Saudi Arabia showcases tourism potential at London travel market

RIYADH: As a nation moving toward a greener future, Saudi Arabia is building bridges between the public and officials, raising awareness, and designing campaigns that promote sustainable development.

These efforts, in line with Vision 2030, seek to educate people about ecosystems and how they play a role in protecting and improving them. To support these goals, communication is critical. Journalism is one of the most effective tools.

Environmental journalism, used widely in both developed and developing nations, plays an essential role in shaping public awareness.

From reporting on ecological issues to empowering communities to take part in Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia needs more environmental journalists. Yet the field remains relatively unknown in the country.

Recognizing this gap, the National Center for Environmental Compliance has begun taking steps to advocate for and support eco-journalism.

“I think we had been noticing for the past years … a decade ago that there wasn’t really this professional, specialized media… in the Arab world,” Saad Al-Matrafi, NCEC’s executive director of media and communication and official spokesperson, told Arab News.

Al-Matrafi noted that while political, business, and sports journalism are quite popular, environmental journalism lags far behind.

“Here at the center we’re concentrating on actually bringing up a specialized generation, to be well-focused, well-informed, and educated about the environment,” he said.

Al-Matrafi explained that environmental journalists should not only report on events but also take part in wider conversations, join awareness programs, promote environmental education, and act as a bridge between the public and policymakers

That role is recognized internationally. UNESCO has identified environmental journalism as a critical field for reporting, investigating and communicating environmental issues to the public.

In a 2024 report, the UN agency noted that more than 70 percent of environmental journalists worldwide had been attacked for their work over the past 15 years — a period that also saw a surge in disinformation on environmental issues.

Al-Matrafi tied the role of journalists directly to the broader goals of Vision 2030, which emphasizes improving quality of life across the Kingdom.

“If we relate that to our strategy at the NCEC, part of that is improving the quality of life of citizens and the visitors and the tourists of the Kingdom,” he said.

For him, compliance programs and inspection systems are not simply about monitoring firms and factories. They are also about ensuring safer conditions for workers, their families and communities.

He stressed that the center’s efforts are for both individuals’ well-being and society as a whole.

Here, again, journalism plays a vital role. By raising awareness among workers, companies and institutions, reporters can help explain why compliance with environmental regulations and inspections matters.

Al-Matrafi stressed that NCEC’s purpose is not to detect violations and issue penalties, but to save lives.

He described operations the center oversees, such as preventing and managing oil spills, which, if neglected, could cause severe health and environmental damage.

“We have all these kinds of sensors in the sea to detect if there is any pollution in the water that could affect our marine life,” he said. “We were using the satellite to detect if there’s any pollution in the soil, and it’s really very high.”

Preventing and managing oil spills is a critical task for environmental response centers, involving monitoring, preparedness, rapid response, and long-term cleanup to limit health and environmental damage.

“These technical satellite programs are used to detect very small details,” Al-Matrafi said. “For instance, if that satellite notices or detects any pollution in the soil, it will give us notes and reports.

“We are helping the environment to be better. It’s affecting your life and your kids’ lives.”

Al-Matrafi also highlighted the NCEC’s national oil spill drills. “We have two national oil spill drills a year — the last one was in Yanbu in July,” he said. “It was drill number 17 … and I think this is one of the most interesting experiences that I'd like to cover.

“It goes from 40 to 60 entities in the country who actually participate … that covers government entities, private sector, and even non-government sectors like institutes, universities. In the future, we are going to add volunteers to be part of that.”

Journalists, he noted, are central to these exercises. “We have journalists on the boats to see what is going on, and we have them in the media center, they write, they take shots, and they record … I think it is a great opportunity to be part of that.”

Al-Matrafi concluded that no matter how much effort a nation invests in tackling environmental challenges, raising awareness is just as important. “It’s awareness, enlightenment, instructions, and good journalism.”