Dubai: A new Dubai Sustainability Council was announced on Thursday to oversee an environmental agenda that will create a healthier emirate in a low-carbon future realised by measurable change.
Attending the inaugural Dubai Sustainable Cities Summit in Dubai, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum unveiled the Dubai Sustainability Agenda, a forward-looking roadmap that frames four strategic goals — education and knowledge to raise awareness; smart technology and innovation; health and environment and; employment and economic growth.
The Dubai Sustainability Council will also set strategic deadlines and develop benchmarks to gauge the success of tenets of the new sustainability agenda.
The Dubai Sustainable Cities Summit held on Thursday at Jumeirah Beach Hotel was co-hosted by Dubai Land Department and the United Nations Environment Programme in Dubai.
As many as 30 speakers shared the latest data on sustainable cities with 350 delegates.
Ebrahim Al Zu’bi, Senior Sustainability Advisor, Dubai Land Department, said the emirate is forging ahead under the summit theme “Sharing knowledge for a more sustainable future” to develop, execute and measure its sustainable strategies.
Dubai’s agenda is developing new sustainable plans to integrate between design and the construction sector for green buildings, Al Zu’bi said.
Terri Wills, CEO of the World Green Building Council, encourages cities to support green buildings that use less energy, incorporate environmentally friendly building materials with a view to a creating a smaller carbon footprint.
Will warned that if the world carries on with a business-as-usual approach to global warming, “we are looking at a 6C rise”. But if the world cuts its emissions by 84 gigatonnes by 2050, temperatures may remain at 2C, a chief element of the Conference of Parties COP21 climate summit agreement reached this month.
Wills told delegates that greening of buildings is critical to meet the temperature cap, noting that “it means we must have a large-scale renovation of building stock.”
Rebecca Pearce, CBRE Director of Sustainability, said there is “no doubt green buildings are the new normal” and that 70 per cent of property buyers now want sustainable buildings.
Guy Hammersley, Group Director Research and Innovation UK with BRE, said cities should not forget about social sustainability when sizing up future green plans.
“We shape our cities and they shape us. Nothing can be more important than the health of people in our cities.”
He said a new healthy city index created by BRE is measuring indicators that can be rated and weighted to help government green its metropolitan spaces.
Dubai Land Department’s Al Zu’bi said Dubai is working on full participation in the BRE health city index as part of its new sustainable agenda.
