25 Oct 2006
Dubai: A senior official here has challenged a report by international convervationist group WWF, which said people in the the UAE are placing the most stress per capita on the planet ahead of those in the US, Finland and Canada.
The report, released yesterday, said man is exploiting nature at an alarming rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends.
"For more than 20 years we have exceeded the earth's ability to support a consumptive lifestyle that is unsustainable and we cannot afford to continue down this path," James Leape, WWF Director-General, said, launching the WWF's 2006 Living Planet Report. "If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing.
The report said UAE residents were putting the most stress per capita on the planet. Australia was also living well beyond its means. Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), told Gulf News: "I do not believe the report. I challenge it because WWF reports are not based on high quality data. They are inaccurate."
He said the EAD will write to the WWF questioning which model was followed before it came to such "ridiculous" conclusions.
The secretary-general of the EAD questioned why the WWF had based its report on the per capita aspect. "The UAE has contributed to projects in Pakistan, Morocco and other countries building, roads, hospitals and schools. Look at our involvement in the rebuilding of Lebanon. Millions of dirhams go out of the UAE, with expatriates supporting their families back home. Why don't they focus on our global contribution."
He said it is unfair to compare tropical countries with nations in arid zones because the climatic conditions and pressure factors are very different.
- With additional inputs from Reuters
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
