Priority Area 5: To promote sustainable communities and engaged stakeholders

Through this priority, we aim to support decision-makers in incorporating environmental considerations in policy-making, work with the business community and Government stakeholders to raise awareness about environment, regulation and the support available and support civil society’s understanding of the richness – and frailty – of our natural heritage, and their own responsibility to help preserve it

Click here to read about how we plan to achieve these aims

Case Study: In May 2008, in order to integrate environmental considerations into economic and social programmes, H.E. Mohammed Al Bowardi, EAD’s Managing Director, called for the establishment of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG). This group was established to promote sustainability in Abu Dhabi by providing policy advice, and learning and knowledge sharing opportunities to government, private and not for profit organisations in a spirit of responsibility, cooperation and open dialogue. Currently, ADSG has 28 member organisations and is open to others who are willing to practice and champion sustainability in Abu Dhabi. All of the ADSG founding members have published a sustainability report marking a breakthrough in disclosure of sustainability performance in Abu Dhabi. In 2010, Abu Dhabi was ranked first in the world for the number of sustainability reports, following the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, issued by public agencies. A review of these reports shows that members have been an integral part of the economic and social prosperity of Abu Dhabi. Together, ADSG members have been responsible for over AED 25.2 billion in reported economic activity in 2009 or over 5% of Abu Dhabi’s 2009 GDP, which is AED 547 billion. In addition, ADSG members employ approximately 46,000 people, of which over 14,000 are Emirati and approximately 4,300 are women. The ADSG works on a number of flagship programmes that aim to influence the performance of its members and contribute to Abu Dhabi’s sustainability. Examples are sustainable procurement, waste management and labour practices programmes. Adopting an integrated and collaborative approach, these programmes build on existing work to provide input into policy and best practices.

Sustainable Schools Initiative (SSI): This initiative was developed by EAD specifically for UAE youth. Sponsored by British Petroleum (BP) and supported by the Abu Dhabi Education Council, the SSI is a programme where teachers and students assess their school’s own environmental impact and set targets to address it. It aims to empower students through eco clubs, develop teachers’ capacity through training, and exposes students to experiential learning through hands-on field trips. In 2011, a total of 130 schools in Abu Dhabi Emirate have joined the programme.

Paperless Day: Paperless Day was first launched by EAD in 2008 in partnership with Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company, to encourage people to review and reduce their paper usage. At the heart of this campaign is the Paperless Day website, www.paperlessday.com, where participants can register their intent to partake, gain tips for paper reduction through a variety of toolkits, and also add in their paper savings (which are automatically translated into savings of Carbon dioxide, a Greenhouse gas contributing to climate change). Around 250,000 individuals, government organisations, NGOs, businesses from around the UAE and the Arab world took part in Paperless Day 2011.