Emirates Environmental Excellence Program launched
DUBAI, November 26, 2015
The Emirates Environmental Excellence Program, the first programme under the global sustainable environmental management initiative, has been launched.
Through this, local government institutions and authorities are classified and evaluated according to the highest national environmental standards with due consideration to the global best practices and benchmarks, said a statemnet.
The programme aims at making a major progress in the application of environmental standards and national indicators in the government and private sectors, and raise them to the best international standards.
It was developed in accordance with the UAE Government’s objective of adopting a five-star scoring system for services across various public entities.
A comparison with numerous global environmental awards and certifications was done in a bid to achieve the goals of UAE Vision 2021 and implement the country’s ‘green’ strategies such as green energy, green investment, green technologies and green life.
The beneficiaries include both the government and private sectors, specifically major industries such as the industrial, construction and service sectors.
The programme includes specific criteria for each component:
First criteria - UAE Strategy For Green Development, including green energy, green investment, green life, and green technologies.
Second criteria - Environmental legislation and practices, including sustainable development, environmental disaster contingency plans, and community environmental initiatives.
Third criteria - Global environmental indicators, including ISO 14001 and other initiatives raising the country’s Environmental Performance Index.
Fourth criteria - National key performance indicators, including the percentage of treated waste out of the total waste generated, share of clean energy contribution, reduction of total waste generated, and air quality index.
The government and private entities will be classified according to environmental standards to help them obtain a certificate from the Emirates Environmental Excellence Program.
Based on the results of the evaluation, an institution will receive a maximum rating of five stars.
Detailed criteria and themes are being put in place to ensure that they complement the objectives of the local public and private institutions. These will be announced in the first quarter of 2016.
At this state, experimental evaluation of the institutions will be conducted to ensure harmonious standards, in addition to re-evaluation of companies to make sure the integration of the high standards advocated by the programme. - TradeArabia News Service
