Saudi Arabia to unify issuance of permits for environmental investments

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RIYADH — The Saudi National Center for Environmental Compliance unveiled plans for the unification of the issuance of investment permits related to the environmental sector.

The center announced the start of the process of updating the initial list of activities for investors and classifying these activities based on their impact on the environment.

This update is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, as the list requires classification of activities by the center based on their impact on sensitive receptors and environmental circles.

Eng. Abdullah Al-Kaabi, director of the permits department at the center, confirmed that unifying the procedures for issuing permits is one of his department’s goals during the year 2024, and this includes preparing unified models for reviewing and evaluating environmental studies and environmental management plans, and developing and accelerating the issuance and renewal of permits through the center’s electronic platform.

Al-Kaabi stated that the center is working on developing a general strategy to increase the rate of compliance with issuing the necessary environmental permits for firms.

He revealed that the number of activities included in the list reached about 3,500 activities. “The center based its classification of these activities on the national guide for unified economic activities in the Kingdom issued by the General Authority for Statistics, and continues to update the activities that were included in the list,” he added.

It is to be noted that the center has contributed to raising the indicators of the quality of the environmental conditions of water, air and soil during the year 2023 by issuing more than 6,700 operational and construction environmental permits for facilities with an environmental impact, in addition to granting more than 140 licenses to offices of environmental consulting services.

The center is concerned with preserving and protecting the environment, its resources and safeguarding them from deterioration by providing high-quality services that contribute to raising the level of compliance with environmental regulations and standards.