Over half of the environment related challenges can be addressed by educating the younger generation about the significance of the “precious gift of nature — environment”, said an expert at the ecoQ expo and conference at the Doha Exhibition Centre yesterday.
“Qatar, like any other country, is also facing many environment related challenges. I believe by focusing on the children’s behaviour towards the environment and making them aware about its importance, it will help reduce the problem at least by 50 percent. The Ministry of Environment and Friends of Environment have launched a number of environment related programmes focusing on children as young as three years old and common people”, said Dr Saif Al Hajri, Chairman of ecoQ’s Advisory Committee and Vice-President of Qatar Foundation.
ecoQ Qatar International Environment Protection Exhibition and Conference 2011, is a three-day event which formally opened yesterday under the patronage of the Minister of Environment, H E Abdullah bin Mubarak bin Labboud Al Moudadi. He, after the ribbon cutting ceremony, visited almost all the booths in the expo and commended the organisers and participants for their overwhelming support in protecting the environment.
Also present at the event were Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammad bin Ali Al Thani, Honourary Chairman of the ecoQ Advisory Committee, and a number of senior government officials, ambassadors, and senior representatives of international organisations and institutions.
This is for the first time Qatar is hosting an event of this nature which is a part of its efforts to bring all the stakeholders of environment such as private sector, government, NGOs, research institutes, people in general and young students in particular together for the pursuit of a common goal to save the environment.
“The whole convention is related to the environment, as it is one of the important pillars of the Qatar Vision 2030. We want individuals, companies, factories, and all the other stakeholders to use and promote green, environment friendly technologies and goods in their daily life, added Dr Al Hajri.
In the construction sector, the country has already started complying with Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS), a green building certification system developed for the State of Qatar. The primary objective of QSAS is to create a sustainable environment that minimizes ecological impact while addressing the specific regional needs and environment of Qatar.
Reiterating on the significance of environment education and awareness Dr Al Hajri said: “By increasing the level investment on environment protection initiatives, we can achieve the desired results. In addition, inculcating the habit of judicious consumption of scarce natural resources and avoiding conspicuous consumption of goods and services at individual level can have a greater impact.”
In the expo, there are over 40 booths represented by various companies, non-profit organisations and other national and international organisations from across the globe such as Japan, Germany, Turkey, and France. They are showcasing the latest and advanced technologies, products, models on environment protection and sustainable and renewable energy such as Solar Energy, PV, Green building, Sustainable City Architectures, Recycling Technologies, Air Pollution treatment, Environment friendly cars, Aviation and Aerospace Bio-fuel, Eco-friendly cooling systems and many others.
Apart from the host of sponsors such as QP, Qatar Foundation, QDB, UDC, HSBC, Al Khaliji, Doha Bank; there are a number of supporters also which include Unesco France, Unesco Qatar, Supreme Educational Council, QCCI, Qatar University, Qeeri, AHK, Berlin Partner and many others who have extended their support for the event.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/169441-kids-can-save-environment-says-expert.html
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