Last week, Peers for the Planet met with a delegation from the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) as part of the teams pre-COP28 visit to the UK. The EAD is the Middle East’s largest environmental regulator committed to protecting and enhancing air quality, groundwater and the biodiversity of Abu Dhabi’s desert and marine ecosystems.
As part of the meeting, Baroness Young, a former CEO of the Environment Agency in England and Her Excellency Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General, of the EAD discussed shared challenges around protecting and enhancing nature and marine life.
The EAD officials outlined some of the agency’s important initiatives, including the use of drone technology to carry out a major mangrove expansion programme and support regional carbon capture, as well as a pioneering coral rehabilitation project launched in 2021 as part of efforts to save coral reefs from climate impacts and protect the coastal ecosystems that sustain them.
Looking ahead to COP28, mutual hopes were shared for making progress at this crucial time for climate and nature at this year’s summit, as well as securing a good outcome for the proposed loss and damage fund to help poorer countries hit by climate change.
