Ministry of Environment Sets Up a Workshop with UN-ESCWA

Doha, February 27 (QNA) - A three-day workshop on the preparation for the (Rio+20) UN Conference on Sustainable Development that will be held in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22. The event , organised by the ministry of environment jointly with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) is held under the patronage of HE Qatari Minister of Environment Abdullah Bin Mubarak Bin A'aboud Al- Mahdadi . The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Rashid Al Kuwari, the Assistant undersecretary for Environmental Affairs and it attended by a number of different specialists of the representative respective organs in the state. In his inaugural address , Dr.Al Kuwari emphasized the significance of the workshop and the issues tabled on its agenda calling upon the participants to well prepare for the conference through enriching the workshop activities via constructive dialogue and maximium benefit of whatever agreed upon formulas the experts offer so that the participant country could adopt a distinguished vision stemming from qatar development vision 2030. He further said ,'' Qatar will participate in the (Rio+20) conference with a high profile delegation''. The agenda of the workshop is focussing on discussing the developed countries stance, along with the stances of each of the UN group 77 countries, China, Arab countries, and the regional committees, the Arab regional preparation practical steps in association with the Arab League and the future steps internationally and regionally. Meanwhile a keynote speaker at the inaugural session, was Director of Sustainable Development and Productivity Division of UN-ESCWA Dr. Roula Majdalani, who expressed admiration to Qatar s role represented by the ministry of Environment for the well preparations of the conference which will be a good opportunity to shed light on priorities and challenges of the arab region and its accomplishments within the context of attaining sustainable development . Magdalani referred to Qatar s regional and international role in pursuing the principles of sustainable development specially that it will host the UN COP- 18 Climate Change Conference between the 26th November-7th December. The UN COP- 18 Climate Change Conference in Qatar lays a good groundwork for highlighting the priorities and the challenges the Arab region faces as well as its achievements in the field of sustainable development and environmental commitments, Magdalani added. Water and Climate Change Officer at UN-ESCWA, Dr. Tarek Sadeq presented a paper entitled,"Towards a Green Economy - Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, the principles, the opportunities, and the challenges in the Arab Region." The paper discussed the key challenges and the fears of shifting into the green economy in the Arab Region in terms of the given opportunities, successful experiences, along with the necessary prerequisites to shifting into this stage in the Arab Region. For his part, a figure of the Ministry of Environment, Abdullah Al Ibrahim presented a paper addressing Qatar s efforts in pursuit of the sustainable development pointing to the fact that it has already issued a number of organizational terms and rules for different developmental sectors. The last day of the workshop it is expected to set up a unified national model and position for Qatar regarding the Rio+20 conference. The Workshop aims at fostering all the sustainable development sectors national working team, introducing the goals and the topics of the Rio +20 conference, and discussing other main issues of the same concern. The aforesaid team includes a group of experts in the fields of Environment, Energy, Industry, Economy, and housing. (QNA)