Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI)
“The actions of governments alone are not enough, sustainability can only be achieved when underpinned by the fabric of society that wants to see change,” said Her Excellency Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, concluding her speech before a packed room at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on Monday at the beginning of the World Environment Education Congress (WEEC).
Al Mubarak, a long-time conservationist who currently serves as President the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and previously led Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency, set the tone for what the congress would aim to achieve over the coming days. This was about bringing people, particularly the young, on board and motivating them to see the triple threat of climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity as their own battle, worthy of fighting for.
Speaking as part of the first keynote address of the congress titled Aligning Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Her Excellency recalled how little information was available when she first began her conservation work years prior.
“Access to information was one of the main obstacles; we have come a long way,” she reminisced. “We have crossed the threshold of access to information and yet, our actions do not match. Perhaps what we need is less information and more inspiration.”
“We cannot give in to doom and gloom,” she warned, setting the stage and aspirations of the congress to a crowd of eager students, youth, and young professionals.
Al Mubarak’s address was followed by Her Highness Dr. Sheikha Shamma bint Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan Cultural and Educational Institutions (SMBKI). Her Highness contextualised the prior speech through the experiences of various government initiatives aimed at delivering the understanding and community-led action in the UAE.
Speaking of a competition that had looked to promote recycling and rubbish sorting in Al Ain, Her Highness noted that despite the engagement of 100 households in the initiative, many had not continued to sort their rubbish after the competition was over.
A lack of legal obligation meant that many were not willing to sort and recycle, Her Highness said, noting the importance of education to drive voluntary, everyday environmentalism.
“We went back, this time to 1,200 houses, and we made an extra effort to make sure they understood why we were doing this.”
Her Highness identified these lessons learned as key pillars underpinning other awareness programmes, like those in schools across Abu Dhabi to instil environmental awareness, conservation programmes to save deer and other native species, and recycled art programmes to introduce fun and creativity into environmental education.
Her Highness asked the crowd to consider how many phones and laptops they had compared to their parents, who had likely grown up in more restrictive economic conditions, challenging the young crowd to question their consumerist habits.
“We need to look at nature as not the source of our sustenance, but our partner in it,” she said.
Jack Dangermond, President of the US-based Environmental Systems Research Institute and a long-time collaborator with the UAE in the field, echoed the statements of his Emirati hosts, beginning his speech with a reminder of the ingenuity of humankind.
“Our species has been enormously successful,” he said.
Dangermond shared his insights, as an expert with 45 years of experience in geographic information systems (GIS), highlighting the power that technology can play in bridging the divide on environmental action.
“Sustainability starts with geography,” he said, adding, “science is the foundation that allows us to collaborate and understand… and understanding is what precedes action”.
