Climate Change and Environment launches a package of national activities and initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment launched a package of national events and initiatives coinciding with World Environment Day and the Year of the Family, with the aim of consolidating sustainable societal behaviors and promoting the adoption of an environmentally friendly lifestyle, by involving various segments of society in climate action efforts and protecting natural resources and biodiversity.

This series of events is closely aligned with the official message and theme of this year’s World Environment Day, ‘Climate Action Today’, which has a direct focus on raising awareness of climate action and drawing solutions from nature to ensure our future.

Through these awareness campaigns, the Ministry seeks to raise awareness of climate issues and highlight the urgent need for collective action to confront climate change.

The events constitute an open national invitation to every individual to be an active part of the solution, whether by protecting endangered species, enhancing vegetation cover and expanding the area of ​​mangrove trees, or preserving food safety, in a way that enhances the resilience of ecosystems and serves the country’s ambitious climate goals.

She said Minister of Climate Change and Environment Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al-Dahhak The forward-looking vision of our wise leadership, inspired by the immortal environmental legacy of the late founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God rest his soul, places environmental protection at the heart of our development plans and our national journey, as we believe that our nature is our true wealth and the guarantee of our future. From this standpoint, achieving climate and environmental resilience must begin first from society, rooted in awareness of Individuals and institutions alike, to become an authentic way of life and daily practices.

She explained that the Ministry seeks for community awareness and active participation to be the strategic driver of all efforts to confront climate change, adapt to it, and preserve nature as an integrated approach that supports the shift towards creating more sustainable communities capable of change and taking the initiative to preserve planet Earth.

The Ministry’s efforts on the occasion of World Environment Day were divided into three main activities, which included releasing sea turtles, planting mangrove trees, and an initiative to educate senior citizens about the importance of food safety.

These efforts were implemented in effective partnership with various concerned authorities in the country, and with the broad participation of dozens of individuals from society, in order to consolidate the spirit of joint environmental action.

For her part, she confirmed Director of the Government Communications Department at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Hajar Bakhit Al Ketbi said that a sustainable future begins with the family, as it is the first incubator in which the values ​​of preserving resources and responsibility towards our planet are instilled, which is embodied in our integration of the various segments of society.

She stressed that sustainability is a way of life for societies, and said that major environmental decisions are in fact the sum of simple behaviors that families take daily.

She added that during the past three years, the Ministry succeeded in creating a broad community movement, with the participation of more than 8,000 volunteers and 5,000 students who supported the field environmental march. This active participation coincided with huge achievements achieved by annual awareness initiatives and events, which resulted in the planting of more than 459,000 trees, and the distribution of 600,000 seedlings and 6.5 million seeds to residents and institutions.

She explained that more than 40,000 visitors were attracted during the first and second editions of the Emirati Agricultural Conference and Exhibition in Al Ain, to learn closely about innovation in agriculture and food security and to attend workshops within the community and university corners during the event, while more than 4,500 male and female students were trained on climate leadership. These positive participations, along with awareness efforts, resulted in raising the environmental awareness index in the country in its latest results to 89%, and the environmental behavior index rising to 85%, which proves that society It is the strongest partner in the change equation.

Among the most prominent activities of this environmental package, it witnessed Minister of Climate Change and Environment Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahhak, the sea turtle release event in the Jebel Ali Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai, which was held yesterday, jointly organized and in strategic cooperation with the Dubai Environment and Climate Change Authority, and in the presence of Director General of the Authority Ahmed Mohammed bin Thani, which reflects the joint national efforts aimed at protecting biological diversity and nature in the country.

The initiative to release sea turtles and return them safely to their natural habitats is an established environmental tradition and an activity that the Ministry is keen to implement on an annual basis, given the great importance that these creatures represent in preserving the marine environmental balance and ensuring the sustainability and health of the oceans.

In a context related to efforts to enhance community awareness, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment yesterday organized a specialized awareness and educational workshop under the title “Food Safety System” targeting senior citizens.

This event, which was held at the “Thukher” Club in the Al Khawaneej area in Dubai, came in a strategic partnership with the Community Development Authority in Dubai, and with the presence and participation of… Undersecretary of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Mohammed Saeed Al Nuaimi, to stress the strategic importance of integrating all segments of society into efforts to enhance food security and sustainability, and to establish the foundations of a sound health and environmental culture.

I presented the workshop Food safety policy specialist at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Mona Saeed Al Mazrouei reviewed the leadership of the food safety system in the UAE, and highlighted the close connection between food safety, public health, and resource sustainability.

To complement this package of national initiatives, and to emphasize the importance of sustaining ecosystems and biodiversity, the Ministry yesterday organized an expanded field event to plant mangrove trees in Khor Kalba Park in the Emirate of Sharjah.

This strategic environmental initiative was established in cooperation and partnership with the Environment and Natural Reserves Authority in Sharjah, and with active field participation from Assistant Undersecretary for the Biodiversity and Aquatic Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Heba Obaid Al Shehhi, in addition to a remarkable presence of volunteers and community members.

Efforts to expand the cultivation of mangrove trees are gaining an international strategic dimension, and these initiatives fall within the UAE’s commitment to the goals of the “Mangrove Climate Alliance,” which the country launched in a strategic partnership with the Republic of Indonesia.