Khaleej Times, Tuesday, Jul 05, 2022 | Zul Hijjah 6, 1443
Council adopts 22 new policies to speed up transition to circular economy
Emirates: The UAE Circular Economy Council
convened its second meeting of 2022, presided over by Mariam bint Mohammed
Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment.
The Council approved 22 policies proposed by its subsidiary, the Circular
Economy Policies Committee, that focus on accelerating the implementation of the
circular economy model in the UAE in four main sectors – manufacturing, food,
infrastructure, and transport.
The Council also identified at least 16 circular economy activities that open a
wealth of opportunities for businesses, such as upcycling textile waste into new
products, developing automated AI-enabled waste management solutions, and
remanufacturing electronic waste.
"With the cabinet's approval of the UAE Circular Economy Policy in January 2021,
we have embarked on an ambitious and important mission to transition from a
linear model to a circular economy approach. Our current linear economy consumes
valuable materials and resources without being able to benefit from them after
use, which represents waste in the modern concept of sustainability. Our
approach seeks to protect our environment and to ensure the long-term economic
and social prosperity of our country," Almheiri said.
"Many key stakeholders in the UAE have already started to embrace circular
economy principles. We at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and at
the Ministry of Economy have been engaging with them and others to gain valuable
information and insights about ways of facilitating the transition to a circular
economy," she added.
The Minister noted that 45 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
result from producing cars, clothes, food, and other products used every day.
This demonstrates the great potential that lays in circular economy, which can
complement the emission reduction and mitigate the current climate crisis.
For his part, Minister Abdullah Al Marri, who also heads the Council's Circular
Economy Policies Committee, noted that the Committee recently held intensive
workshops and meetings with the government and private sectors as well as
international partners. The workshops were designed to support the
implementation of the UAE Circular Economy Policy in four key sectors –
manufacturing, green infrastructure, transportation, and food production and
consumption – as well as the 22 new policies issued to drive the UAE's overall
transition to a circular economy.
"These policies will contribute to addressing all challenges the private sector
is facing in its shift to a circular economy and support the country's green
development drive. The initiatives align with the directives of our wise
leadership to fast-track the country's transition to a circular economy as one
of the sustainability, flexibility, and growth drivers of the new economic model
as per the Principles of the 50.
"The Committee continues its efforts to implement the UAE Circular Economy
Policy 2021-2031 through programmes and projects that are set to attract
investments to this field and expand its infrastructure. Efforts are also being
exerted to establish a circular economy database, in addition to offering
incentives to encourage the private sector to shift towards clean production
methods, thereby enhancing the UAE's competitiveness as one of the leading
circular economies regionally and globally," he stated.
After a brief on the progress of current circular economy projects in the UAE
and startups' insights, Anis Nassar from the World Economic Forum (WEF) updated
Council members on the Scale360 initiative. The initiative brings together
global partners to scale up the use of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)
technologies with the aim of fast-tracking the adoption of circular economy
principles.
The meeting agenda also featured an overview of Bee'ah's efforts to implement a
circular economy model in its operations as well as a presentation on the Abu
Dhabi Emirate Single Use Plastic Policy that came into force on June 1, 2022.
Approved in January 2021, the UAE Circular Economy Policy identifies the optimal
approach to the country's transition to a circular economy. Its objectives
include building a sustainable economy, promoting the efficient use of natural
resources, encouraging the private sector to shift to cleaner industrial
production methods that involve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and
other 4IR technologies, and adopting sustainable consumption and production
patterns that reduce environmental stress while meeting the basic needs of the
population.
The UAE Circular Economy Council comprises 17 representatives of relevant
federal and local government entities, private sector businesses, and
international organisations.
The meeting drew the participation of high-level representatives of various
government and private sector entities from across the UAE. These included
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi,
Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State
for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications;
Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, CEO of Alliances for Global
Sustainability; Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of
Industry and Advanced Technology; Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director of
the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi.
The participants also included Dawood Al Hajri, Director-General of Dubai
Municipality; Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi, Director-General of the Municipality and
Planning Department in Ajman; Essa Al Hashmi, Assistant Under-Secretary for the
Sustainable Communities Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and
Environment; Yousif Al Ali, Assistant Under-Secretary for Electricity, Water and
Future Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure; Khaled Al Huraimel,
CEO of Bee'ah; Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director-General of Emirates
Nature-WWF; and Ibrahim Al-Zu'bi, Chief Sustainability Officer at Majid Al
Futtaim Holding.