Abdulhadi Al Marri
Director of the Climate Change Department at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Abdulhadi Al Marri has said that the work has been started on the Qatar’s National Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
Qatar has set the foundation to tackle present and future environmental challenges while putting in place a structured process and governance to address these issues holistically.
“The Ministry’s role is to monitor and ensure the implementation of the strategy, as it will be implemented by many national entities, such as the oil and gas sector, agriculture sector etc., and there will be a governance system to follow up the implementation of the strategy,” he said.
Speaking to The Peninsula, he explained that the climate change is an important issue for Qatar, as it has been included in the Qatar National Vision 2030 since its launch and in its strategic plans that have been set for implementation.
“The issues of climate change are urgent ones for countries, and many efforts must be made to preserve our environment, which is what the new strategy will work on,” he said.
The greater energy consumption, growing mobility, and other emitting activities have led to an increase in GHG and air pollutant emissions.
According to Qatar’s National Environment and Climate Change Strategy, despite these challenges, “Qatar has made significant strides in each environmental priorities area. In water, for example, the National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed) successfully reduced water consumption by 32 million cubic meters in 2020 compared to 2019.”
One key highlight in Qatar’s efforts to fight climate change is QatarEnergy’s Al Shaheen Oil Field Gas Recovery and Utilization Project, which aims to reduce associated gas flaring.
The project has been accredited as a Clean Development Mechanism project since 2007 within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Qatar’s National Environment and Climate Change Strategy was launched last Thursday and will deliver three objectives of enhancing the health and vitality of the environment, improving the well-being of the Qatari population, and ensuring the economy’s resilience.
