Over the last few decades, Qatar has developed a clear, comprehensive, and committed legal order that places sustainability at the heart of its rapid economic development.
In addition to the Qatar National Vision 2030, which accentuates the need for balanced and holistic social, economic, and environmental development, Qatar has been a hub of research, technology development and public dialogue on sustainable development, according to sustainability experts.
Damilola S Olawuyi, Associate Professor of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and Elena I Athwal, Research Fellow, Unesco Chair Environmental Law & Sustainable Development at HBKU in their open access book chapter ‘Sustainable Qatar — Social, Political and Environmental Perspectives’ discuss about the advancing coherent implementation of sustainability policies and programmes in Qatar and the need for an integrated approach.
The book tackles the future of sustainability in Qatar, provides broad coverage of sustainability, including political, environmental, and human dimensions and presents calls to action through recommended policy options. Given the rapid profusion of sustainability policies and laws in Qatar, dynamic legal innovation is required to continually enhance their coordinated and coherent implementation.
Qatar has made significant progress in placing sustainability at the heart of economic, social, and investment decision-making.
Through active international and regional engagement, as well as the enactment of domestic legislation, policies, and programmes on sustainability, Qatar has set the right tone with innovative national targets and action plans that align themselves with mainstream international efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainability, the experts noted.
However, while Qatar has increasingly developed greater capacity for coherent coordination of sustainability programmes and responses, there remains still a great deal of fragmentation between social, environment, and economic actors.
A clear and comprehensive integration of sustainability programmes across diverse sectors can be enhanced through a nexus of governance approach.
The book further points out that it is necessary to coordinate training and promote the cooperation in the delivery of sustainability projects and programmes, particularly in terms of sharing best practices, so that barriers to information sharing and knowledge exchange can be removed for a more interconnected and open system among ministries and various agencies.
Likewise, increased financing for research and sustainability networks can significantly cement Qatar’s growing reputation as a regional hub for sustainability innovations.
As clear sustainability legislation and rules continue to emerge in Qatar, business enterprises, investors, lenders, insurance companies, and lawyers can reduce legal liability and risks arising from the direct and indirect impacts of their activities by also integrating sustainability considerations into business decision-making processes and planning.
