UAE supports greater efforts to reduce ecological impact on earth

James Leape, Director General, WWF International, in an international media release,speaks of the current financial crisis being a stark reminder of consequences of living beyond our means. "What is now rushing at all human society is an ecological credit crunch caused by under-valuing the environmental assets that are the basis of all life and prosperity."

The report shows that 10 nations were demanding half of the planet's resources in 2005 with the United States of America and China accounting for the consumption of 42 per cent of the planet's natural resources. While the UAE's per capita Footprint was found to be 9.5 gha its overall demand on global resources in 2005 was less than half of one percent.

Responding to the release of the Living Planet Report 2008, H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment and Water said; "In essence, mankind is consuming natural resources faster than planet earth can produce them.

"If nations continue dipping into 'reserves' of natural resources, within time, they may 'bankrupt' the earth of its capacity to provide us resources and services that are the basis of our wellbeing" he said.

"Over the last year we have begun to better understand the UAE's Ecological Footprint through the Al Basama Al Beeiya initiative. Our position is to continue to work with government bodies, private sector, non-government entities and individuals to actively support sustainability initiatives." said H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad.

"The country is taking steps in the right direction, through initiatives like Masdar, development of green building codes, public transport, development of zero gas flaring and carbon capture and storage by ADNOC and Masdar, and environmental education and awareness campaigns. Reducing our footprint will not only depend on the effective implementation of these initiatives but will also require additional actions. This will require time and a coordinated effort."

The Living Planet Report 2008 has benefited from the participation of the UAE in its effort to understand and measure its own Ecological Footprint. The launch of the Al Basama Al Beeiya (Ecological Footprint) Initiative in 2007 made UAE the third country in the world to undertake in-depth research on its Footprint.

"Through the Al Basama Al Beeiya (Ecological Footprint) Initiative, data on UAE population and carbon Footprint for the 2008 report was reviewed. Thanks to this Initiative, we were able to provide a more comprehensive and accurate representation of the UAE's Footprint," said H.E. Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi. Al Mansouri went on to stress the need for continued efforts to ensure strong reliable data in order to develop and measure the effectiveness of policies.

"It is important we understand the results of the 2008 Living Planet Report in the context of the country we live in. Rapid economic growth and affluent lifestyles in an arid climate has given rise to greater consumption of energy and natural resources. We look forward to addressing the challenge of delivering a high standard of living that places a lower pressure on the planet."

The Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF, highlighted that participation of a non-governmental organisation in this initiative is very welcome.

"The Ecological Footprint serves as a clear sustainability metric, highlighting the need to address our impact on reserves of natural resources. The majority of the UAE's Footprint relates carbon emissions from fossil fuel use. To address this, all actors within the UAE needs to work together to increase awareness of ecological limits and develop policy recommendations to: reduce demand for energy and improve efficiency; diversify energy supply with low carbon sources; and sustainable transport." said Razan Al Mubarak, Managing Director, EWS-WWF.

The four core partners in the Al Basama Al Beeiya initiative are the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW), the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), the Emirates Wildlife Society - World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF) and Global Footprint Network (GFN), an international non-profit organization that promotes the Ecological Footprint as a sustainability metric worldwide.