Tuesday, Jul 28, 2015
Dubai: More than 20 Dubai Police officers completed a three-day Energy Management System training (EnMS) programme that will help the force reach its ‘Zero Carbon Police Force’ initiative.
Lt Col Dr Tamim Mohammad Al Haj, Director of the Environment, Health and Safety Department at Dubai Police, said that the this is the first batch to graduate from a energy management programme, and will help manage energy consumption in various Dubai Police departments, helping them achieve the Dubai Government’s 30 per cent energy reduction goal by 2030.
“Our aim is to have at least one batch take this training a year. We will be choosing officers from different departments and police stations, so they can help their departments implement the strategies that will help reduce energy consumption, which will help us become a zero carbon police force,” he said.
The programme is part of a memorandum of understanding between the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), and Dubai Carbon, who organised the training.
Dubai Police launched its Zero Carbon Police Force initiative in November 2014. Since then the force has been working closely with Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence to study the force’s activities and find solutions and alternatives that are in line with international standards to achieve sustainability.
“We have been in the assessment phase since the launch and, with the conclusion of this programme, we will use what we learnt and what was found out during the assessment phase to come up with an exact action plan, which is expected to come together in the fourth quarter of 2015,” Lt Col Al Haj said.
Dubai Police will be announcing a number of initiatives relating to sustainability in early 2016, he said.
Ivano Iannelli, CEO of Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, said is there is one police force in the world that he believes can truly become sustainable and reduce its carbon foot print and that is Dubai Police.
“It is uncommon for a police force to take such a proactive approach when it comes to sustainability, and we have been working with them and applying our environmental economy and finance knowledge to their activities and to help them structure their zero carbon strategies,” he said.
The UAE Energy Council had earlier signed an agreement with UNIDO, Iannelli said, “to benchmark best practices in this field in the region, which will later be exported to other countries”.
He added that Dubai Police are very driven and committed to sustainability.
“We are pleased to support Dubai Police in serving the environmental agenda … I am sure Dubai Police will be a leader in this field and act as a catalyst to further enhance energy efficiency efforts of the UAE,” said Pradeep Monga, Director of UNIDO’s Energy Branch and Special Representative of the Director-General on Energy.
UNIDO has been conducting the EnMS training programme as part of its technical assistance in developing countries and emerging economies. So far, it has provided in-depth training courses to around 800 energy efficiency experts in over 300 companies worldwide, achieving average annual energy savings of 5-15 per cent in the first year of implementation, with minimal capital investment.
By Noorhan Barakat Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
