They focused on incorporating environmental sustainability into major projects and developments, green building regulations and balancing job creation and resources, among others.
"The interconnected global economic and energy and climate crises are connected in their underlying causes and, more importantly, in their solutions," said Louis Hakim, vice president of Royal Philips Electronics and CEO of Philips Electronics Middle East.
He said tackling these challenges requires public and private partnerships (PPP), as neither of the two sectors could do it separately.
“We specifically need two types of PPP - one relating to communication and awareness building and the second for the implementation, (in order for us) to reap the economic benefits of the broader energy technology agenda," Hakim said.
"We not only need the economic and ecological benefits of an action plan, but also owe it to people given the responsibility and accountability that come with the public and private leadership positions we all occupy."
Referring to the importance of tackling climate change and in formulating an Arab Green Economy Initiative, Hakim said two things were relevant today.
"One is the broad recognition that next to the rational and legal drivers, we need to address the emotional driver of creating understanding of and buy-in for a sustainable future. This is a communication challenge,” he said
“Secondly, the creation and scaling-up of concrete implementation initiatives to make our infrastructure of cities and buildings more sustainable. Such initiatives will force a PPP financing agenda, as well as the underlying required additional policies for capacity building."
Jay R. Witherspoon, senior fellow technologist at CH2M Hill, outlined a strategy for achieving sustainability. He said some of the basic challenges that could be overcome include reducing the per capita water consumption by 50 to 70 percent, achieve energy savings, minimize the dumping of waste in landfill sites by increasing recycling and reuse, and maximize use of sustainable local materials.
President of Baird & Associates Robert Nairn, who is also an associate of Research Planning, said the company was involved in a Jeddah coastal assessment project for the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment, which organized the three-day GEF.
"Jeddah is perched on a spectacular coral, which no other city in the world enjoys. We should take extra care to prevent degradation of its marine environment," he added.
Gino Sabatini, head of scientific operations at Woods Hole Group and chair of the discussion, stressed that the resources should be properly used.
Streamlining the use of available technologies should reduce the current per capita consumption of 250 liters of water per day, he said.
Also, recycling of waste or used water should be encouraged.
"Ultimately, it (environmental protection and sustainable development) is all a question of awareness. And awareness comes with education," Sabatini added.
