Five-year strategy to minimise greenhouse gas emissions

Abu Dhabi: The Environment Agency- Abu Dhabi (EAD) is formulating a five-year action plan to minimise the greenhouse emissions in the emirate, a senior official told Gulf News.

Apart from initiating its own projects to minimise emissions, the agency will act as a catalyst by working with all other stakeholders in both public and private sector in their similar efforts, Eng. Shaikha Ahmad Al Hosani, Director of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis at EAD, said yesterday. She said the action plans is expected to be ready by the end of this year.

The EAD is working with municipalities in the emirate to extend forest cover which, along with land use change, have sequestered 4.7 per cent of the total emissions, Al Hosani said.

In the forestry sector, mangroves play a major role because they don’t need irrigation thus do not contribute to emissions caused by electricity and water production, another senior official said.

However, the emissions caused by irrigation for forestry is negligible considering their ecosystem service of sequestering emissions according to Darryl Lew, Executive Director, Environment Quality Sector at EAD.

The officials outlined the UAE’s various initiatives in its fight against climate change at the event.