How Emirati engineer and artist Maryam AlBalooshi proved critics wrong

What did childhood entail for Emirati women who have now come to represent modern UAE society? A society in which women are equal stakeholders in the social, cultural and economic progress. Ask Maryam Ali AlBalooshi, and she is likely to tell you that it was normal if not an easy one. Not easy because there were fewer examples of female accomplishment. Today, it is women like Maryam who have become the faces for women’s empowerment in the region, trailblazers who don not one but many hats.

A chief climate change negotiator for the aviation sector, Maryam is an accomplished author who has already written seven books so far and a calligraphy artist who has worked with some of the leading brands in the region. “We did not have much entertainment growing up,” recalls Maryam, who studied to become a chemical engineer. “Hence we were focused on working hard and making something of ourselves, a reason why you will find many women in my generation to be leaders or founders of ventures that are relatively new.”

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A woman in the climate dialogue

COP28, hosted by the UAE this month, has become a global talking point for the milestones reached in terms of the dialogue on climate change. But for the likes of Maryam, the calling came way before the urgency of the crisis was felt so widely. She has been working for the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a specialised agency of the United Nations that draws guidelines for the industry’s growth, and has been an important figure in giving insights on how aviation impacts climate. “I have been a COP expert for almost a decade now,” she laughs. “When I started, climate was not even on the agenda. People did not quite understand what we were really aiming for. But now it’s different.”

Maryam adds that energy and aviation sectors have been true backbone of the economy and addressing climate issues, in these sectors at a global level, requires a lot of understanding and learning. “To be a person in climate change internationally, you need to understand the perspectives all the 196 countries come from. When you speak to Latin America, it’s different than when you speak to someone from Asia, Europe. There has to be a bottom-top as well as top-bottom approach when addressing these issues.” Which also begs an obvious question — what perspectives do women bring in the climate change dialogue that are unique? The dominant narrative goes that women’s role as nurturers naturally draws them towards this dialogue more intimately. But trailblazers like Maryam are quick to point out that this has everything to do with hardcore professionalism women bring into this conversation.

“Women are perfectionists and we work hard. For example, my colleagues had the chance to see me working on a climate negotiation project and they saw me spend hours on it. The guys actually told me they cannot be so patient and work tirelessly,” says Maryam. “Women have the mind to analyse and connect things together. I am not sure if it’s a societal aspect, but we feel a greater need to prove ourselves. All women who are working in this space have one common thread — empowerment through education.”

What Maryam does not say, and what is easy to infer from her conversations, is also how leaders like her bring a more balanced and nuanced view on the subject. For instance, aviation is an international sector, and has its own complexity. “People have often criticised us for not doing well enough but aviation is doing more than what’s expected. We work on a global scale. And because of that you cannot work within the boundaries of a country while leaving the region, at large, out of the fame. The UAE has one of the biggest aviation sectors in the world, which is why every move has to be a considered one. Some aspects can slow you down but others can help you move forward. Economic aspects also need to be on the forefront. So, you see, you cannot just aggressively move forward on climate change without understanding what might happen.”

There is considerable truth in that claim. Aviation is about connectivity. “Today, if we had the biggest numbers for a COP event that’s because of advancements in aviation. If there are going to be stringent restrictions put on it, we would create a model for environmentalism which does not take into consideration the economic factor,” she says.

“There are many challenges when working on the issue but that is not an excuse to not work on it at all.”

An avid calligrapher and writer