Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani along with other panellists during a discussion at Doha Forum. PIC: RAJAN VADAKKEMURIYIL
To use renewable energy for sustainability and climate change, first solar power plant with the capacity of 800 megawatts will be opened in Qatar this year.
“This year, we will have the first solar power plant equipped with photo-voltaic technology with the capacity of 800 megawatts,” said Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani.
He said that the plant will produce 800 megawatts in phase one which will be expanded to 1.6 gigawatts by 2030.
Sheikh Faleh was sharing the efforts of Qatar to ensure the sustainability and climate change in a panel discussion on ‘Building a New Sustainability Paradigm: Cities Contribution to the Climate Solution’ at Doha Forum 2022 yesterday.
The panellists included Global Leader of Climate & Energy at WWF, Former Minister of Environment of Peru and Former President of COP20 H E Manuel Pulgar-Vidal; Lord Mayor of London The Rt. Hon. Vincent Keaveny; and President and CEO, Wetlands International Jane Madgwick. The event was moderated by Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata Executive Director, Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future.
Sheikh Faleh said that almost 40 percent recycled construction materials were used in projects of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 especially stadiums. “We are also thinking to adopt this practice in all small and major projects in the country,” he added.
He said that Qatar has adopted most advanced technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “Qatar has the largest carbon capture-and-storage plant in the MENA region with the capacity of two million tonnes of carbon footprint which will be expended to nine million tonnes by 2030,” said Sheikh Faleh.
He said that a number of initiatives are being implemented to improve the air quality and reduce the dust storm. “We target to plant one million trees under an ongoing initiative ‘Plant Million Tree’ and committed to plant 10 million trees more by 2030,” said Sheikh Faleh.
He said that every strategy should be in a way to make balance between economic development and environmental protection. “Qatar had launched its National Environment and Climate Change Strategy which identified five key environmental priority areas with ambitious targets developed for each priority.”
He said that the strategy aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and maintaining air quality in the cities.
“Qatar already announced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030. All stockholders in the country are working together to achieve the target even before the given date,” said Sheikh Faleh.
He said that biodiversity action plan in Qatar aimed to ensure a healthy eco-system to control any harmful activities such as overhunting and overfishing.
“We are running our waste management programme with a clear goal of achieving zero-waste within 10 years which will lead to zero landfill,” said Sheikh Faleh.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said: “We do need to translate our vision of climate change into a clear message which is a key element to promote the behavioural change.” He said that people should be provided clear information and data in a simple manner making them understand about consequences of climate change.
Jane Madgwick said: “Every sorts of mangrove should be protected because they are top in term of capturing and storing carbon – four times more than tropical rainforest.”
Vincent Keaveny said: “Following our climate action strategy, we (in Landon) are committed to be net-zero in city corporation’s activities by 2027 and net-zero across our value chain by 2040, 10 years ahead of UK government’s target for the country which is 2050.”
