Actions speak louder than words! These words have become a reality, yesterday, when Qatar kicked off the activities of Qatar Sustainability Summit (QSS) and Qatar Sustainability Week (QSW) in Doha, under the auspices of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. By promoting activities for combating climate change and encouraging green and environmentally friendly initiatives, Qatar was stressing its firm belief that mere words and promises will not change anything in the world but action-packed mission should follow them.
This initiative by Qatar tells the world that the government takes bold actions to achieve its sustainability goals. By bringing together business leaders, practitioners, policy makers, researchers and scholars for the summit, Qatar is setting standards, policies and frameworks for a sustainable future.
At the opening speech of the Summit, the Minister of Municipality and Environment H E Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, confirmed that Qatar, through its National Vision 2030, has established a balance between the components of sustainable development, which includes community development, economic development and environmental sustainability.
Qatar’s commitment towards its sustainability goals was highlighted when Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced in his speech before the United Nations Summit held in September 2019 in New York that the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Qatar will work on encouraging and promoting green investment activity and on adopting low-carbon economic growth, which helps in achieving climate objectives of Paris Agreement, supports sustainable development objectives and employing investments in the sustainable natural resources.
Qatar’s move to organise environment-friendly 2022 FIFA World Cup is also noteworthy as it will be the first “Carbon Neutral” Championship through using solar power in stadiums and using energy and water-saving cooling and lighting technology. Qatar’s pioneering efforts in sustainability and climate mitigation were highlighted on the first day’s agenda of QSS.
Qatar’s sustainability mission has been getting good support from its people and various institutions. Sustainability is one of the core values of Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC). The Qatar Foundation is addressing these challenges through education, researches and projects.
In the bid to encourage all moves that support sustainability, QSW will showcase the efforts of the public and private sectors and their innovative, practical solutions to the environmental challenges facing Qatar and the wider region.
Qatar’s sustainability actions have got a vision. Undoubtedly, this will help to facilitate the delivery of the Qatar National Vision 2030 in line with the global sustainability agenda.
