Despite novelty of its origin, the United Arab Emirates made huge achievements with all standards and at all levels (political, social and economic), which made it seize the top rank in few years, side by side with the advanced countries. It played an effective role to come to this high rank of progress and prosperity. However, the decisive and most effective element was represented in the wise policy and unmatched leadership of the late, with God's Permission, H.H Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan – may God rest him in peace – who was, in addition to his deep belief in ability of man to make change, having a special future vision for which he was looking to achieve. When he had the chance, he spared no efforts to work sincerely and seriously to execute it, to which he allocated all available possibilities.
Like other big issues, the issue of environment keeping and development constituted an urgent obsession to the great Departed of Emirates, where he was, with his sound nature and perspicacious vision, aware of importance of this issue and right of forthcoming generations to get benefits from its resources. He was very clear to express his conscious understanding when he said: "Our environment and resources are not ours, but fidelity entrusted to us, and we all must bear the responsibility for insuring their care and attention, and deliver the same safely and free from damages to the forthcoming generations".
H.H Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan – President of the State (May God Preserve him) was not of less attention about the environment and achievement of the sustainable development, where he inherited from his leader, father and instructor this primitive love of environment and its elements. Perhaps his Highness's interest to assume the chairmanship of board of directors of Environment Authority in Abu Dhabi, when he was crown prince, giving a clear indication to such an attention.
Immediately after assuming the tasks of chairmanship, and on occasion of the Eighth National Environment Day of Emirates, on February 4th, 2005, he stressed his intention to go on this methodology, when he said : "Since its origin, the United Arab Emirates sought to achieve the balance between its desired economic and social renaissance , and keeping its cultural, social and environmental resources in a unique experiment that assures success of model of sustainable development, whose foundations were laid by the Late father Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (May God have mercy upon him), who early sought to lay down deep-rooted foundations to protect the environment. Today, we assure our adoption of the same methodology and support to complete the institutional and legitimate building and boost the official and peoples efforts to maintain the primitive environment and life".
Perhaps a quick view on achievements of the United Arab Emirates during the past years, at different levels, reflects clearly the huge efforts exerted to achieve the same.
Although our speech, in this media file to be issued on occasion of the Tenth National Environment Day, is concentrated on efforts exerted in the field of keeping and developing the environment in the United Arab Emirates, especially in the environmental issues with priority at the national level defined in the first phase of work in the environmental national strategy, and National Environmental Work Plan (Environmental National Agenda of Century 21), we recognize strictly the difficulty of this task, whereas the efforts exerted in this field, and the achievements made as a result of them are miscellaneous and numerous, and also the authorities which participated in them, making its awareness and documentation an extremely difficult matter.
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