Under the patronage of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE), Emirates Environmental Group is continuing its 20th Cycle of the Clean Up UAE campaign, which was launched on 6th of December at Sharjah. The first week of the campaign successfully concluded with the clean up of sites located in Ajman and Fujairah on the 7th and 9th of December respectively.
The Clean Up in Dubai was conducted on Saturday, 11th of December at Al Qudra Lakes, making it the fourth Emirate in the line of clean ups. A total of four sites were opened surrounding the lakes. The event was conducted in association with the Management of Saih Al Salam , Dubai Municipality and Dubai Tourism.
Dubai, as the emirate with the highest population, also witnessed the maximum participation. 4923 participants arrived at the 4 allocated sites. With the participants wearing the campaign t-shirt and caps, they spread out in the vast area of more than 15km with reusable cotton gloves and biodegradable bags. A total of 13,650 Kg of waste material was collected and handed over to the municipality for further processing and disposing. The recyclables were segregated from the general waste collected by EEG team and the volunteers, they were uploaded on EEG trucks and sent to established recycling facilities in the UAE. In total, EEG and the participants collected 16,293 kg of waste from the sites across the four Emirates under the banner of Clean Up UAE.
Mrs. Habiba Al Mar’ashi said. “ Al Qudra lakes serve as an important sanctuary for many migratory birds, animals, reptiles and insects. These lakes despite being man-made, are wonderful nature reserves. While it can provide a recreation spot to humans to enjoy quality time with family and friends, we must ensure to leave the nature around void of anthropogenic trash. We need to conserve areas such as these, to allow the our local wildlife population to thrive”
The Clean Up UAE campaign will continue for one more week with sites being opened in Abu Dhabi on the 12th of December and will conclude in Ras Al Khaimah on 16th of December.
To show the extreme importance of this campaign and the value added towards the progress of goals of environmental sustainability, the site in Dubai was graced by His Excellency Sultan Alwan, Acting Undersecretary at MoCCAE. In his speech he said: “It gives me a great pleasure to be here today and express my delight to be with you all at this event. In addition to convey to you the greetings of Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment. I also take this opportunity to sincerely thank and appreciate the Emirates Environmental Group and to everyone who is participating in this campaign for the efforts they are making towards UAE’s environment and preservation, towards protection of our natural resources and its biodiversity. As we all know that protecting the environment, preserving our natural resources and sustaining biodiversity has been a priority in the strategies of the UAE government since its establishment by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, may God rest his soul, and our wise leadership continue to follow the same path.”
Reena Vivek, Chief Executive Officer, Zurich in the Middle East, said that: “At Zurich, we believe that sustainability needs to be a part of every company’s DNA and core business strategy. Not only do we need to have conversation around it, but as a community, we need to translate these dialogues into actions. Our partnership with EEG will take our commitment to the region’s sustainable goals one step further and help us make a direct contribution to the vision of a more sustainable UAE.”
Mr. Ali Bin Hamoodah, CEO, National Food Products Company (The Main Sponsor of the Campaign) said : “Our brands Oasis and Lacnor are on a long-term mission to inspire the next generation of youth towards creating a sustainable and healthier tomorrow. We couldn’t imagine a better way to kick-off the first official activity of the Oasis Kids Council for the Environment than by partnering with the “Emirates Environmental Group” on their well-known, sustainability driven annual initiative “Clean Up UAE”. This initiative is crucial, not only for driving awareness on the importance of a clean environment, but also for taking an action, and teaching youth by example. Taking care of our environment, means taking care of our future and NFPC, with its leading brands Lacnor and Oasis, is proud to stand for the right cause of clean environment and to be on the leading front of positive change for the future”.
The challenges of conducting these campaigns are very high. It is only possible due to all the support given to EEG by various entities. In her speech, Mrs. Al Mar’ashi thanked the sponsors and supporters of the campaign and expressed her gratitude to the Management of Saih Al Salam, the Dubai Municipality and Dubai Tourism for their support and cooperative association. Followed by the main sponsors of the Campaign OASIS and ZURICH, McDonald’s UAE the co-sponsor of this event and the Support Sponsors; Abu Dhabi Terminals, CANPACK, Dubai Investments, OUNASS and RAKBANK.
Finally, the supporting entities were also appreciated for their commitment, they included Lacnor, Aster Volunteers, Royal Bakers, Dabur, du, Emarat, Barakat, BYRNE, Al Ain water and Fujairah Plastic Factories. The official communication partner of the campaign is ASDAA BCW. The Media houses that are supporting the campaign and help it to reach to all the sectors of the society, Gulf News, Radio 4 and Climate Control Magazine.
Mrs. Al Mar’ashi further added “We are here to work together, collectively, as part of families, as part of corporation, as part of Academia, as part of communities, as part of societies and as individuals who are united to make a change, to show the world our stance towards a clean environment, to set this event as a prime example of working together; For the best way to ensure progress is through cooperation.”
She reiterated how such campaign is very much in line with the national goals and the main objectives of the ongoing Expo 2020. “This event is a perfect instance of the path that the UAE is taking, moving forward. We are here, assembled in the Emirate of Dubai, that has been given the privilege of hosting the Expo 2020 – a grand event that has brought to the country, people from many nations, cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds to share their history, goals, their visions toward future, their contribution to human civilisation, to science, to art, to cuisines, to the environment and more.”
As an accredited body of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), EEG serves as one of the few environmental entities in the region that strives to ensure that the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals are met. It is a privilege to be able to inspire so many individuals from differect sectors of the society from young children all the way to accomplished professionals and bring them together to make a difference through active, hands-on participation to solve environmental issues that the world is facing.