Development and modernization are important tools in the sustainable development of our model... and success needs the all the efforts of partners from the private sector and various sectors of the community as well as its members, especially that when protecting natural resources becomes a national effort that reflects the motive for the environment development and its sustainability.

The UAE has worked to adopt and implement an integrated set of tools, including: laws and regulations, the development of policies and action plans, capacity-building, education, and awareness.

This successful approach in bringing about change, management and community involvement in the mobility of the ecosystem, enhanced the ability of the UAE to cope with the pressure of environmental challenges on the national and global levels, particularly climate change, and led to important success that is based on creative and innovative views and ideas to replace traditional and limited practices, and transfer the environmental work in the United Arab Emirates to new horizons to ensure a sustainable environment for life.

Perhaps the following examples would reflect a genuine paradigm shift in the UAE's efforts related to environmental development and resources sustainability, and the size of the shift that has occurred in the past few years as a result of the policies established by the government for the development of environmental work.

1. The National Initiative for the Environmental Footprint

This initiative was launched in 2007 in order to understand the environmental footprint and to address the factors that made the rate of ecological footprint per capita in the UAE one of the highest in the world. Thus, the UAE became the third country in the world, after Switzerland and Japan, which adopted a research model on the environmental footprint.

This initiative represents a model of unique and successful partnership among the various sectors besides the Ministry of Environment and Water, including the Emirates Wildlife Association that is a division of the Global Fund for Nature Preservation, the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Database, and the Environmental Footprint Global Network that is  working in close cooperation with a wide range of government institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector institutions.

This has had a prominent role in defining the initiative and the concept of the ecological footprint, developing environmental footprint science in the region and the world, and to highlight the unsustainable practices and irrational consumption patterns that have contributed to raising the rate of the UAE's ecological footprint.

As a result of the programs and plans developed by the initiative partners and the official and popular interaction, the rate of the individual footprint in the UAE went down from 11.9 global hectares in 2006 to 8.5 global hectares, which is an important percentage in light of the continuing pressures on the consumption of environmental resources in the state .

2. The Environmental Performance Index

This indicator reflects the magnitude of environmental changes in the world, and arranges these changes according to their success. The last Environmental Performance Index 2012 Report showed a great improvement in the order of the UAE, where it ranked 77 instead of 152. There is no doubt that this development came to reflect the size of the efforts made ​​by the UAE during the first decade of this century.

3. The Standards and Metrology

The attention to the specifications and standards in the context of interest in which the UAE Vision 2021 had affirmed to participate in the development and application of innovative solutions to protect the environment and ensure its sustainability, and its commitment to modern technology for saving energy. As well as in the framework of its commitment to preserve natural resources and to address the irrational practices that contribute to consume resources, and in the emergence of a range of negative impacts of the economic, social and environmental consequences of the use of energy-intensive consumption devices and equipment.

As the air-conditioners are the largest consumers of electrical energy, where their consumption of power is estimated by about 70% of the total electrical energy of the household, therefore the government has begun developing a binding national standard for these devices specifications.

This initiative included the development of a standard specifications for electrical household devices in line with the best international standards and specifications. The UAE is working at the moment on the development of specifications for lighting lamps used at households.

4.Green Applications

This initiative which is adopted by the Ministerial Council for Services earlier this year, comes to strengthen the commitment of governmental institutions in the UAE to reduce the carbon footprint resulting from the governmental buildings occupied, through: replacing regular light bulbs with energy-saving lamps, the use of sensors that operate when needed in some areas such as corridors and warehouses , controlling cooling degrees in the workplace by setting them at appropriate temperatures to ensure the efficient use of energy, and installation of water consumption-saving hardware in all facilities.

To strengthen the commitment to this initiative, its elements  have been integrated with the standards of the federal entity excellence award program in the field of green applications.

5. The UAE Strategy for Green Development

This national strategy was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and the Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai last January, under the slogan "Green Economy for Sustainable Development", and it represents a significant milestone in the campaign for environmental and economic development.

The UAE is seeking under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the State (may Allah protects him), through this initiative to be a leading global hub and a successful model for the green economy.

The strategy aims mainly to build an economy that preserves the environment, and an environment that supports the growth of the economy.

The Ministry of Environment and Water has paved the way over the past four years to adopt a green economy by conducting a series of conferences.

This initiative is based on a wide range of elements that are distributed on six sections:

Green Energy, Green Economy, Green City, Dealing with Climate Change Effects, Green Living, and Green Technology.

There is no doubt that the implementation of such ambitious strategy with the best possible picture reflects the efforts made ​​by the UAE in the past years. The UAE employed significant achievements in the economic, social and environmental factors to represent empowerment and important milestones towards achieving such strategy.