Rising sea level poses problems

Many low-lying countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, face a threat from rising sea levels and desertification caused by global warming.

Writing in a special issue of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) bulletin Our Planet on energy and the environment, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA), warned: "In the Middle East, we have a special need to pay attention to these warnings.

"As many of the countries in the region are low-lying and short of water, we are under threat from rising sea levels and desertification."

The minister also referred to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change which, earlier this year, concluded that by the end of this century sea levels could rise by as much as 88 centimetres.

He said: "This can flood not only coastal areas of the United Arab Emirates, but also much of the heavily populated Nile Delta in Egypt and the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates river system in Iraq."

Sheikh Hamdan further advised that oil producing countries in the Middle East have an obligation to future generations to tackle the causes of global warming.

The compromise agreement on climate change reached in Marrakesh, Morocco, last November was a welcome news, but it needs to be translated into tangible and speedy action to address the causes of global warming.

The minister, in his article carried by the UNEP bulletin, regretted: "We have seen too many deadlocked conferences where reluctance to give anything up has caused the threat to human livelihoods from rising temperatures to go on steadily increasing."

Referring to national efforts in containing global warming and controlling desertification, Sheikh Hamdan said: "In the UAE we are still a developing country even though we are blessed with the wealth bestowed upon us by our oil and gas reserves.

"We are conscious that, in the process of funding ambitious development programmes, we have a responsibility not only towards our own environment, but also towards the planet."

He said environmental threats have traditionally accompanied the production of oil.

"We have made considerable strides in recent years to mitigate these dangers, and one major achievement has been a dramatic reduction in the flaring of gases from onshore and offshore oil fields."

In 1995, some seven million cubic meters of gas was flared in Abu Dhabi everyday. "Today, we are down to 1.5 million, which is a 78 per cent reduction in just five years. Our objective is zero."

The UAE is also anxious to capitalise on the potential for renewable sources of energy like solar power. The results of the research into capturing clean energy from the sun through a new generation of solar panels are encouraging, he said, adding: "Before long it will be possible for us to construct buildings with photovoltaic panels that will generate most of their own energy requirements."

The minister said there is a legal requirement for environmental baseline studies, impact assessments and to establish effective continuous monitoring programmes in the UAE's major onshore and offshore oil fields.

All projects proposed by the Abu Dhabi oil sector, as well as those put up by the government departments, must be approved by the ERWDA.

He said: "In fulfilling this requirement, we examine the results of the baseline studies and environmental impact assessments, and also take into account, where appropriate, both archaeological and paleontological issues."

As a result, the minister added, a number of major oil sector projects have had their original engineering designs changed in order to limit environmental impacts, for example through the drilling of clustered wells from a single hole and the increased use of directional and horizontal drilling.

This leads to a winning situation as it puts the UAE oil sector at the cutting edge of new drilling technology.

Sheikh Hamdan said: "Our heritage is one of a people who can survive in our fragile desert environment by learning to co-exist with nature and by developing a sustainable use of the resources. Otherwise our ancestors would have starved.

"We recognise that today we have a global obligation to future generations and we are determined to play our part in securing the sustainable development they require."