Muscat: Oman ranked third among Arab countries in the 2020 Sustainable Development Report (SDR) issued by the UN Development Institution. The SDR 2020 presents the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index and Dashboards for all UN member states and frames the implementation of the SDGs in terms of six broad transformations.
Since its launch in 2016, this annual report has provided the most up-to-date data to track and rank the performance of all UN member states on the SDGs. As an unofficial monitoring tool, the SDR is complementary to official efforts to monitor the SDGs.
The report, published last week, said that Oman occupied the 76th position globally and won 69.76 points. Sweden took first place, followed by Denmark and Finland in the rating, which comprises 193 countries. It was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung.
As per last year’s data, Oman is ranked ninth globally in the implementation of environmental laws, 11th in the Toughness of Environmental Laws Index, 22nd for sustainable development in the travel and tourism sector. Overall Oman’s ranking improved 109 to 57 in environmental sustainability.
Apart from the various initiatives taken by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs to ensure environmental sustainability and the awareness thereof, there are also organisations that are specifically engaged in dealing with the preservation and management of sustainable environment and natural resources.
Oman Environmental Services Holding Company SAOC, Beah, which is in charge of the solid waste management of Oman has been rendering pioneering services towards sustainable waste management practices as per international standards by establishing the required infrastructure and improving public awareness of waste management.
Another organisation, Haya Water, a registered trade mark of Oman Wastewater Company SAOC, in charge of the treatment of wastewater facilities and projects in Oman, has been steadily advancing in its field with many accomplishments. These apart there are other organisations as well, that spread awareness of environmental sustainability in Oman. Prominent among such is the Environmental Society of Oman (ESO), a non-profit organisation dedicated to conserving the environment of Oman.
ESO’s laudable role in this regard has created tangible awareness on conservation of natural resources and ensured participation of general public in many of its awareness exercises. More recently, ESO has won the $5,000 Summer Marine Turtle Sustainability Grant from nonprofit groups Turtle Island Restoration Network and SEE Turtles in support of projects dedicated to protecting nesting turtles.
