For 5,000 years, the global climate has remained steady, but in recent years it has taken a turn for the worse due to global warming, the experts said.
“We should meet the challenges posed by climate change in the interest of future generations,” said Riyad Musa Al-Ahmad, representative for Saudi Arabia for the United Nations Development Program on Monday.
Al-Ahmad said climate change could impact the development goals of the world.
“Many issues are confronting us, ranging from poverty, food security and education to gender equality, disease, child mortality...all will have to take a back seat if the consequences of climate change are overlooked,” he said.
“Climate change has begun to affect the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Water scarcity, health concerns and food security can be among the immediate victims of climate change in the Arab-Gulf region.”
Al-Ahmad called for a global shift to an emphasis on clean energy, to ensure significant gains for future generations. He also said the world needed a “clean energy revolution in the Gulf.
He reviewed world responses to the UN campaigns, Kyoto Protocol resolutions and the Copenhagen accord.
Adil Bushnak, chairman of the Bushnak Group and an acknowledged expert in water technologies, said food security was vital for the Kingdom and elsewhere in the world, as changes in the climate would have an adverse impact.
He cited the examples of Malaysia, which provided tunnels for mitigating floods, as well as Singapore’s investment in rainwater harvesting.
“Singapore is an island state and does not waste even rainwater. So storage of rainwater should be our priority,” he said.
He added that with the resources at its command, the Kingdom should be a world leader in the sustainable desalination of water and renewable cogeneration of energy.
“God has created it (the environment) to use it and not misuse it. If you cut a tree, plant at least one or more new trees,” said Abdul Rahman Sairafy, assistant deputy for sustainable development at the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
He called for tapping into solar energy so it could not only meet the Kingdom’s domestic energy needs but could also be exported.
