The United Nations introduced the observance of “World Environment Day” on 5th June to raise the awareness of communities about the importance of protecting the environment and maintaining the sustainability of natural resources and biodiversity. The UAE will join the world in celebrating this annual event tomorrow.
This year’s Environment Day slogan is “Biodiversity”. The recent events like fires in Brazil, the US and Australia, locust swarms in many regions, and recent epidemics affecting the world highlights the dependency and close relationship between humans and the environment.
In recent years, the UAE has reinforced its global position as a centre of harnessing the global efforts to counter climate change and protect the environment, through hosting major environmental events, including the Climate Forum at the World Government Summit held annually in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
UAE also supports scientific research and to encourage the scientists, researchers and students to develop innovative environmental solutions, it established several global awards, including the “Zayed Sustainability Prize,” the “Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award” and the “Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.”
The UAE has been active in financing environmental development projects around the world, such as renewable energy projects in the Caribbean and the Pacific islands, as well as water projects in countries suffering from a lack of drinking water.
Locally, the UAE is implementing a range of projects and strategies that aim to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change, and it has increased its number of natural reserves to 44.
The UAE has adopted several measures to preserve its biodiversity mainly by conducting many studies and surveys on species and habitats facing pressures and threats, such as increasing land use and consumption of groundwater, as well as overgrazing, the exploitation of marine resources, land and water pollution, invasive species and climate change.
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