There are many opportunities to change the course, and already Arab countries are undertaking climate change mitigation efforts and adopting environmental friendly policies and measures.
Your Excellencies Honourable Ministers of Environment,
Your Excellency Mr. Sargon Lazon Sliwah, Minister of Environment of Iraq and President of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environment (CAMRE),
Your Excellences, Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
My colleagues from United Nations Agencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to stand before you today addressing the 25th Session of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) in the House of Arabs, the League of Arab States in Cairo, Egypt.
The Arab Region is unique as it extends over two continents, Asia and Africa, and it is rich and diverse in history, culture and natural resources.
The countries of the Arab region have made significant progress in many development areas. The GDP per capita of Arab countries has, on average, quadrupled over the last fifty years, resulting in higher standards of leaving and spurring infrastructure development, improvements in education and health systems. This region is considered among the top 10 growth regions in the world. This is not surprising when we know the role this region played in the advancement of science and mathematics.
The Region is also endowed with a diversity of natural resources that are the foundation of its economy. A number of countries in the region have been able to withstand the global recession triggered by the financial crisis due mostly to the rich natural capital. The region is especially blessed with a wealth of conventional and non-conventional sources of energy which support its development. The potential of new and renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind, will not only increase the pace of development, but also sustain it for future generations.
As we care for our future generations, we should also be mindful of the fact that we have been mining our resources over the last fifty years, as intensely as never before in human history. As a consequence, available natural resources in the region have fallen to less than half. According to many studies, including the 2012 report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), the economic growth has put the Arab region on the brink of ecosystem bankruptcy. “The Arab region entered into a state of steady ecosystem deficit in 1979 and the consumption levels of life-supporting goods and services are today more than twice what local ecosystems can provide”.
As consequence, freshwater availability has fallen by a factor of four.
Meanwhile, the demands of goods and products have increased due to changing lifestyles and consumption patterns. We can bridge food deficit with trade imports but we cannot import arable lands. We have made comfortable cars to commute, planes to travel long distance, but we cannot import the clean air we breathe.
Thanks to modern technology, we can have large desalinization plants to reduce our water shortage. But we cannot import rivers and lakes. We can cool our houses with powerful air conditioning systems but we cannot change the outside temperature.
We have made notable scientific progress. Our scientists have shortened distances with the optic cable; our doctors use laser pointers for surgeries. Humans are even seeding clouds. But we cannot import clouds.
New lifestyles have emerged, much more demanding in resources. Often time the goods we consume are produced thousands of miles away from where we live. Should the world population have the same average ecological footprint as those of the Arab region, we would have required 1.2 planets. As an oil producing region, the Middle East has an unmatched growth of energy consumption.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There are many opportunities to change the course, and already Arab countries are undertaking climate change mitigation efforts and adopting environmental friendly policies and measures. Some Arab countries have renewable energy targets and several are taking serious steps to promote the domestic use of clean energy. Jordan and Tunisia, for example, have reduced subsidies on conventional fuels and have instituted financial incentives for investors (including duty and tax exemptions on the importation of hybrid cars).
Several Arab countries, including Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, are building wind farms and undertaking concentrated solar power projects.
The role of CAMRE has been critical in identifying these types of opportunities and addressing integrated approaches to environmental sustainability. Your esteemed council has been a driving force behind the decisions of different Arab summits to consider the environment as an essential strand for sustainable development.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The cooperation between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the League of Arab States (LAS) was formally established in 1986 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), according to which UNEP has been providing support to the LAS Technical Secretariat, the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) and its Executive Bureau, let alone UNEP's work at the national level in all of the Arab countries. UNEP has been prioritizing and aligning its support to the region based on the decisions of your esteemed council annual sessions.
This cooperation is further aided and coordinated through the Joint Committee on Environment and Development in the Arab Region. UNEP is pleased to have been providing secretariat support to this Joint Committee, and taking a leading role in the development of programmes and activities relating to the environment in the region.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is slightly more than a year since we met at the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil. At the summit, Arab Countries spoke with a clear and compelling voice on the advancement of the sustainable development agenda, including Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. Without the Arab Region, perhaps the gains at Rio+20 and the potential enshrined in the outcome would have been far more modest. I would like to take this opportunity to express to the Arab countries our deep appreciation for the vision and leadership you have shown during the Rio+20 process.
Currently the international community is involved in charting the post 2015 development agenda, notably with the development of universal Sustainable Development Goals. UNEP is happy to note that World Leaders have agreed to the development of integrated sustainable development goals. It is important that our actions demonstrate how the environmental, social and economic dimensions are intertwined and complementary to each other.
Your Excellencies,
As you know, Rio+20 agreed to ‘strengthen and upgrade’ UNEP, including universal membership and more stable and predictable funding. This decision was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2012, leading to UNEP’s first Governing Council in 2013 held under the universal membership where we noted a high level presence of Arab Ministers of environment and heads of delegations. During the Governing Council, ministers responsible for the environment called for elevating the Governing Council to a UN Environment Assembly. The first United Nations Environment Assembly will meet on 23 to 27 June 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya.
With the decisions of the first universal session and the resolutions of the General Assembly, a strengthened and upgraded UNEP with universal membership is poised to play a critical role in following up on the Rio +20 outcomes.
The up-grading of UNEP owes a great deal to the strong commitment and engagement of the Arab countries. Therefore, I strongly encourage the Arab countries to engage with and contribute to the work of UNEA and other UNEP governing bodies to ensure best response to the priorities of the Arab Region. The Arab countries have untapped opportunities in influencing UNEP and in playing a more visible role in the international environment governance.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
UNEP has started discussions with the secretariat of your esteemed council to enhance and improve its strategic cooperation with the League of Arab States. We are currently discussing renewing the 20+ old Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to open new doors for collaboration and better coordinate our role with the League and it's environment and related bodies. UNEP will ensure that it will put strong institutional mechanisms in place to show its seriousness and willingness to serve the entire region with equal quality policy services and technical support to cover all Arab Countries.
UNEP has in the past few months initiated strategic rejuvenation of its partnership with Governments of the region. A Letter of Intent with Iraq was signed by UNEP Executive Director during the South-South expo in Nairobi last week in preparation to signing an MOU in the coming few weeks with an initial contribution of US $4 million from the Government of Iraq. UNEP is working on finalizing similar MOUs with other governments such as Qatar and UAE, as well as another strategic MOU with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that is very keen to enhance, strengthen and strategize our collaboration.
I would like to congratulate the United Arab Emirates for its kind and forward looking invitation to host the Global Meeting of Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) in March 2014. This initiative was expected from UAE as a leader in adopting innovative solutions and policies in its quest towards Green Economy. We also cherish our partnership with UAE, through the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) which is leading the Eye on Earth initiatives and hosting its Summit in November 2014.
I would like to thank the Kingdom of Bahrain for hosting and supporting UNEP's Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA).
The hosting of the State of Qatar of the Climate Change COP is a historical landmark in demonstrating leadership on environmental governance.
The increased involvement of the region in and hosting of global conventions and initiatives is a testimony that the region has a potential to lead and steer the international community on major environmental issues. The Saudi Arabia strategy on renewable energy for 2030, the great solar energy project in Morocco, green economy work in Egypt and many initiatives in other Arab countries are clear examples of your vision towards sustainable development.
UNEP has been privileged to serve and partner with CAMRE, and we look forward to continuing this partnership to fulfill CAMRE's mandate.
Together we can provide even greater and deeper assistance to the Arab Region and to the developing world as a whole.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to seize the opportunity of being here today to launch with your esteemed Council, a unique report for the Arab region, which has just been concluded. "The Arab Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report."
As you know, the Millennium ecosystem assessment is an international initiative launched in 2002. Assessments of sub-global scales are also essential as ecosystems are highly differentiated in space and time. The Arab region sub-global assessment was intended to go beyond the global Millennium Ecosystem. The assessment paves the way for the adoption of integrated ecosystem assessment of the Arab region. It integrates the findings of three assessments, namely, Sinai of Egypt; Tafilalet Oasis of Morocco; and the Assir National Park of Saudi Arabia. It highlights the commonalities and differences between them and how they relate to the national, regional and global ecosystems. The assessment links ecosystem goods and services to human well-being, especially to poverty and health. Water scarcity, resource depletion, use change, desertification, soil erosion, overpopulation and urbanization, poverty and unemployment are among the key challenges facing ecosystems in the region.
The report acknowledges the many positive developments occurred in the Arab region. However, there are still challenges to achieve sustainable development. The report proposes three main actions; sustainable management of ecosystems, human resources development, and institutional reform. The report also sends clear messages on leadership and innovation in managing ecosystems.
This report has been prepared by UNEP in partnership with the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Suez Canal University of Egypt and the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment. The fund provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support the preparation of this report is highly appreciated. I would like also to thank the production team, the authors, contributors, and reviewers for their efforts in realizing this important report.
In concluding my remarks, I would like to wish you successful deliberations and discussions.
Thank you for your attention.
