EGDC examines key achievements and progress of national programmes

Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, led the second meeting of the Emirates Green Development Council, EGDC, held on 21st September 2015 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Festival City, Dubai.

The gathering of EGDC members forms part of the Ministry of Environment and Water’s ‘green’ development approach towards a low-carbon, green economy.

During the meeting, the attendees looked into the significant developments following the formation of EGDC’s national committees, namely the National Committee for Knowledge-based Economy, the National Committee for Development and Quality of Life, the National Committee for Environmental Sustainability, the National Committee for Clean Energy and Adaptation to Climate Change and the National Committee for Green Life. The members were briefed about the committees’ functions and proposed work plans alongside the fundamental current programmes.

The council also reviewed the suggested strategic partnerships aimed at developing EGDC’s key programme outputs as well as the significance of such collaborations in building the capacity and know-how within the concerned parties of the council, the methodology used in their selection, and their different levels of representation. Additionally, the attendees looked into the Smart Dashboard adopted to measure EGDC’s performance, objectives, activities and outputs.

The council was updated about its identity, as well as the status of the UAE’s green economy report, its objectives, and key achievements since the release of the initiative’s first report, and the mechanisms used to review the content and accordingly revise the report’s contents. The members also examined the initiative’s second report which introduced new objectives and activities, including relevant events, ‘green economy’ development projects, significant green innovations, and areas for global environmental developments.

The council members from various federal agencies and representatives of local authorities included Matar Hamed Al Neyadi, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Zahra Salman Alaboodi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works, Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Under-Secretary of Resources and Budget of the Ministry of Finance, Abdullah Sultan Al Fan Al Shamsi, Assistant Under-Secretary for Industrial affairs, Ministry of Economy, Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General of the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, EAD and Ahmed Butti Al Muhairbi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Energy.

Other members are Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, General Manager of Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah, Saif Al Matrooshi, Secretary-General of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Ajman, Mohammed Saif Al Afkham, Director-General of Fujairah Municipality, Dr. Saif Al Ghais, Executive Director Environment Protection and Development Authority in Ras al-Khaimah, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Director of Energy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a representative of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Umm Al Qaiwain.

Ealier, the UAE launched the UAE Green Agenda as a unified framework for implementing the UAE Strategy for Green Development and complementing the UAE State of Green Economy Report 2014. The report aims to monitor, document and provide clear and comprehensive details on the country’s green economy efforts in line with the UAE Strategy for Green Development.

The Ministry of Environment and Water also organised last May its 6th Green Economy Annual Conference entitled, ‘The National Roundtable of Financing and Investing in Green Economy Projects’ in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI. The conference was aligned with the UAE’s preparations for the upcoming round table meeting in 2016 to be held under the theme, ‘Islamic Finance in the Context of Green Economy and Sustainable Development’ in collaboration with UNEP FI.