Circular economy and the resource nexus: Realignment and progress towards sustainable development in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Resources such as water, energy, and arable land represent bottlenecks with regard to achieving key sustainability paradigms such as the circular economy (CE). They exhibit vital inputs and outputs for economic development, and they are closely linked to the environmental challenges to the protection of ecosystems, emissions reduction, and sustainable resource use. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), aridity, large environmental footprints and the reliance on carbon fuels accentuate the importance of the water and energy sectors. This paper analyzes the resource nexus in KSA using the lens of the CE. It examines the relevance of the CE paradigm, and presents current progress, interventions and policy initiatives to promote this paradigm in natural resource sectors and subsectors such as desalination, electricity production, urban mobility, and agricultural water use. The current directions in KSA show a heightened engagement with sustainability issues, including significant projects related to the CE. Guided by the KSA (SAV 2030), several interventions exist in the energy-related sectors aimed at promotion of renewables, decarbonization of electricity production, energy efficiency in the built environment, carbon capture, and sustainable mobility. Similarly, the water sector has been progressing towards sustainable (and solar) desalination, water reuse and ecosystems-based solutions. However, the current efforts should be better embedded within larger policies such as the SAV 2030, the Green Middle East Initiative, and the Circular Carbon Economy. Moreover, explicit and more targeted CE strategies are needed in order to develop a comprehensive and more participatory approach towards promoting the CE, particularly in prominent areas such as water and energy. The paper provides best practices and highlights key policies for enhancing CE and resource-use sustainability and for moving towards a low-carbon and circular production in KSA or other carbon-exporting countries.