Not the recently released report on the United Nations Environment is the first Arab countries puts the top of the list in the wasteful use of resources. In the new report, titled «the use of natural resources and environmental impact of economic growth», Qatar and the UAE came in the forefront. And the other Arab countries, which exceeded the red line, Saudi Arabia , Kuwait and Sudan . The report calculated the per capita share of the exploitation of raw materials from metals and fossil fuels and forests, water, food, compared to an average per capita income and the ability to renew resources and persistence.
We have already a report «Living Planet», issued by the International Fund for Nature since more than ten years, the Arab countries themselves, again, in the top of the list, as the owner of the largest ecological footprint per capita. At the level of the world,
a report in 2010 that we will need during the quarter of a century from today to planets the size of the land to meet the needs of human beings, if not modified patterns of development and consumption.
The recent United Nations report estimated that the per capita share of the exploitation of resources has grown eight-fold during the twentieth century. And while the average individual to exploit the resources in India to 4 tons, it is still much less than that in most poor countries, compared with 13 tonnes in Europe, and 26 tons in the United States and Canada, and 40 tonnes in the UAE and Qatar. The continuation of things like this will increase the consumption of resources three times in 2050.
The report clearly shows the continued rise in the consumption of resources beyond the ability to regenerate. At first glance, it appears that Germany and Japan are the only countries that have succeeded in reducing consumption of resources. But careful analysis of the report shows that they Astordta large quantities of products, which consumed huge amounts of energy, water and minerals. Thus, an improvement was apparent and illusory, as the savings in the local depletion of resources at the expense of transfer the problem to other countries, especially China .
What do these numbers mean for the Arab States? It is undoubtedly a warning signal, but we must analyze carefully. It is true that the Arab region suffers drought public land and the scarcity of fresh water, threatening food production. It is true that, despite this, you are wasting more than half of the scarce water available in the patterns of inappropriate irrigation and the production of agricultural crops do not outweigh the economic value of food or the actual value of the water you need. And it became known that the per capita consumption of fresh water in some Arab countries, which rely on sea water desalination methods of high cost, is among the highest in the world, such as the UAE and Kuwait, as it consumes per capita 500 liters per day, compared with 120 liters in the UK water-rich natural. It is also true that the rates of energy consumption per person locally in some Arab countries, especially in the Gulf, are among the highest in the world, and efficiency among the lowest.
But the reality is that when countries develop indicators such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia tops the list of waste of resources, it Tzlmha it is calculated in the oil production of these resources are exported mostly to the use of other countries. For those who give lessons to the reduction of resource depletion that focuses on managing the demand for oil and not limited to blame in the producing countries, and its treatment as the basis of the problem. Treatment begins, if you adjust the consumption patterns in industrialized countries.
In the past, Arab reactions to such reports are characterized by disregard or talk about the alleged plot. But today we are witnessing a new mentality of the new Arab generation in positions of responsibility.
Razan Al Mubarak, Secretary General of the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi, welcomed the report, saying it beats the alarm and help in the development of national policies that ensure sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of economic development. Remarkably, the UAE began to raise support prices for water and electricity, to control consumption.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Water Mohammed Al-Saud announced during a session on water use efficiency, set up by the recent Arab Forum for Environment and Development in Riyadh, a package of measures, including the requirement that the milk producers to import a quantity of feed equivalent to the consumption of water required by the quantities that they issue from their products. This was in response to the report that large quantities of milk produced in Saudi Arabia are exported to other countries, knowing that every liter of milk needs a thousand liters of water, especially for the production of fodder, and the only source is groundwater the most scarcity of oil.
Arab States have the right to exploit their resources to achieve economic and social development. But the guarantee of sustainability requires a stop waste, and efficiency, diversify energy sources, and the adoption of patterns of development and sustainable consumption. Let us remember that the oil resource depletion of the gallery, a right for future generations.
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