On April 22 each year, the world celebrates Earth Day. This is the main international occasion to demonstrate support for environmental protection and raise awareness on important environmental themes for humankind. The World Earth Day was celebrated for the first time in 1970 and since then it has been observed globally every year by almost all countries.

There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day. For instance, through clean-up campaigns, by planting trees, conducting various programmes for recycling and conservation, using recyclable containers and motivating people to reduce the use of plastic bags to avoid soil and water pollution. However, Earth Day is ideal, especially, for raising awareness among younger generations on the need for conservation of our environment. The theme of World Earth Day 2014 is ‘Green Cities’.

Earth Day Network launched the Green Cities campaign to help cities around the world become more sustainable. Focused on three key elements — buildings, energy and transportation — the campaign aims to help cities accelerate their transition to a cleaner, healthier and more economically viable future through improvements in efficiency, investments in renewable technology and policy reform.

It is worth mentioning that, in 1945, two thirds of the world’s people lived in rural settings, while in 2000, the population balance had shifted, with half of humanity living in cities. Moreover, it is expected that by 2050, two thirds of world’s people will be living in cities.

As the urban population grows, cities expands and the demand for water, energy and municipal services increase, our cities will have to evolve. In fact, the challenges ahead for our cities are huge and the opportunities are also enormous. We can take various policies, actions and measures to improve the quality of life in our cities.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are some of the most urbanising places in the world: Kuwait 96 per cent, Bahrain 92 per cent and Qatar 92 per cent. The other countries also recorded a very high percentage of urbanisation: Saudi Arabia and UAE 87 per cent and Oman 77 per cent. This is not surprising. It is a logical consequence of the rapid urbanisation over the past decade and the availability of necessary funds and investment. Such urbanisation took many forms such as expansion of the current GCC cities, establishment of industrial communities and tourist resorts.

Despite this high rate of urbanisation in in GCC countries, some of the most ambitious clean-energy projects in the world are to be found here. Many Gulf cities are becoming centres of green and low-carbon innovation and projects.

For example, the UAE is a world leader in shifting towards greener cities with many green policies (a green growth strategy was issued last year). Masdar City is an example of a zero-carbon and zero-waste city; Dubai Metro aims to reduce traffic, noise and emissions. Then, there is the establishment of solar power plants such as the Shams plants, green buildings council, codes and practices as well as various environmental awareness campaigns carried out by government authorities, municipalities and civil societies.

These green initiatives ensure a better quality of life in the cities, which then remain an attraction for residents, tourists and shoppers who contribute to the country’s economy.

We have huge challenges as well as opportunities for our cities. Earth Day 2014 is a great occasion to start acting. We all have a role to play, be it as city residents, private sectors, academics, politicians or decision-makers. City residents in particular have a great responsibility. They own the city they live in and they can change their living places to greener ones by adopting a green lifestyle. Without residents’ participation, all efforts to have a green city will go in vain.

Cities are not just man-made assets, they represent the dreams and hopes of societies. They symbolise the social and cultural values and history. Thus it is our responsibility to leave our cities in a better condition than we found them in, for the benefit of the next generation. In this regard, the green cities approach is the key to a sustainable future.

Dr Mohamed Abdel Raouf is an independent environmental researcher.