World Environment Day 2019 will be an opportunity to urge governments, industries, communities, and individuals to work together to explore renewable energy and green technologies, thereby improving air quality in cities and regions around the world, said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
“World Environment Day, on 5 June 2019, was organised this year under the theme of Air Pollution. The theme reflects a global consensus to highlight the dangers of the issue that has become a global crisis with negative effects on everyone's health. Global reports reveal that around 92 per cent of people worldwide don’t breathe fresh air and air pollution costs the global economy US$5 trillion each year in social welfare costs,” he added.
“To achieve the vision of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, the UAE has taken early steps to conserve natural resources, increase the contribution of clean energy, and implement green development plans, consistent with our strategies at the federal and local levels, including UAE Centennial 2071, and UAE Vision 2021,” he stated.
“Dubai has been a pioneer in the implementation of programmes and initiatives that contribute to reducing the carbon footprint, launching the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park: the largest single-site solar park in the world. Based on the Independent Power Producer model, it has a projected capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030,” he continued.
“The solar park will contribute to achieving the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. The Emirate also launched the Dubai Green Mobility initiative to promote the use and deployment of electric and hybrid vehicles to achieve the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy targets and reduce carbon emissions by 16 per cent by 2021,” Al Tayer explained.
