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UAE bags top environ award

ABU DHABI — The UAE received the International Energy Globe Award 2004 for its environmental education and awareness programmes organised by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA).

In a ceremony attended by more than 4,000 people, held alongside the World Expo 2005 in Aichi Japan, Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary-General of ERWDA, accepted the award on behalf of the UAE.

The UAE had bagged the first prize in the youth category and had been short-listed from more than 600 high quality environmental entries submitted from over 100 countries.

World Expo 2005 is considered the largest and most wide-ranging environmental exhibition worldwide and this year was held under the theme Nature's Wisdom. The awards ceremony was attended by Wolfgang Neumann, Founder of the Award, Christoph Leitl, President of the Austrian Economic Chamber and Martin Bartenstein, Austrian Minister for Economy and Labour.

Since 1998, ERWDA's environmental awareness programmes have been empowering youth in Abu Dhabi with environmental knowledge.

The programmes have been welcomed by students, teachers and parents alike and include but are not limited to environmental competitions and field trips which promote awareness on the UAE's desert and marine environment as well as endangered species, mangroves, water resources, waste and biodiversity.

What makes the programmes unique is that they are tailored for specific age groups and designed to grow with the child as they progress through their school years.

In a statement issued, Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of ERWDA, expressed his happiness on UAE winning the award and praised the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for his support for ERWDA and its programmes adding that it has greatly helped ensure that the UAE is on its way to a more environmentally-conscious society that can benefit from a clean and safe environment.

Shaikh Hamdan added that it was under the guidance of the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan that the UAE affirmed its position as a leader in environmental conservation.

Shaikh Hamdan concluded by reiterating Shaikh Khalifa's call on all inhabitants of the UAE to carry forth Shaikh Zayed's achievements in the field of environmental conservation and bear responsibility for our country's plants, wildlife, mountains, deserts, oases and coastal waters.

Recognised as the 'Oscars' of the environment, due to the high profile glamorous gala it features, this Award is presented to projects from all over the world that have made a contribution to improving the quality of life on our planet in terms of environmental sustainability, protection of natural resources and strengthening environmental awareness on a broad level. The categories this year were the four elements: earth, fire (energy), water and air in addition to a special category 'youth'. The Awards are considered a true success story and the EU Commission has recently stated that is interested in setting up this Award in all EU member states.

On the projects submitted, Wolfgang Neumann, Founder of the Energy Globe Award, said this: "The nominated projects prove that innovative ideas can help to protect the environment and contribute to the well-being of many people."

In this year's competition, the first prize winners in the 'earth' category included a project from Brazil aiming to provide the poor with ecological and healthy housing.

Act now

SHAIKHA Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy and Planning, has said the government will monitor closely the price line and annul the licences of trade agencies that jack up prices of essential goods. She also stated that the Ministry is examining the feasibility of allowing cooperative societies to import goods directly without going through the trade agencies. In the context, we wonder why the government is hesitating to take these steps.

Khalid Al Falasi, vice-president of the UAE Cooperative Society’s board of directors, recently said that the direct import of consumer goods by cooperative societies will rein in the price spiral. He also said that the laws governing cooperative societies in their present shape are not effective enough. According to him, the law was ‘fragile’.

It is a fact that the Society has successfully confronted the greed of the unscrupulous suppliers, who wanted to take advantage of the government staff’s salary increase, by jacking up the prices of foodstuffs and consumer goods.

Therefore, the government should continue to take positive measures so long as their need is felt.