Saudi climate envoy meets Italian official in Riyadh

RIYADH: The Empty Quarter, a vast desert on the Arabian Peninsula, was not always barren — a study by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the University of Geneva, Griffith University, California Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, and the University of the Fraser Valley reveals that this region once had a lake and river system.

These favorable conditions supported grasslands and savannahs, enabling human migration until droughts forced populations to move, according to a study published in the Communications Earth & Environment scientific journal.

The study was led by KAUST Professor Abdulkader M. Afifi, with researchers Antoine Delaunay and Guillaume Baby from KAUST, and Abdallah Zaki from the University of Geneva. It highlights the impact of climate cycles on landscapes and human societies.

The Empty Quarter, or Rub Al-Khali, is one of the world’s largest deserts, covering nearly 650,000 sq. km, mostly in Saudi Arabia, with dunes reaching 250 meters. However, it was once much more hospitable.

“Beneath Rub Al-Khali’s desolate sands lies a vibrant past of lakes and rivers,” Delaunay said. “Our study highlights the transformative power of climate on Arabian landscapes and human occupation; further research is essential to understanding these complex interactions.”

These water sites emerged during the “Green Arabia” period, from 11,000 to 5,500 years ago, at the end of the Quaternary era. The lake, covering 1,100 sq. km and up to 42 meters deep, eventually overflowed, carving a 150 km-long valley in the desert.

Based on sediments and landforms traced over 1,000 km, scientists suggest that rains from the northward expansion of the African and Indian monsoons fed these ancient waterholes. These wet phases varied in duration, favoring grasslands and savannahs, which enabled human expansion across the Arabian Peninsula.

This study is part of KAUST’s broader effort to understand climate, landscape, environment and human habitation in the region. KAUST Professor Frans Van Buchem leads another team studying ancient lakes in Wadi Al-Dawasir and their impact on human occupation near Al-Faw, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

‘‘The formation of lake and river landscapes, along with grasslands and savannahs, would have facilitated the expansion of hunting, gathering, and pastoral groups into what is now a dry, barren desert,’’ said Michael Petraglia, a professor of archaeology at Griffith University’s Australian Research Center for Human Evolution. ‘‘This is confirmed by abundant archaeological evidence found in the Empty Quarter and along its ancient lake and river systems,’’ he said.

About 6,000 years ago, a sharp decline in rainfall resulted in arid conditions that forced nomadic populations to migrate to more hospitable areas.

These findings highlight the role of the African monsoon in transforming the Arabian Peninsula’s desert landscape and shaping human migration. This narrative of climate change and human movement is crucial to understanding the potential impacts of current climate change.

LONDON: Riyadh and Jeddah are among the fastest-growing cities in the world for millionaires, according to a report on global wealth.

The Saudi hubs were both listed among the 30 cities in which the number of high-net-worth individuals has increased the most over the last 10 years.

Riyadh had 65 percent more millionaires in 2024 than it did in 2014, according to the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 by New World Wealth for Henley & Partners.

The report showed more than 20,000 people with liquid investable wealth of $1 million or more are now based in the Saudi capital. This included 77 centi-millionaires and 11 billionaires.

Jeddah saw an increase of more than 50 percent, with 10,400 millionaires now living there.

The increase in wealthy individuals in the Kingdom’s cities coincides with the extensive Vision 2030 economic reform program launched in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Efforts to diversify the Kingdom’s economy have included a push to attract international companies to base their regional headquarters in Riyadh.

The other cities from the Middle East to be included in those “fastest growing” were Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Dubai saw its millionaire population double over 10 years to make it the 18th wealthiest, according to the report.

“This Middle East wealth shift reflects the region’s strategic pivot towards becoming global financial centers,” the report said.

Dominic Volek, from Henley & Partners, said: “Middle Eastern cities, especially within the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have established themselves as pivotal connections in contemporary wealth networks.

“Such movements mirror larger political and financial developments, as affluence increasingly concentrates in stable, enterprise-friendly environments providing both protective measures and expansion opportunities.”

Many of the other fastest-growing cities were based in the US, China, and India.

There were also dramatic shifts in traditional global wealth hubs.

London and Moscow were the only two cities to see a reduction in the number of millionaires since 2014.

London has lost 12 percent of its high-net-worth residents with the drop blamed on high taxes, a slow tech sector and a struggling economy after the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit.

The government last year ended the non-domiciled tax regime, which allowed wealthy foreigners living in the UK to avoid paying tax on many of their overseas assets. This has reportedly led to an exodus of millionaires from the UK.

Shenzhen in China saw the fastest growth in the number of millionaires of all cities, thanks to its explosive growth from a fishing community to a global center for technology innovation.

New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Singapore are considered the richest cities by the number of millionaires, with London dropping out of the top five.