H.E. Dr. Thani Ahmed AlZeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment headed the UAE delegation to the 20th. Meeting of GCC Ministers in Charge of Environmental Affairs, held in Jeddah, KSA on Wednesday, 19th. October 2016.
The ministers praised the vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz on boosting the joint GCC efforts in the fields of conservation of the environment and natural resources, tackling desertification, depletion of groundwater and climate change.
In addition to officially launching the GCC Environmental Portal, the ministers approved a number of important environmental decisions and recommendations brought forth by the undersecretaries responsible for environmental affairs at the conclusion of their preparatory meeting, which underlined the collaborative environmental work among the GCC countries.
These decisions included developing an action plan strategy for the GCC Ministerial Committee in Charge of Environmental Affairs for the period of 2017-2021 and incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals in the operation plan of the strategy.
Following a brief overview of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change presented by H.E. Dr. Thani Ahmed AlZeyoudi, the ministers approved the undersecretaries’ recommendation to hold a workshop in KSA during the second half of 2017 on sharing information and expertise related to preparing reports about environmental issues, and agreed to invite Jordan and Morocco to participate in this workshop.
The ministers also endorsed UAE’s recommendation to establish better coordination among GCC countries with regards to international conventions, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held recently, and stressed on the importance of benefitting from UAE’s experience in advancing smart online environmental services provided by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. In addition, the ministers adopted “together for the Conservation of Wildlife” as the slogan for the GCCC Wildlife Day 2016, emphasizing on the importance of highlighting the GCCC collaborative efforts in the preservation of wildlife in the Gulf region.