Dr. Dena Assaf, United Nations Resident Coordinator for the United Arab Emirates, has commended the UAE's environmentally-friendly endeavours in a bid to protect the environment and achieve the sustainable development goals.

In this context, the UN official hailed the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi's decision to ban the use of single-use plastic bags from 1st June, as the first city in the Middle East, as well as Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and other initiatives leading to the UAE's strategic vision for carbon neutrality 2050.

In a statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of her participation in the Arab Green Summit 2022 in Dubai, Assaf stated that the UAE has begun to involve all sectors in preparation for hosting the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in 2023, noting that the summits and preparatory meetings held in the UAE mainly aim to search for alternative solutions to fossil fuels.

The UN official stressed that developing the circular economy for a sustainable future is the responsibility of everyone, and not only of government and private sectors. She added that this can accomplished by sharing ideas and solutions to work together, expressing her pleasure at representing the UN at the UAE, a role model to be followed by other countries.

Assaf commended the UAE's efforts as the country was one of the first countries to announce its vision for carbon neutrality "zero-carbon" by 2050, She noted, "As an organisation, the UN is confident that the UAE will reach goals even before the specified date; we hope that innovation being developed in the UAE will support the region and the whole world."

The UN official highlighted the necessity of taking advantage of creative talents of young people in Arab societies to come up with innovative solutions that can be better used for a sustainable future in the region.

She concluded by saying, "The Arab region enjoys abundant resources for renewable energy, the most important of which is the sun, stressing the need to maximise these resources and make maximum use of them and other natural resources that are key to our countries and all countries and for the sake of future generations."