Interviews

“EEG strongly believes that recycling is one of the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the country in terms of consumption and production of materials.” Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Co-founder and Chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group (EEG)

INTERVIEWEE
interview Image
Category
Interview
Date
18-Feb-2023
Source
AL Circle
Detail

Mrs Habiba Hassan Sultan Al Mar’ashi Al Hashimi is the Co-founder and Chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), a pioneering non-government organisation established in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1991. She guided EEG to become the first environmental NGO in the world to receive ISO 14001 certification. She single-handedly established the Arabia CSR Network in 2004 as the MENA region’s pioneering and only multi-stakeholder platform with local and multi-national entities. She co-founded the Emirates Green Building Council in 2006 and served it as Treasurer and Board Member.

In 2019 she was selected to come on board as a member of a high-level Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance at the invitation of the UN Secretary-General. In July 2021, she was chosen as a Director of the World Green Building Council (WGBC). Currently, she is a Vice Chair of the Global Urban Development and Patronage Committee member of myclimate. Mrs Al Mar’ashi also serves as a member of advisory Boards for several Academic Institutions and other boards that deal with Sustainability in the Region and Globally.

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AlCircle: What are the campaigns EEG is currently executing to promote sustainability in the United Arab Emirates?

Habiba Al Mar’ashi: Emirates Environmental Group, as the leading environmental NGO in the region, believes that an action-oriented and hands-on approach is one of the best ways to invoke sustainable values in the minds of residents in the UAE. When discussing environmental sustainability, it is one of those areas where when more sectors of society are involved, the better and faster the result will entail. However, to involve various sectors of society, different methods of teaching or spreading awareness are necessary for success. Here at EEG, our participants, volunteers, and members range from children as young as six to retired seniors. Our projects involve families, academia, corporation, governments, and international bodies. We engage them through our Educational Programmes, Waste Management Programmes, Afforestation Programmes and Panel Discussions. Under these programmes, there are numerous projects and campaigns that target varying entities. Educational programmes were introduced to ensure the youth were empowered with the right knowledge and skills to tackle global environmental issues that humanity is facing currently.

 

Major projects under this programme include Environmental Drawing Competition, Inter School & Inter College Environmental Public Speaking Competitions and Student’s Workshop. The waste management programmes, on the other hand, aim to involve people of all age groups and backgrounds. Currently, EEG collects eight recyclables, including paper, plastic, aluminium cans, mobile phones, glass bottles, toner cartridges, electronic waste and scrap metals. Entities are able to deposit their recyclables directly for recycling or are given opportunities to participate in EEG’s waste management projects to be eligible to get additional benefits, including a certificate and an indigenous tree sapling planted in one of the public places under the participating entity’s name. The projects include “One Root, One Communi-tree” (OROC), “Green Call” (GC), “Recycle.Reforest.Repeat” (3R), “Neighbourhood Recycling Project” (NRP), “Green December” (GD) and 2 nationwide campaigns- the “Can Collection Day & Can Collection Drive”. Adding on, EEG also conducts community action programmes, namely the “Clean UAE” and “For Our Emirates We Plant” that unite the country's people and give them the necessary tools to motivate, educate and accelerate the achievement of environmental sustainability goals. 

 

AlCircle: How is EEG working towards reducing the carbon footprint in UAE?

 

Habiba Al Mar’ashi: EEG works towards reducing the carbon footprint of the UAE in 3 primary ways:

 

  • Recycling Programmes – EEG strongly believes that recycling is one of the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the country in terms of consumption and production of materials. Recycling is the easiest way to engage the mass and ensure that precious raw materials are conserved. Circular Economy and Net Zero emissions are a few of the main targets that countries are trying to establish in the coming decades. In reality, the amount of pollution and destruction of ecosystems to extract resources is quite a lot. The extraction of raw materials from the earth leaves the surrounding area with toxins and deeply impacts the biodiversity in that particular area. It also requires a lot of energy, while only 5% of energy is needed for extracting and producing aluminium cans from recycling. In another aspect, most of the resources in the UAE are imported. Recycling, therefore, not only reduces the carbon footprint but also helps the economy thrive in a sustainable niche.

 

  • Urban Afforestation Programme – Trees and the general presence of flora in an area has tremendous potential in terms of sustainability. Much of the terrestrial and aquatic life on the planet depends on plant life for its own survival. It provides food, shade, camouflage, shelter, and much more. Therefore, where there is plant life, in general, biodiversity will have a positive impact. This is even more beneficial when native plants are used in afforestation programmes. Moreover, these trees, act as natural carbon sinks. While there are many ways to reduce carbon emissions, it is vital that we protect natural carbon sinks. Afforestation is one of the ways in which we can absorb carbon, which will impact the footprint of the country. This is a value on a global platform where massive deforestation continues to plague the driving and growth of the economy.

 

  • Awareness Programmes – As an NGO, one of the prime objectives is to increase awareness. Only through improving the environmental literacy of the people in the country and engaging them, we can truly achieve sustainability. EEG’s workshops, panel discussions, presentations, conferences, forums, and other engagement platforms aid to improve environmental sustainability by ensuring people change their way of living. This, in turn, will unite various entities and drive forward collaborative efforts and implement effective solutions.

AlCircle: What was the cause behind the creation of EEG? Can you detail your journey from the day of inception and how EEG has supported the communities for better living in the UAE?

Habiba Al Mar’ashi: EEG was created out of the need to form a coalition of individuals and institutions that could deploy their interest, influence and resources for environmental activities and programmes. It started with a handful of members, who pooled in their efforts and capacity for the purpose. It operated out of a small office located within a shopping mall, and supported by a group of committed organisations. Tackling issues like waste, particularly house-hold and common wastes, EEG started to mount public campaigns and drive in order to make the community aware and also engage them in a hands-on way.

Branching out into the area of environmental education and awareness building in a big way, EEG developed a bunch of continuous and annual programmes for various academic levels. Workshops, public speaking competitions and drawing competitions were all designed to mobilise the student and youth communities around the need for pro-environmental behaviour and culture. Families and individuals were offered their own platforms of action, through multiple projects and programmes. The corporate sector, both public and private, were involved in eco-friendly green practices both at the workplace and beyond.

The key message was: "Together for a better environment." As we all know, a better environment is crucial for better living. A healthy and thriving environment brings many advantages to the community, as a clean and green environment ensures sustainable development, which, in turn, promises economic and societal development. It is difficult to summarise EEG's 30+ years of long journey in an apt description. However, from 12 members at inception, today EEG has thousands of members. We are playing a substantial role in the overall sustainability of the country, and indeed, we have collaborated at both the national, regional and global levels as well in our quest for a better environment for now and the future.

AlCircle: Do you think EEG’s performance has been a game changer in the sustainability programme of the UAE?

Habiba Al Mar’ashi: I would definitely think so. EEG created the first multi-sector, a civil society-led network of environmental advocates that successfully roped in corporates, academic bodies, students, individuals, and families, along with government entities and multilateral institutions. We have proved that positive environmental action can be triggered by the right mix of platforms and avenues that provide ample opportunities for making a real difference, not only environmentally speaking, but also at the broader level. Campaigning for sustainable development when the communities in the UAE were not aware of its importance, catalysing collaboration and partnerships for shared environmental objectives, and rallying people from different backgrounds and interests in a transient environment - EEG has done it all. I am proud to say that there is no other organisation that can make a claim to the title of a game changer as deservedly as EEG.

 

AlCircle: What is your view of aluminium usage in our daily life as a Green Metal?

   

 Habiba Al Mar’ashi: Aluminium is the most abundant metallic element on earth’s crust. It is also a metal that is easy to work with in terms of its flexibility and strength. As mentioned before, the energy required to recycle aluminium is 95% less than what is required to mine bauxite and extract the aluminium from the ore. This is why it is called the Green Metal as recycled aluminium can be easily used in all sectors that use aluminium including the food industry. So aluminium is already used vastly in our daily lives. When discussing the food industry, aluminium is used as a packaging material to preserve food. There are many other materials that are used in the industry now. Depending on the packaging type, aluminium may be more sustainable than other materials. However, this depends on the country in question, the availability of aluminium in the country, in addition of analysing the sustainability of alternate packages, and the availability of infrastructure amongst others. Nevertheless, when discussing the UAE, EEG has a very strong aluminium industry and plastic industry, so in terms of packaging, this is still the primary mode of packaging at least here. Thus, there should be strong recycling awareness and platforms for the same.

 

AlCircle: How is EEG utilising cutting-edge technology to further ecological initiatives?

 

 Habiba Al Mar’ashi: EEG as an NGO does not have the resources and is not part of any innovative technology development and usage entity. However, despite saying that EEG works strongly with various academic and corporate entities that develop and encourage innovations. Primarily, through EEG’s Inter College Environmental Public Speaking Competitions, Panel Discussions and Forums, we provide entities from the UAE and across the globe, a platform to network and share their ideas. As recycling becomes more prominent more investments can be made to research and develop technologies that can make recycling more efficient.

Despite that, it should be noted that EEG also has partnerships with various recycling facilities and is a member of the World Packaging Organisation, a strong global network comprising of leading players in the field of sustainable packaging technologies.

 

AlCircle: What are the main challenges EEG encounters when it comes to the collection of Aluminium Cans?

Habiba Al Mar’ashi: The challenge that EEG encounters when it comes to the collection of aluminium cans is generally the lack of public awareness. In terms of awareness, it is not the awareness of the campaign that is challenging; rather it is the element and segregation. During the Can Collection Day and Drive, it is often the case that few participants will mix tin cans and others with aluminium cans. So, there is an inconsistency in the awareness among the participants. Aluminium cans, tin cans and or other containers with other metals will require different methods of recycling. This can only be corrected with awareness. Similarly, all the recyclable materials must be segregated at source to not only ensure awareness but to make recycling easy for the facilities and to prevent any contaminations.

Aluminium is a material that is very easy to recycle and can easily be explained to people, whether it’s the energy use, or importance of recycling, or the circular economy and path to Net Zero. The UAE also has a transient society. People from across the globe fly into the country, stay, work, learn and fly back. Until and unless we can reach global environmental sustainability or at least ecological literacy, this challenge will continue to persist. Nevertheless, it is up to us to ensure that everyone in the country is at least educated on this important topic.  

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