How do I reduce my carbon footprint as a Dubai resident?

Installing solar panels, drinking filtered water instead of bottled, changing eating habits, switching to electric/hybrid vehicles, setting up home gardens, and cutting down on air travel are a few tested-and-tried ways residents of Dubai (as well as the rest of the UAE) can reduce their carbon footprint. It is not necessary to do it all at once, nor is it feasible because setting up solar panels or buying an electric vehicle requires significant investments. People can instead focus on small changes, which can cumulatively lead to greater impact over time.

Here is a list of simple-yet-impactful steps that Dubai residents can take to reduce their carbon footprint.

Rethinking food habits

Food systems tend to be complex. Hence the research on the environment-friendly diet is still evolving. However, there is a general consensus among experts that decreasing meat consumption — particularly red meat — is a major step in reducing carbon footprint. This is because a lot of water, land, and animal feed goes into meat production, and the cows themselves have a considerable methane footprint. According to a study(1) by the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, one serving of beef gives off over six pounds of carbon dioxide. In contrast, the carbon footprint of a serving of rice, potatoes, carrots, legumes (beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, chickpeas, etc.), or apples is less than half a pound.

Moreover, a 2017 report(2) published in the journal Environmental Research Letters indicated that the environmental impact of red meat is 100 times more compared to plant-based food. So, considering that UAE residents consume around 80 kilograms of beef annually(3), reducing the intake or switching to a vegetarian or pescatarian diet could be consequential.

Cutting down on waste

When organic waste decomposes, it gives away carbon dioxide and methane. This is a cause for concern in view of a study by the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE), which notes that a resident produces 2.7 kilos of waste each day on average. This includes both food and packaging. According to another estimate, about Dh13 billion worth of food goes to waste in the UAE every year.

This is perhaps where individual households can truly help the country achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. To that end, less eating out, purchasing locally produced food, and opting for reusable shopping bags are some of the practices one can adopt and inculcate in the household.

Water conservation