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Bee'ah rejects World Bank UAE air pollution report

Sharjah - UAE is not 'country with most polluted air', insists environment agency.

A leading environment agency in Sharjah has rejected the recent findings of the World Bank in its Little Green Data Book identifying the UAE as the "country with the most polluted air".
In a Press statement, Bee'ah asserted that contrary to the World Bank claim, the UAE is making remarkable progress towards environment leadership.
"The UAE National Agenda which advances the goals of the UAE Vision 2021 aims to achieve such leadership by ensuring a high quality of life for its citizens and residents. This pays equal attention to the environment and the results thus far confirm that the country has undertaken significant efforts to improve the ambient air quality... Accordingly, air quality is one of the leading priorities under the UAE's National Agenda because it is associated directly with human health, the environment and its impact on the economy," said Bee'ah in its statement.
"There are currently 46 air quality monitoring stations in the UAE, and the UAE government has directed special attention to in the direction of developing legislative frameworks necessary to reduce pollution and emissions.
The Ministry of Environment and Water recently signed an agreement with seven governmental agencies in preparation for the launch of a UAE Air Quality Network."
Bee'ah also drew attention to the fact that compared to the United States, China and India, which are among the countries discussed in the World Bank study, the UAE is lesser populated as a country.
"In terms of population, UAE is currently a little above 10 million. This is an important consideration when this country is ranked beside the likes of the United States, India and China - which have populations of above 300 million, 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion respectively. The UAE is considerably smaller and significantly less populated than the neighbouring nations in The Little Green Data Book. The country's overall environmental impact is much lower than that of other nations," said the Sharjah environment company.
The statistics presented in The Little Green Data Book are merely a snapshot of a remarkable story and journey towards prosperity and responsibility, it added.
Green capital
Meanwhile, Chairman of Sharjah Media Centre said that taking into consideration a number of ground-breaking initiatives, Sharjah would become the environmental capital of the Middle East.
Shaikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Centre, said that in line with the vision and guidelines of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, Sharjah has always followed a tradition of respect for nature and ecological resources.
"Sharjah has undertaken a number of historic and ground-breaking initiatives in the past few years to ensure its residents embrace best and healthy environment practices, policies that are in accordance with internationally recognised conventions and guidelines by the United Nations for sustainable development and progress for all", he added.
Sharjah is also in the process of setting up the region's first and world's largest Waste-to-Energy facility, which will use gasification technology. The Waste-to-Energy plant by Bee'ah will recycle 400,000 tonnes of waste annually to generate 85 megawatts of energy.
Also, despite the massive economic development, industrialisation and considerable electricity consumption in the country, the UAE remains within the 'green zone' in ecological terms, according to the World Health Organisation guidelines.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com