’s sake. As the thinking goes, such decrees may have less to do with genuine reform, and more to do with improving an international image to deflect from some of the kingdom’s more controversial practices, both at home and abroad. A number of factors drive this public scepticism.”

Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030” supervised by Sheikh Abdulaziz has also pushed massive economic liberalization, from Saudi Aramco’s controversial IPO to the multibillion-dollar mega-city NEOM. While any PR material put out by Saudi Arabia’s development companies, owned and operated by the House of Saud, tout sustainability objectives, no third party organizations or journalists can verify any claims.

Eco Branding or Environmental Boondoggle?

The grand mufti’s declining influence coincided with Saudi Arabia rebranding itself as a global hub for tourism and sustainability, no doubt advised to them by well-paid consultants and architects eager for multi-million, even billion dollar contracts. Ultra-luxury resorts are being marketed as eco-destinations across the Red Sea and virgin islands, even as construction threatens pristine habitats. See Shebara.

From coral reefs to fragile desert ecosystems, critics argue that these projects risk becoming environmental boondoggles — glossy green branding masking ecological disruption. The dynamic mirrors other regional tragedies, such as the controversial Qatari-backed resort development on Assomption Island near the Aldabra Atoll.

“Sheikh Abdulaziz served the faith and the nation with dedication,” the Saudi Royal Court said in its obituary statement. Yet his legacy remains contested: a staunch defender of Wahhabi orthodoxy who presided over a society that — under royal command — shifted toward liberalization, consumerism, and grand “eco” visions for the future.

As Saudi Arabia accelerates its transformation, the passing of its top cleric who memorized the Qu’ran at age 10 underscores the changing face of religious authority and perhaps tolerance in a kingdom increasingly defined by megaprojects, oil wealth, and the House of Saud’s push to rebrand itself for a post-oil world.

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Red Sea helps farmers prosper near dead or dying aquifers

RedSea LLC, a company founded in the heat of Saudi Arabia has cracked the code for sustainably growing plants in high heat conditions. They offer the answer to increasing cultivation on dead and dying aquifers. 

Growing food in greenhouses in a European winter makes sense. The Dutch invented the idea in the 1800s when botanist Charles Lucien Bonaparte wanted to grow medicinal plants in Leiden. These greenhouses retain heat in the enclosures, allowing cultivation even during the cold Northern European winter months. 

Hydroponics –– or growing trees and plants in a water medium with nutrients –– is having a moment now but it started with a California botanist in the 1800s and was perfected in the 90s by cannabis growers in Canada. Hydroponics tech is now used for growing salads in food deserts everywhere. Hydro-grown has its challenges, and high costs, however.

Drip irrigation, designed to precisely control the delivery of scarce water and costly fertilizer directly to plant roots is credited to the Polish-Israeli agronomist Simcha Blass. This solution allowed cultivation in arid climates where the growing season was limited. More recently, American-Israeli Daniel Hillel received the World Food Prize for devising drip irrigation systems in the developing world and this technology, delivered by companies like Netafim and Rivulis, is now a multi-billion dollar global business.

Climate change and increasing world temperatures now presents additional challenges for agriculture –– especially where climates are becoming more hostile, and water less available. A growing world population, and concerns over food security in the hottest countries in the world has shifted the focus of innovators to ask the question of how to sustainably feed this growing population, and how to overcome the challenges of cultivating in increasingly arid climates. 

RedSea LLC, a company founded in the heat of Saudi Arabia, has cracked the code for sustainably growing plants in high heat conditions and they offer the answer to increasing cultivation on dead and dying aquifers. 

The founders include an Australian plant biologist Prof. Mark Tester, known as the Indiana Jones of the plant world, Prof. Derya Baran, a leading materials scientist and Dr. Ryan Lefers, an expert on water systems and water preservation in agriculture. The trio have built a platform of technologies that adapts the best of the innovative pioneers before them in materials, AI, hydroponics, smart farms, and drip irrigation and have applied know-how in materials, water and plant genetics to sustainably grow crops in hot and dry climates. 

This starts with the water, as access to fresh water is an increasing challenge with agriculture currently using up to 70% of available fresh water to grow crops. The challenge was how to grow plants in increasingly arid conditions on dead or dying aquifers. Tester went to the Galapagos on a mission to figure it out and came home inspired by the tomato plants that he found there growing on rocks right next to the sea. 

He tells Green Prophet that he questioned whether these tomato plants could handle the salt, and if so, could they be modified to be grown commercially while reducing the draw of fresh water resources? Brackish water is saltier than water that comes from the tap and plants don’t like it. It is the water found in estuaries where rivers meet the sea. It is also the water found in aquifers near the sea or in deserts –– or in areas where climate change, and overpopulation has depleted aquifers. 

In all parts of our drought-facing world, and especially in the dry Middle East and regions of California and Texas, brackish water in damaged and dead aquifers is common. Tester has made it his life mission, and with his co-founders established a successful company now scaling into new markets, to grow food on dead and dying aquifers.

“It really depends on the crop, but when our technologies are combined this means you can build greenhouses near dead or dying aquifers. In reality there are a lot of factors in play, but this is the idea,” says Tester, pointing to a suite of agri-climate technologies RedSea has built: “The fundamental idea to address is to reduce the use of freshwater for producing fresh food and if we can do that by using more saltwater, then that is definitely a useful contribution.”

Tester was educated in the UK at Cambridge. He is a research professor at KAUST, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia.  

Perfecting saltwater greenhouses has been a quest for everyone in the Middle East. Maria Telkes, a Hungarian-American scientist laid the foundation for passive desalination greenhouses decades ago in her basic desalination kit made for providing water for soldiers at sea. Sites in Qatar and Abu Dhabi have piloted saltwater greenhouses. 

But Tester’s background is in plant biology, not just tech, furthering the understanding of salt tolerance in plants for desert agriculture. He has developed methods for developing new types of seeds that are used as a hearty rootstock which can handle brackish water. Other plants, which are not as tough, but which are tasty can be then grafted onto these rootstocks. 

“I am a plant guy and in this company I am delivering the fruits of my lifetime’s research which is fundamental science: how plants move solutes in and out of the plants, and applying it to salinity tolerance. With my co-founders Ryan Lefers and Derya Baran a suite of products was developed and commercialised that can leverage this research,” he tells Green Prophet.

Grafting is used with many varieties of plants, such as apples, cherries, roses, watermelons, nut trees, and tomato plants. Developing new types of rootstocks that can handle brackish water and other challenges such as heat and drought is the aim –– and “then we graft the edible bits on top,” says Tester.

In some cases, RedSea can graft across species, but only closely related ones: “We can graft a tomato onto a wild tomato, an eggplant onto a wild eggplant, and sometimes even a tomato onto a wild eggplant, but we can’t graft an orange onto an apple, for example. They have to be fairly closely related.”

The work of grafting also allows the farmer to extend the growing period of the plant, says Tester: “We can help tomatoes be economically productive for longer, such as from 10 months to 11 months in a greenhouse.” 

The RedSea technology works on a soil-based substrate, hydroponics or on open fields in soil: “We are developing rootstocks for all of these conditions,” says Tester.

“In tomatoes, for instance, we are working with brackish water, which is more dilute than seawater but more salty that you and I can drink, is the reality is that in many places around around the world a lot of our food is grown using groundwater and every major aquifer is being depleted. As it gets depleted, it gets salty. 

“We have few aquifers straight outside our university that have been abandoned because of that – now we can access water that’s currently not being used.”

Turning greenhouses inside out

Apart from the unique rootstocks that RedSea is providing, the company has a number of technologies now being sold in export markets. While greenhouses typically need to be heated in Holland or Canada, in the Middle East, the reverse is true. It gets too hot. So RedSea has also helped solve that problem.

They have developed a range of heat blocking greenhouse covers. These are based on additives that can be incorporated into any polymer based cover that blocks damaging heat from penetrating into the greenhouses –– a product called iyris SecondSky which incorporates a nanoparticle technology invented by Baran.

“Derya developed a nanoparticle that when dispersed in plastics absorbs near infrared radiation – which in layman’s terms translates to heat. This absorption of the heat load that would otherwise be damaging to plant health delivers a huge reduction of the resources that are needed in such structures to control the climate and manage plant health in the greenhouse,” says Tester.

The technology can be easily Integrated into standard plastic greenhouse covers, be that polycarbonate, polyethylene or net, resulting in a product that is a one for one replacement of standard greenhouse covers – just better –  because the heat blocking is already integrated into the plastic during the manufacturing process. This means that there is very little compromising impact on the PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) transmission through the cover compared to alternative heat blocking methods. 

Alternative heat blocking solutions include additional reflective films, chalking or internal shade screens, which are, in the case of films, expensive, an operational nuisance and potentially degrading to the plastic. In the case of chalking and compromise the PAR transmission within the greenhouse. Results achieved with the use of SecondSky have been impressive, Tester reports.

Ryan Lefers, the CEO of RedSea explained more about the potential of how disruptive this integrated heat blocking can be within high heat regions: “Greenhouse technology has become highly developed in Northern European countries such as the Netherlands, offering a solution to keep heat in winter so that crops could be grown out of season, but here in the Middle East and over vast areas of the planet we need to keep the heat out in summer, so our thinking was to take the original greenhouse and turn it inside out,” he tells Green Prophet.

“Water scarcity is another major challenge, so finding ways to operate farms with a lower environmental impact, while empowering farmers to continue to farm without an expectation that they make fundamental changes in the way that they farm was a key driver for us.”

The saltwater greenhouse dream

In facilities where SecondSky is installed, farmers can save up to 30% on water and fertilizer use when compared to hydroponic systems and up to 90% compared to soil based cultivation. Many farms also use a reverse pressure pad and fan cooling system in the region to assist in coping with the extreme temperatures. Farmers can save up to an additional 32% in energy costs once a SecondSky cover is installed. 

RedSea has developed an add-on to their technology suite that enables farmers to use brackish water in these cooling systems further reducing the environmental impact of farming in hot climates.

RedSea was founded in 2018, and to date has raised a total of about $36.5 million USD. Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco through their investment fund Wa’ed is among the investors. A new Series A funding round will close shortly, adding investors and additional funds for the company’s planned expansion. 

Rapid growth of sales and revenues is the company’s focus at the moment, with expansions into other countries. RedSea technology is being sold through manufacturers and distributors, but also directly to farms. There are installations in 16 countries to date and this number is growing.

But Tester, a plant guy at heart with a passion for the environment, has his eye on the bigger prize: “We wanted to have a company that is profitable and truly sustainable and highly impactful –– where we are across the world developing and selling technologies to reduce the environmental footprint of our food productions in both developed and developing countries. 

“And that’s where we came from ––  Ryan and me. We started with this idea of increasing sustainability in agriculture in developing countries ––  that’s in the DNA of the company.”

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Neom is a megalomaniac’s dream in Saudi Arabia where dozens of towns, cities and resorts like The Line, a mile long city will cut through the desert to the Red Sea, and all join together in a futuristic utopia. The first of the endless series to be opened, claim the Saudis, is Sindalah an island covering 84 acres. It opened this month to the public with celebrities like Will Smith and Tom Brady smiling on location to bring the Americans over on their mega yachts.

Video via KSAProjects 

Saudi Arabia announces massive construction projects on a weekly basis hoping that its oil wealth will attract western tourists, as it builds out other dreams for its locals in a parallel universe.

Below is an image of the intended result. The two images below are the actual construction state of Sindalah.

Set to welcome up to 2,400 guests per day by 2028, the island will also generate around 3,500 jobs.

Boasting an “impressive marine ecosystem”, Neom developers provide no available reports on environmental assessment or how it will protect coral reefs, dolphins or marine life. We reached out and received no comment.

Sindalah’s PR unit says its surrounding waters are home to 1,100 species of fish – 45 of which are unique to NEOM waters, in addition to more than 300 coral species.

In line with Neom’s commitment to sustainability and conservation, preservation of Sindalah’s natural marine habitat has been central to the island’s development, and guests are invited to dive beneath the surface to explore its wonders for themselves, writes marketing material. Where are the commitments and environmental standards kept?

From What’s On Saudi Arabia: “Dozens of yachts from around the world have landed at the state-of-the-art marina at the Sindalah Yacht Club in NEOM as the destination approaches its grand opening. Also spotted on one of the super yachts was Tom Brady, the American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 23 seasons.”

We have dove off the waters of Egypt and no one is preparing you on how to behave in a coral reef environment. With luxury mega yachts expected to crash every party, how does Sindalah expect to protect the environment?

Sindalah will host 38 restaurants, nightlife and golfing for guests who can stay at none of 440 rooms and 88 villas, as well as 218 luxury serviced apartments.

Sinai, Egypt across the Red Sea still looks a lot more appealing. Plus it’s home to God’s mountain.

Trio of “luxury high-end boutique hotels” Leyja launched by Neom

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Saudi Arabia is pouring billions of its oil profits from its family-owned oil business Saudi Aramco to make Saudi Arabia an attractive destination for Westerners. Saudi Arabia wants to rival the United Arab Emirates in its openness to Western values and business. It was not long ago (6 years) that Saudi Arabian women were allowed to drive. But now with the investment into Saudi Arabia’s mega-developments called Neom, the country has started inviting and paying American influencers to live in the15-minute city being created at the Red Sea, called The Line.

South Africa influencer Jessica Ashley Herman has moved into a Neom complex in Saudi Arabia with her family, and commenters on social media, X are not kind. “Low security prison vibes,” writes one user.

“Is this supposed to convince people to work out in the desert for a penal colony?”

Below is the video she posted on TikTok.

“Looks like nothing any sane person would want to live the rest of one’s life.”

“Dude this is the stuff of nightmares.”

“Oil pipeline camp vibes.”

“We were promised stuff from an 80s sci-fi film and we got an 80s office park.”

Planned cities are difficult to build. When the United Arab Emirates built Masdar as the world’s first zero-carbon city, good thing they kept the flop of a city small. It never became a thing, and when engineering students moved into it they weren’t even allowed to write about it and its problems. We did have a secret submission years ago. It’s posted here.

So what about you? Think you will relocate to Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia is investing billions to make the desert and Red Sea area the playground for the rich and famous hoping it can become the new Cannes. We believe that a city without a purpose and a heart will flop.

Also worth noting, the Houthis had been firing rockets at Saudi Arabia before they took up the cause to support the Hamas and fire rockets at Israel. If Saudi Arabia can’t join some peacekeeping force ASAP no westerner will want to set foot anywhere close to the Red Sea.

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It’s 10 years away and hopefully the Houthi conflict in the Red Sea far behind them: Saudi Arabia has already revealed plans for 15 of its 2034 World Cup stadiums. This will be the second FIFA World Cup to be help in the Middle East after Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The stadiums will host the World Cup and includes a venue built at the 15-minute city, The Line. Another is based on the surface of the bark of a tree.

Revealed as part of its official bid submission to FIFA, the 15 stadiums will be based in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar and Abha, as well as part of The Line, the controversial city which has seen Bedouins murdered and sent to jail.

A total of 11 new stadiums will need to be built, with 3 under construction. Two of Saudi Arabia’s largest stadiums will be renovated for the event and 2 others expanded. How can we ensure that worker’s rights in Saudi Arabia are upheld?

A Guardian report issued in February 2021 found that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since the award of the tournament. The death records were not categorised by occupation or place of work but it is assumed they were accidents that took place during construction of the stadium, pointing to modern-day slavery conditions in Qatar that still has not seen much media attention.

We wrote about this in 2012, but Qatar nor the international FIFA body paid no heed.

“Trade unionists have used the COP18 discussions in Qatar to bring the silent but disturbing plight of migrant workers to light. While the emirate boasts about its plans to build a bevy of solar-powered stadiums in advance of the 2022 World Cup in addition to a host of other eco-boosting projects, very little has been said about who is going to do the work. Like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, Qatar relies very heavily on migrant workers, who do all the dirty work but receive few of the benefits of their hard, miserable labor.”

FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the host for the 2034 event in December, with the country the only bidder for the event. Who is going to hold FIFA and Saudi Arabia accountable for worker’s rights when basic media is not allowed to report from Saudi Arabia?

Read on for details of the 15 stadiums set to host games at the 2034 World Cup:

New Murabba Stadium, Riyadh, unknown architect

The New Murabba Stadium will be surrounded by rock-like forms divided by canyons: “Its design replicates the layered overlapping planes and peeling planar texture of the bark of the native acacia tree,” according to the bid placed.

The 45,000-seat stadium will form part of the Murabba downtown development, and will include the square skyscraper called Mukaab featured here. No elements of sustainability in materials or LEED certification supplied.

King Salman International Stadium, Riyadh, by Populous

This venue will host the World Cup 2034 final and will be the country’s largest stadium when complete. It is designed by the architecture studio Populous, and will have a capacity of 92,000.

“The stadium will blend into its surrounding topography, with terrain and natural habitat forming part of the stadium’s roof,” said the official submission.

“Aside from its aesthetic appeal, this design will provide effective shading and ventilation tailored to the desert climate.”

Roshn Stadium, Riyadh, ROSHYN Gruop

“The stadium is designed as a dynamic part of the urban fabric, encouraging the community to walk around and through the facility,” announced the bid.

King Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh, by Ian Fraser, John Roberts, Michael KC Cheah

First opened in 1987, the King Fahd Sports City Stadium is covered with a distinctive fabric roof supported on a series of masts. Set in east of Riyadh, it is being refurbished by Populous to increase seating from 58,000 to 70,000.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, Riyadh, by Populous

Named after Mohammed bin Salman, the stadium is planned about 20 miles from Riyadh and the cliffside stadium will include attendee stands on three sides with a large, retractable LED wall occupying the other side. There are no sustainability elements supplied.

“The bowl has been designed to optimise the spectator experience, featuring a unique three-sided arrangement to allow for spectacular views out towards the Tuwaiq cliffs,” wrote the official bidders.

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh, Populous 

“The stadium design draws inspiration from the ‘culturally contextualized modernism’ principles of Salmani architecture,” said the bid.

The stadium will include solar panels and locally sourced materials.

South Riyadh Stadium, Riyadh, Populous

Influenced by “Salmani architecture”, the South Riyadh Stadium will be located in the south Riyadh. “The facade blends modernity with the rich architectural language and material palette of the area,” according to the bid.

King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, by Michael KC Cheah, renovation by Populous

This is one of the two existing stadiums that will be expanded for the World Cup so it can seat 46,000 during the tournament instead of 33,000 currently.

Neom Stadium, Neom, unknown architect

The aim here is to be the most unique stadium in the world the Neom stadium will be part of The Line, a 15-minute linear city being built on the coast of the Red Sea. “With a pitch situated more than 350 meters above ground, stunning vistas, and a roof created from the city itself, the stadium will be an experience like no other.”

King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, by Arup

This venue was opened in 2014 by Arup and can hold 62,000 people. It will be refurbished for the World Cup: “Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium is an elegant, respectful and versatile complex that combines traditional Islamic architecture with innovative design to form a highly functional, sustainable and flexible building,” said Arup.

Qiddiya Coast Stadium, Jeddah, Populous

This colorful stadium will be built aboutu 30 miles outside Jeddah.

“It is designed as a physical representation of the vibrant relationship between people and water, energy and matter, with its design also evoking the ripple effect of a Mexican wave,” said the bidder.

“Its form undulates; its vibrant color palette is rich and joyful.”

Jeddah Central Development Stadium, Jeddah, by GMP Architecten

This is being built as one of the anchor buildings of the Jeddah Central giga project and will include a 45,000 seat stadium designed by German studio GMP Architecten. The idea is to look like historic structures, though Saudi Arabian historic buildings were essentially palaces and buildings made from mud. See the House of Saud.

“It echoes the traditional architecture of Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district, while embracing technological advancements and innovative building design,” said the bidder.

“It features three tiers, with an outer concourse connected to four surrounding ‘villages’. The stadium bowl is fully covered by a semi-translucent roof, with a retractable inner roof and a 360-degree LED screen.”

King Abdullah Economic City Stadium, Jeddah, unknown architect

Located 60 miles from Jeddah, the King Abdullah Economic City Stadium will form part of a planned new city on the Red Sea Coast. The drum-shaped stadium will have a capacity of 45,000.

Aramco Stadium, Al Khobar, by Foster + Partners and Populous

With a concept by UK studio Foster + Partners and now being designed by Populous, the Aramco Stadium is under construction in Al Khobar.

“The stadium’s architecture celebrates the sea’s dynamic nature and its profound influence on the local community,” said the bid: “Its whirlpool-shaped design mimics overlapping sails and draws on graceful, natural wave motifs, to blend seamlessly with the coastal landscape.”

King Khalid University Stadium, Abha, a renovation by Populous

Located in Abha, the King Khalid University Stadium is stadium number 2 that will be expanded and retrofitted to accommodate a larger crowd.

The stadium can hold 12,000 and it will be increased to 45,000 during the World Cup.

The post Saudi Arabia’s 15 venues for FIFA World Cup 2034 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Neom expands its mega-development projects seemingly every week. Saudi Arabia is hoping to be the newest hightech destination of the Middle East, outpacing what Lebanon once was, and the country believes it can do this through over-the-top residential housing and tourism destinations. The Line is Neom’s first 15-minute city and a list of Neom’s projects would make your head spin, the latest to be built with oil money.  It is called Jaumer. And Saudi after all has to compete with the United Arab Emirates, emerging as the most progressive leading fossil fuel nation. (The UAE just announced building the world’s largest airport).

Jaumer, a brand-new marina destination is coming to Neom, the $500 billion USD ‘city of the future’ – and it will be about the super-yachting lifestyle, the one most of us don’t have.

The exclusive residential community is been planned around a marina set to become home to over 6,000 residents on the Gulf of Aqaba where Houthu pirates are firing at cargo ships and oil tankers.

Centred around a marina, Jaumer will feature a monumental 1-mile high aerofoil rising above the largest of the yacht berths, providing year-round protection yacht owners and residents. It will also have a gravity-defying cantilever (fixed or supported at only one end) to form a stunning entrance to marina, where the largest superyachts in the world can be put into park. The press material says there will be an international school onsite offering a progressive, broad based education, delivered by a diverse international faculty of experts and innovators.

Read More: Saudi Bedouin killed by trying to stop the 15 minute city from razing his home

The promotional material says there will be ladies playing french horns and a marine exploration center in the resort town, but honestly with the coral reefs near extinct and dolphins driven out of the Gulf of Aqaba we wonder if it will be worth the bother. A case of being the problem you are trying to fix. It’s so bad the greenwashing coming out of Neom and the Middle East, that we have given up laughing and are now just crying.

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