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UAE Calls On Advanced Nations To Take Care Of Environment

The Emirates, UAE - 23 April 2001

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Defence Minister, called today on the industrialised nations to shoulder their responsibility in global efforts for protection and conservation of the environment as most of pollutants have been emitted from their plants.

Sheikh Mohammed blamed international organisations for not taking prompt measures to address global environmental risks. "The Kyoto agreement on global climate change is now facing new obstacles. We should face the facts that industrialised countries must carry the major responsibility of cleaning the environment because their plants are emitting most of pollutants. They are not doing enough to deal with dangerous wastes," Sheikh Mohammed said at a grand ceremony held to honour winners of the Zayed International Prize for the Environment.

Sheikh Mohammed, patron and creator of the prize, cautioned that non-commitment to Kyoto accord over the year would exacerbate the problem of global warming and make efforts to control the situation even more difficult. " Any leniency in dealing with environmental risks opens the door for more evils, and continuation in global climatic change leads to depletion of natural resources, break out of man and animal diseases, desertification and drought, and flash floods. This will result in socio-ecological imbalance," he warned. On the UAE front, Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE, under the wise leadership of President H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, had given top priority to the environment, making it to go hand in hand with development.

" We have not only heavily engaged in international efforts of environment conservation, but also instituted the prize to add to these efforts," he said. Then Sheikh Mohammed honoured winners of the award with cash prizes, trophies and certificates of appreciation. He gave the first winner, former US President Jimmy Carter, a cheque for $500,000 (Dh1.8 million). The former US leader, 76, received the prize in recognition of his futuristic vision and subsequent work on poverty, human health, human settlements and peace. Carter has been chosen for the prize primarily because of his Global 2000 initiative developed during his presidency from 1977 to 1981.

The second award of $300,000 (Dh1.08 million), which recognises scientific achievements, was shared by Professor Mohamed El Kassas of Cairo University for his work on arid land ecology and bio-diversity, and the South African-based World Commission on Dams (WCD). WCD was recognised as a model for addressing complex environmental issues, such as equitable management of shared water and resources.

The third award of $200,000 (Dh720,000), which deals with the importance of Non-Governmental Organisations, was also shared by Yolana Kakabadze of Ecuador and Stephan Schmidheiny of Germany. Kakabadze, current president of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was chosen for her leading role in the preparation of the NGO's Chapter in Agenda 21 at the Rio summit on the environment in 1992. Schmidheiny was chosen for his book "Changing Courses" which was published at a time when the private sector was largely ignorant of environmental concerns. He also played a major role in the establishment of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

(The Emirates News Agency, WAM)

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