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Extensive Participation From The UAE In The Climate Change Conference In Beirut |
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Minister of Environment and Water HE Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad is heading a high level UAE delegation to the annual conference of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) being held at Al Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut from 19-20 November. A key-note speech will be delivered by UAE during the opening session which is being held under the patronage of the Lebanese President HE General Michel Sleiman. Dr. Rashed Bin Fahd will be also presiding over the first session entitled “Rising Seas Shifting Deserts”. The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) is participating in the conference as the official sponsor and will be represented by a delegation led by HE Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General and a special pavilion exhibiting the agency’s programmes and achievements. Many international and Arab leading environmental figures are confirming their participation in the conference. Among those participating are Dr. Mostafa Kamal Tolba, former Executive Director of the United Nations Programme for the Environment who was the driving force behind the original climate change treaty, Dr. Farouk El-Baz, Director of the Center of Remote Sensing at Boston University, Mr. Suleiman Al-Herbish, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and Dr. Mohamed El-Ashry, former head of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and member of the International Committee on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. In addition, a large number of Arab and international scientists and researchers will be participating, among them Dr. Atiq Rahman, recipient of the UNEP ‘Champion of the Earth 2008’ award and Chairman of the Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), Dr. Youba Sokona, Executive Secretary of the Sahel and Sahara Observatory, Ms. Carol Sanford, CEO of Development Economics Group International and Dr. Mohamed El-Raey, IPCC expert. Ministers and high officials from the Arab region and abroad have also confirmed their participation in a debate on policies regarding climate change, including President of the Executive Board of the Council of Arab Ministers of Environment Prince Turki Bin Nasser, President of the Royal Advisory Committee on the Energy Sector in Jordan Prince Hamzah bin al Hussein, Minister of Environment of Iraq Narmeen Osman, Minister of Environment of Jordan Khaled Irani, Minister of Water and Environment of Yemen Abdulrahman El-Ariani, Minister of Environment of UAE Dr. Rashed Bin Fahd and former Jordanian Prime Minister Dr. Adnan Badran. In addition, the Danish Secretary of State for Climate and Energy Thomas Egebo will present a report on the ongoing preparations for the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference next month in Copenhagen. Several closed sessions between the participating ministers and officials will take place alongside the conference in preparation for the Copenhagen Summit. A delegation of the parliamentary block of the “Green Party for Progress” of Tunisia, an AFED civil society member, is also participating in the conference. The Green Party recently won six seats in the Tunisian parliamentary elections, to become the first Arab party to join parliament under an environmental platform. The conference will witness two major events; first, the launching of the long anticipated report prepared by AFED on the impact of climate change in Arab countries, and expected to be the most comprehensive document on the subject published on the eve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, and the announcement of the results of the first public opinion survey conducted in 19 Arab countries on climate change. Also during the conference, the landmark documentary entitled “Wet & Dry” will be released for the first time, summarizing the findings of AFED’s 2009 annual report. Supporters and Sponsors |
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