Middle East perspective of sustainable development 'Vision 2050' discussed at Sharjah Chamber-hosted workshop

The workshop was held under the auspices of the SCCI with the support of WBCSD and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The workshop was attended by SCCI Director General Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi, SCCI Assistant Directors, Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, Dr. Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs, American University of Sharjah, government experts, and representatives from the private and public sectors.

This highly-focused workshop - conducted by Hazem Jalal from PricewaterhouseCoopers - is being organised at a time when the world is increasingly facing new challenges of the 21st century, such as the global financial crisis, the high rate of poverty, food crisis, global warming and pollution, among others. The workshop highlighted various aspects of Vision 2050, which represents an international program under the patronage of 29 global companies that are members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Vision 2050 was initiated by the WBCSD's Executive Committee to respond to the need to provide a "tool" for thought leadership, the aim of Vision 2050 is to outline a business view of the role of business in making the world sustainable. Visions 2050 focuses on an integrated strategy that includes economic, environmental, social and organisational perspectives to promote human development; create new market opportunities; focus on renewable and alternative energy; restructure production and consumption patterns; foster technological innovation; and promote innovation and excellence.

Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi, SCCI Director General, said:

According to recent reports, the world's population will witness a significant increase to reach 9 billion by 2050 from around 6 billion at present, and the major increase will mainly be in the developing countries. Also, according to some estimates, the world's income will increase significantly by 2050 to reach $135 trillion compared with $35 trillion now, with the per capita GDP growing by 2% annually in the wealthy countries and 3.3% annually in low-and middle-income ones.

In this regard, the SCCI Director General emphasized the importance of creating an integrated mechanism to meet the current requirements without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve their goals. The key to this is to focus on a comprehensive economic and sustainable growth strategy that prioritizes environmental protection and focuses on corporate social responsibility.

The BCSD-UAE was established in line with SCCI initiatives to promote sustainable development in Sharjah through the adoption of the best economic, environmental and social practices.