Tool to assess ecological footprint developed

The tool has been developed by the partners in the Al Basma Al Beeiyah (Ecological Footprint) initiative to support sustainable policy-making by providing decision-makers with analysis on how different policies can help lower the UAE’s Ecological Footprint.

“When faced with the issue of its high per capita footprint, the UAE is taking positive action,” the Minister said. “There is no better time than today to highlight the urgency for science-based policy work in the UAE. We need to understand and measure the impact of our development in order to implement policies that can effectively tackle our footprint.”

Dr Mathis Wackernagel, President, Global Footprint Network, said: “In contrast to many other countries, the UAE is not fearful of change, but is confident that it can manage and adapt to new realities. We are excited about our partnership with the UAE government and its agencies, and our collective effort to develop tools to help build a prosperous, resilient economy for the 21^st Century.”

A statement issued jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Water, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), and the Emirates Wildlife Society in association with World Wide Fund for Nature, (EWS-WWF), said the tool, developed by researchers from the Masdar Institute and EWS-WWF, compares a baseline CO2 emissions scenario with alternative, lower carbon footprint scenarios.

It does this by assessing the effectiveness of different policies to tackle supply and demand of electricity and water. Eventually the tool will convert CO2 emissions into ecological footprint terms and it will also shed light on the impact of these policies on the UAE’s overall footprint.

However, before implementing these policies, the initiative recommends that socio-economic assessments are conducted on the different scenarios.

Ultimately the aim is to generate relevant and robust scientific analysis that government leaders can use to develop targeted policies that can help make the UAE economy more sustainable.

The statement noted that the ecological footprint indicator relates directly to natural resource consumption patterns, and in the UAE, the household, business/industry and government sectors are responsible for 57 per cent, 30 per cent and 12 per cent of the footprint respectively. Over the last two years, the initiative has helped to raise awareness and promote sustainable consumption in these sectors.

It has done this by developing an animation, website (www.ecologicalfootprint.heroesoftheuae.ae), educational materials, awareness and outreach activities and a sustainable lifestyle campaign (‘Heroes of the UAE’), co-developed by EWS-WWF and EAD.

The initiative has also translated the Living Planet Report 2010 into Arabic and developed a complementary 
insert that highlights its achievements. —