Dubai: The eight annual Global South-South Development Expo, which is hosted by Zayed International Foundation for the Environment on behalf of the UAE, is being hosted by Dubai.
South-South cooperation is a broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains.
Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Media Incorporated, opened Expo 2016 — which runs until November 3 — at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Environment ministers from the UAE and other countries from the Global South, senior United Nations delegates, senior government officials and over 500 international delegates attended the expo.
The Global South-South Development Expo is organised by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) in conjunction with more than 20 UN agencies and partners.
The expo is designed to enhance innovation and development among the participating countries with a view to achieving the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It will also highlight successful initiatives and solutions created by developing countries in the Global South to address development challenges.
The expo will address eight main themes in relation to sustainable development: poverty eradication, food security, public private partnerships, green technology transfer, economic growth, industrial innovation, green economies, and global health.
Dr Thani Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister for Climate Change and Environment, said, “The world has witnessed a great economic and political shift in the past two decades, and the relations among the countries of the South and between the countries of the South and the countries of the North have risen to new dimensions and have the potential to effectively address major current issues such as the environment and climate change, energy and food security, global poverty, migration … etc.”
He added that the UAE, under the leadership of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is keen to participate in all international efforts to establish sustainable solutions to environmental, economic and social problems, which is in line with the UAE Vision 2021.
He added that the UAE is also keen on “supporting innovative solutions to protect the environment and ensure sustainability through modern techniques to rationalise natural resources”.
The Emirates Strategy for Green Development, that includes renewable energy, green architecture, sustainable transport and rationalising consumption of water, energy and electricity, is an example.
Masdar City, which is developing and deploying renewable energy and alternative energy technologies is another.
Dr Mohammad Ahmad Bin Fahd, chairman of the Higher Committee of the Zayed International Foundation for the Environment, said, “The decision to host the Global South-South Development Expo in the UAE is apt as it underlines the country’s prominent role in undertaking innumerable humanitarian initiatives worldwide.”
