UN award a tribute to Zayed's achievements

President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan yesterday accepted the Champions of the Earth Award.

The prestigious award has been bestowed posthumously upon Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan by the United Nations Environment Programme (unep) in recognition of the late President's lifetime commitment to protect the UAE's environment.

The award, said UNEP, is also a recognition of the enormous regional and international contributions of Shaikh Zayed to agriculture, afforestation, protection of endangered species and creation of natural reserves.

The award was presented to Shaikh Khalifa by Dr Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of unep. As he accepted the award, Shaikh Khalifa said the uae was proud of this great honour which, he said, was a tribute by the international community to Shaikh Zayed for his remarkable achievements in the field of environment in addition to his worldwide contributions to achieve sustainable developments in many countries.

"The grand award ceremony which will be held tomorrow at the uN headquarters will highlight the UAE's standing at the global stage. This respectable position was carved by Shaikh Zayed, the founding father of our nation," said Shaikh Khalifa.

The President extended his thanks and those of the uae people to unep for selecting Shaikh Zayed, adding that this honour will serve as an impetus for the uae to follow in the footsteps of Shaikh Zayed.

Shaikh Khalifa assured the unep chief that the uae would continue to observe the regional and international conventions on the conservation and protection of the environment.

He hailed the uae's cooperation with unep, saying that this partnership would become more and more stronger. Shaikh Khalifa also reaffirmed the UAE's commitment to environmental issues, noting that he has instructed all the departments to ensure that every project that needs to be implemented in the country must have a zero or minimal impact on the environment.

"This is our way of paying tribute to Shaikh Zayed and showing the world that we are committed to the environmental mission for which he lived," he said.

Dr Toepfer said that unep chose to name Shaikh Zayed a Champion of the Earth because of his lifetime commitment to protect the UAE's environment.

"The award also recognises Shaikh Zayed's commitment to preserving threatened wildlife," he said.

Policies

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA), yesterday expressed his happiness and pride at Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan being named the Champion of the Earth by UNEP.

"The UAE has been able to develop and to implement strategies for the conservation and development of wildlife, both terrestrial and marine," said Shaikh Hamdan. The UAE gaimed fame for placing the environment at the top of its priorities. Impressive success in the captive breeding of falcons and houbara, as well as other environmental programmes and projects initiated under the guidance of the late Shaikh Zayed, he said.

"As a result of the policies implemented by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on environmental issues and of his continuous endeavours to promote development, fight desertification, prevent environmental pollution, and protect the country's environment and wildlife" Shaikh Hamdan said. "Shaikh Zayed always wanted his love for the environment to be translated into tangible actions."