Most cities take from the planet. NEOM is being built to give something back.

On Saudi Arabia’s north-western edge, a $500 billion mega-project is challenging every assumption about how cities should work. NEOM isn’t just concrete and steel. It’s a radical experiment in scale, sustainability, and ambition.

Nothing wasted

Rubble doesn’t head to landfills here – it becomes the foundation for the future. Construction waste is recycled. Water is treated, reused, and discharged with zero liquid loss. NEOM is hard-wiring circularity into its DNA: a circular carbon economywhere every by-product is repurposed.

Neutral by 2030

While most governments talk about net zero by 2050, NEOM has put a bolder deadline on the table: carbon neutrality by 2030. And the ambition doesn’t stop there. The project aims to go climate-positive, removing more carbon than it emits. Energy needs will be met entirely through renewables, anchored by the $8.4 billion NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, which will export clean fuel globally by 2026.

Nature protected, not paved

Perhaps the most radical promise is restraint. NEOM has pledged to leave 95% of its land and sea untouched. That means deserts stay deserts, coral reefs remain vibrant, mountains remain wild. And where it does intervene, it restores – rewilding habitats and bringing biodiversity back. It’s an idea as powerful as any skyscraper: that urban development and natural ecosystems don’t have to be enemies.

Built smarter, not bigger

Old cities were designed to sprawl endlessly, swallowing land and resources. NEOM is taking a different route: digital-first, precision-driven. Prefabrication, 3D modelling and industrialised construction mean fewer mistakes, less waste, faster delivery. The mantra is simple: make it before we make it.

People at the center

Sustainability without people is just jargon. NEOM’s social programmes reached 50,000 locals in a single year, creating jobs, backing entrepreneurs and mobilising over 1,000 volunteers. Because real progress isn’t only measured in emissions avoided, but in lives improved.

Attracting global talent and investment

NEOM is not just about infrastructure; it’s about creating an ecosystem for innovation. By positioning itself as a testbed for sustainability technologies, it has already drawn partnerships with global players in renewable energy, AI, biotech, and climate tech.

For investors and innovators, NEOM offers something rare: scale. While many sustainability pilots remain small and scattered, NEOM’s projects are designed to operate on a national, even global, level. That’s what makes it a benchmark – it’s not theory, it’s transformation in action.

Innovation in every district

• THE LINE – a 170km car-free city, powered entirely by clean energy.
• Oxagon – the world’s largest floating industrial hub, built on circular economy principles.
• Trojena – a mountain tourism destination with zero-carbon operations.

Each project is a statement: the future doesn’t have to cost the Earth.

Beyond talk: CARE in action

At CARE 2025– Climate Action, Renewable Energy & Sustainability Forum, we believe sustainability has to be more than a talking point. It must be lived, tested, and proven. NEOM is a live case study of what happens when responsibility, innovation, and ambition collide.

Of course, the project has its critics – from questions about feasibility to debates about human rights. But that’s the point. Big change is never clean, never uncontested. What matters is the benchmark NEOM sets: that climate positivity is not a distant dream but a tangible target.

For CARE 2025, this is more than inspiration. It’s a call to action. If a city in the desert can reimagine energy, waste, and community at scale, what excuse does the rest of the world have?

NEOM may be the benchmark today. Tomorrow, it’s up to the rest of us to raise it higher.

Register today to join CARE’s mission for real climate impact.