Eye on Earth Summit reinforces UAE's green economy ambition

The second Eye on Earth Summit was inaugurated yesterday in Abu Dhabi. The three-day summit themed 'Informed Decision-Making for Sustainable Development' casts a spotlight on the role governments, technology, the scientific community and citizen participation play in enhancing access to quality data about the state of the world’s resources.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the board of trustees of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, inaugurated summit, which underscores the government’s commitment to making the UAE a global hub and successful model for green economy and sustainable development.

More than 650 delegates from government agencies, UN organisations, NGOs, the private sector, academia and civil society have convened in Abu Dhabi for the three-day summit.

As the first international gathering of sustainability stakeholders to follow the release of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the summit will highlight the crucial role data plays in delivering the post-2015 development agenda.

The opening day saw delegates reaffirm the Eye on Earth Summit Declaration and its 14 guiding principles. An outcome of the inaugural 2011 summit, which has since been endorsed by 48 countries, the declaration commits signatories to enhancing and integrating environmental, social and economic data and information to advance sustainable development.

The three days of the summit will see more than 150 prominent speakers explore in detail the supply, demand and enabling conditions of data for sustainable development, with the objective of reaching consensus on several outcomes.

Other outcomes include the formation of new partnerships, the implementation of data governance frameworks and the promotion of new environmental data policies in countries where this is most needed.

“Sustainable growth and development is the only way forward. The world needs to work together to pay back our ecological debt, especially as we strive to work toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring policy makers have the information they need to make informed decisions for sustainable development has long been the goal of the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative. Our support of the Eye on Earth movement and Summit will help advance our national efforts in transitioning to a more sustainable future and allow us to play a leadership role in this endeavour,” said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General, Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi.

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