Dubai Land Department (DLD) has joined hands with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to launch 'The Regional centre for Resource Efficient and Sustainable Cities' for the Arab region.

A leading international organisation in the environmental field, UNEP said it is a first-of-its-kind centre to promote regional sustainable initiatives for resource efficient and low-carbon cities.

The launch was held in the presence of Dr Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, and Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, the DLD director general, and other senior officials.

The UNEP operates under its main mission to promote environmental sustainability, while advocating for the efficient use of natural resources, and contributing to sustainable development.

The centre, which was launched following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between DLD and UNEP, will serve as a regional hub for promoting, supporting and enabling the efficient use of resources in cities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The centre will be located at the 'The Perfect City' - the first specialised sustainable city in the world-  to come up in Dubai.

The 'Centre for Sustainable Cities' will be established in accordance with Dubai and UAE laws and regulations in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Water and UNEP – as a regional hub of UNEP relevant initiatives.

DLD and UNEP have agreed to a long-term collaboration through the establishment of such resource facility that aims to build local, national and regional capacity for resource efficient policies and to develop and deliver relevant tools, approaches and support for resource efficient, low-carbon and sustainable cities in the Arab region.

On the new entity, Dr Rashid said: "The UAE has made important strides towards achieving the goals of sustainable development through the adoption of a set of tasks and strategies. The first and foremost strategy was the "Emirates Green Development," based on it the UAE adopted the green economy approach."

Lauding the efforts made by DLD in partnership with UNEP for the establishment of this centre, the minister said the establishment of the centre would enhance the leadership role of the UAE in the field of sustainable cities.

"The UAE has succeeded in adopting and implementing many options and solutions designed to achieve sustainable development such as sustainable building standards and sustainable transport, clean energy and promote energy efficiency", he noted.

It started the work on the UAE 2021 vision to move to the concept of smart cities based on innovation and employing the latest technologies values in resource management, conservation and sustainable production and consumption patterns to maintain our way of life and strength it," he added.

Majida Ali Rashed, the assistant director-general and head of Real Estate Investment Management at DLD, said: "We are paying utmost importance to the issues relating to environmental protection and conservation, as we are aware of the vital role UNEP plays, especially through those initiatives related to the promotion of sustainable consumption and production and the efficient use of resources."

"We are fully confident that the adoption of policies and tools for sustainable buildings will help us improve the usage of energy and allow for the efficient use of resources, particularly as we work on developing and implementing green buildings and sustainable cities initiatives," she added.

Arab Hoballah, the chief of sustainable consumption and production in UNEP, said: "We are pleased to collaborate with Dubai Land and the Ministry of Environment and Water in this great and ambitious endeavour, for further promoting resource efficiency and environmental sustainability in Dubai, the UAE and the Arab Region."

"Hub for lifestyles, education, culture, innovation and investments; Cities are emerging as political entities, actors and markets. Increasingly, it is getting clearer that there could be no sustainable development if not carried out at a city level," stated Hoballah.
 
"Driving sustainability requires adequate knowledge, policies, tools and actions for the necessary transformative change, which will run necessarily through Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production at city level," he observed.

"This is precisely what the "centre for Resource Efficient and Sustainable Cities for the Arab Region" is aiming at, providing appropriate knowledge and capacity to enable city managers and stakeholders to play an active role in ensuring development of the cities and supporting sustainable urban lifestyles while decoupling growth from environmental impacts and increasing use of resources," added Hoballah.-TradeArabia News Service