AI plays a crucial role in sustainability by enabling smarter resource management, reducing waste, and enhancing environmental monitoring. For Saudi Arabia, leveraging AI is essential to tackling sustainability challenges, ensuring efficient energy and water use, and driving long-term environmental resilience. By integrating AI into various industries, Saudi Arabia can benefit in achieving its long-term targets of Vision 2030, ensuring both sustainability and economic progress.

AI in Resource Optimization

One of AI’s most impactful applications in sustainability is its ability to optimize resource utilization. The energy sector, a major pillar of Saudi Arabia’s economy, has begun integrating AI to enhance efficiency and reduce carbon footprints. AI-powered smart grids are improving electricity distribution, balancing supply and demand, and minimizing transmission losses (1). This results in a significant reduction in energy wastage, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s transition toward renewables.

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest water consumption rates globally, averaging 278 liters per capita annually (2). With per capita daily water consumption among the highest globally, Saudi Arabia faces an urgent need to manage this scarce resource effectively. AI-driven leak detection systems are now being implemented to identify water losses in pipelines in real time. Additionally, desalination plants are leveraging AI to enhance efficiency, reducing energy consumption per cubic meter of processed water.

Waste Reduction through AI

Saudi Arabia generates approximately 15 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, with a per capita daily production of 1.4 kg (3). AI-powered waste management solutions, such as smart sorting systems using computer vision, are enhancing recycling efficiency. These systems automatically identify and separate recyclables, reducing landfill dependency and supporting the Kingdom’s ambitious target of diverting 82% of waste from landfills by 2035 (4).

In industrial settings, AI is driving circular economy models. McKinsey found that, with AI, manufacturing and supply chains achieve the highest cost savings, with over 13% of firms reducing expenses by 20% or more (5). AI is also facilitating industrial symbiosis, where waste from one company becomes a valuable input for another, fostering a more sustainable industrial ecosystem

AI in Environmental Monitoring

AI has become a powerful tool for environmental monitoring, helping Saudi Arabia track and mitigate environmental challenges such as desertification, air pollution, and biodiversity loss. AI-enhanced satellite imaging and IoT-enabled sensors are actively being deployed to monitor desert expansion, allowing policymakers to develop more effective reforestation and land restoration strategies.

AI-powered drones are also revolutionizing biodiversity conservation efforts. These drones conduct automated surveys of natural habitats, tracking endangered species and assessing ecosystem health in real time. Such insights enable better conservation planning and restoration efforts (6).

Advancing AI for Sustainability

AI is a transformative force in Saudi Arabia’s sustainability efforts. By optimizing energy and water usage, improving waste management, and enhancing environmental monitoring, AI is valuable in sustainable innovation. Saudi Arabia has committed to upskilling 30,000 AI and data science specialists by 2030 , ensuring a robust workforce capable of supporting the nation’s AI-driven sustainability initiatives (7). With strategic investments in AI-driven sustainability, Saudi Arabia is well on its way to achieving its Vision 2030 environmental goals while driving long-term economic growth.

References

1. https://www.ft.com/content/0d24dcf4-b53b-48e5-b49c-99606958a96d

2. https://www.aramcolife.com/en/publications/the-arabian-sun/articles/2023/week-12-articles/world-water-day-2023

3. A-Review-of-Municipal-Solid-Waste.pdf

4. https://www.sgi.gov.sa/sgi-initiatives/

5. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/global-ai-survey-ai-proves-its-worth-but-few-scale-impact

6. https://coast.interreg-npa.eu/subsites/coast/D_T2.3.1_Project_Report_Drone_Surveying_for_the_protection_of_natural_and_built_heritage_sites_final.pdf

7. https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2025/01/21/saudi-arabia-riyadh-office/