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Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi Summit and Exhibition to launch December 12

Abu Dhabi, December 7, 2011: Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit and Exhibition, opening next week, will convene world experts to facilitate greater access to environmental and societal data to help achieve sustainable development especially for emerging economies.

To be held 12 to 15 December at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), the Summit and Exhibition will draw attention to the gap that exists between the need for better information about the environment and the efforts being made to address the issue. The Summit will call on decision-makers worldwide to include data and its access in their development initiatives.

"The United Arab Emirates and the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi ( EAD ) looks forward to welcoming both local and international participants to the Summit and Exhibition to develop a unified framework to keep the global environment under continuous review and improve access to environmental and societal data," said H.H Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative of the Western Region and Chairman of EAD .

To be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, the Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit and Exhibition is hosted by Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi ( EAD ), facilitated by Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) and held in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

"In terms of environmental and societal data, too many institutions around the world still live in the past," said H.E. Mohammed Al Bowardi, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chair of the Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit. "Much data is not freely available, housed in incompatible formats, or just kept on paper in an archive. Also many environmental data simply do not exist, particularly in developing countries, and these countries do not have the means to acquire those or generate those. But we know from the Abu Dhabi experience how important data and its access are for sustainable development. The Summit and Exhibition are expressions of our commitment."

A key outcome of the Summit is the adoption of the Eye on Earth Summit Declaration, which will provide input to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012 (Rio+20). Through this Declaration, attending ministers, representatives of government and other participants will commit to facilitate the work required to make quality data and information available to those who need it, especially in emerging economies. The public is invited to sign the declaration at the Exhibition.

Access to environmental and societal data is usually limited to more developed countries. In poorer parts of the world, data is often unavailable. Yet it is there that it would be the most valuable. "Developing countries and emerging economies are often located among our most important biologically rich areas; yet, these areas are increasingly under pressure from economic development. Access to data about environmental quality in these locations by policy makers can mean the difference between preserving the wilderness and destroying it," said H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General EAD and Co-chair of the Eye on Earth Summit. "If you have the right information, it's a lot easier to make the right decision."

A major component of the event is the Exhibition which is open to the public. The Exhibition will showcase and celebrate the work of AGEDI, UNEP, its partners, and the UAE in bridging this data gap as well as promote international, regional, and national cooperation in terms of technology, best practice, and knowledge transfer.

A stunning feature of the Exhibition will be the Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre's (ADSIC) model of the city of Abu Dhabi which displays many layers of environmental and societal data mapped onto a physical model representing the future of Abu Dhabi. "The Abu Dhabi Pavilion at the Eye on Earth Exhibition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Center (ADSIC), is a testament to the joint efforts represented by Abu Dhabi's Spatial Data Infrastructure Program," said H.E. Rashid Lahij Al Mansouri, Director General, ADSIC. "The Pavilion will offer visitors and spatial data experts a glimpse of the continuous progress that the Program has witnessed since its launch in 2007, as it now boasts an expanding community of over 50 governmental entities. It will also showcase the Program's current and future projects and initiatives, in line with the UAE's leadership objectives of achieving a higher level of geospatial maturity and empowerment in the community, as part of the Abu Dhabi e-Government strategy. The "Eye on GIS" pavilion also represents a great opportunity to highlight ADSIC's role in supporting environmental initiatives, including the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), from the prospect of sustainable development. Such local success stories have resonated on regional and international levels, taking the SDI Program to the prominent position it holds among other advanced countries in the field."

Confirmed attendees of the Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit and Exhibition include UAE leadership, President Bill Clinton, Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dame Jane Morris Goodall, Russell Mittermeier, President of Conservation International, Dr. Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and Sha Zukang, United Nations' Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and the Secretary-General of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

At the Eye on Earth Summit, government, intergovernmental, corporate and non-profit decision-makers will work together to boost the impact of the many initiatives that the international environmental and societal data community are already championing. Dr. Sylvia Earle, the explorer-in-residence at National Geographic, said: "I am going to Abu Dhabi because that is where the action is. That's where people are gathering from all over the world to put their heads together and reflect on what we need to know going forward and how we're going to get here."

For more information and speaker biographies, please visit www.eyeonearthsummit.org

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About Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi ( EAD )
The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi ( EAD ) was established in 1996 to preserve Abu Dhabi's natural heritage, protect our future, and raise awareness about environmental issues. EAD is Abu Dhabi's environmental regulator and advises the government on environmental policy. It works to create sustainable communities, and protect and conserve wildlife and natural resources. EAD also works to ensure integrated and sustainable water resources management, to ensure clean air and minimise climate change and its impacts. For more information, visit www.ead.ae

About Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI)
Conceived by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi and launched by the Abu Dhabi Government in 2002, under the guidance and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, AGEDI provides user-friendly access to high-quality environmental information, through a variety of information products. While EAD champions AGEDI locally, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) champions it regionally and globally. AGEDI's objectives include; to enhance environmental data collection and assessment, to increase data capacities for local, national, regional, and global environmental decision making, to ensure sustainable development planning is based on quality, timely, useable, and updated data and information, to provide accessibility of data and information to all stakeholders, to enhance national and international mechanisms of information processing and exchange and to enhance national capacities in information handling and communications. For more information, visit www.agedi.ae

About United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and its predecessors have helped countries around the world meet their economic, social and environmental challenges for more than 50 years. DESA's mission - to promote development for all - reflects a fundamental concern for equity and equality in countries large and small, developed and developing. DESA works on issues ranging from poverty reduction, population, gender equality and indigenous rights to macroeconomic policy, development finance, public sector innovation, forest policy, climate change and sustainable development. The Department also supports the effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, a set of time-bound targets, which put the eradication of poverty at the centre of the global partnership for development.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi ( EAD ), Sobhia Al Masry, Media Specialist, EAD Press Office, Tel: +9712 6934-637, Mobile: +97150 442-5096, Email: pressoffice@ead.ae

Or United Nations Environment Programme, Contact: Mia Turner, UNEP Newsdesk on Tel. +254 20 7625211, Mobile +254 710620495 or E-mail: Mia.Turner@unep.org or unepnewsdesk@unep.org

Or Eye on Earth Summit, Contact: Mustafa Alrawi, M: Communications on Mobile: +97150 657-5945 or E-mail: eyeonearth@mcomgroup.com

© Press Release 2011

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