In December 1994, the Kingdom ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and submitted its first national communique to the Convention Secretariat in 2005, which shows an inventory of greenhouse gas sources and quantities, the Kingdom submitted its second communique in 2011. The concerned authorities in the Kingdom are currently preparing the third national report on the effects of climate change on various economic and social sectors.
The Kingdom contains about 2247 species of plants, and about 20% of them are considered rare plants, and many of these species face pressure resulting from converting vast areas of virgin lands in mountainous areas and pastoral lands in the northern, central and eastern regions into urban or agricultural lands. in addition to the climate change threat on these species.
Climate change will affect mammals, and birds due to a lack of pasture, and may cause the mass death of animals if they cannot be transported to areas where pasture is available.
The decrease in rainfall due to climate change also threatens water sources for wildlife such as deer, foxes, and many others due to the disappearance of small lakes, springs, and streams in protected areas.
Studies indicate that climate changes may affect the spread of infectious diseases such as, cholera, malaria and dengue. These diseases reduce a person's ability to work, increase medical costs, and increase losses by increasing deaths.
Where a study (2001, IPCC) showed that increasing the annual temperature by one degree leads to an increase in deaths by 7.5%, and this percentage rises to 10% if the increase in temperature reaches five degrees Celsius.
As for malaria, studies confirm at the international level, most parts of the Kingdom doesn't fall within the category of areas where malaria thrives. However by applying one of the global climate models that assume an annual increase in greenhouse gases by 1% and the resulting change in climate, it became clear that most parts of the Kingdom will not face any invasion of malaria in 2050, except for a small area located near the Arabian Gulf that is appropriate for malaria to thrive.
As for dengue, although most parts of the Kingdom recorded a risk rate less than 30% in 1990, predictions indicate that the risk of dengue fever will increase to 50% in 2085 due to the expansion of endemic areas from Yemen and Oman north towards the southern part of the Kingdom . With regard to leishmaniasis or sand fly disease, the fourth report (IPCC 2007) showed that the increase in temperature by more than three degrees, while humidity values remaining the same will give the opportunity for continuous transmission of disease throughout the year.