Gulf News wins prestigious award for environment coverage

Dubai: Gulf News has won a prestigious environmental journalism award for its "Go Green" campaign.

The newspaper launched a "Say No to Plastic Bag" campaign in March 2008 which evolved to an all-encompassing "Go Green" campaign just a few months later.

The campaign was the first ever of its kind by a media organisation in the UAE.

It was recognised by community leaders and readers as a milestone in raising public awareness of environmental issues.

The Outstanding Environmental Publication award will be presented to Gulf News by the Trakhees Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), and Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) as part of the Environment, Health and Safety Awards 2008.

An awards ceremony will be held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, on January 15 at Emirates Towers.

Such awards will be presented annually to deserving companies to recognise Business Units in environment, health and safety innovation and excellence.

Outreach

The Outstanding Environmental Publication award is a new category introduced this year. The award consists of 1 Gold Category only.

Gulf News won the award for providing numerous articles on the environment, creating a distinguished public outreach and developing communication with government and other authorities.

Gulf News' Editor-in-Chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad said, "We appreciate being recognised for this award. It is a good thing that these prizes go to people who really support the environment with campaigns and initiatives like this that promote the planet," he said.

"Gulf News is proud to be recognised as an environmental newspaper. Our editorial and coverage have always taken great care to cover all environment issues, locally and internationally. We at Gulf News will strive to do a lot more for the environment in the future," he said.

Some initiatives undertaken include the distribution of jute bags to the entire readership and moving towards the use of recycled fibre for newsprint. There was a mass distribution of 200,000 jute bags paid for by Gulf News to its readership in October 2008, to help UAE residents reduce the usage of plastic bags - one of the major threats to the national environment.

The campaign brought about awareness and created significant public outreach on environmental issues plaguing the UAE through the consistent coverage on the state of the environment.

Exclusive stories

The turning point came as more and more exclusive stories of pollution's impact on the environment emerged, including the death of camels after choking on plastic found in the desert.

The stories generated immense reader interaction. After eight successful months, the campaign finally came to a close in December. In the future, Gulf News will continue to prioritise its coverage of environmental developments in the country.