| JOHANNESBURG--The
Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative
(AGEDI) was unveiled Monday at a press conference
in the Sandton Conference Centre to delegates
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) Majid
Al Mansouri, International Management Committee Chairman
of AGEDI, said that AGEDI was established by the
government of the United Arab Emirates under the
stewardship of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan,
President of the UAE, in partnership with the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
AGEDI's goal is the innovative implementation
of the environmental data provisions
of Agenda 21 and the UN's Millennium
Development Goals. It was created in
order to bridge the environmental data
gap between and within developing and
developed countries and provide direct
and cost-effective access to environmental
data.
"By promoting the collection, use
and update of high-quality environmental
data, AGEDI represents a major opportunity
for the world community at the Johannesburg
WSSD to fulfill the mandates of Chapters
8 and 40 of Agenda 21 and the Millennium
Development Summit goals," said
Al Mansouri. "AGEDI is a collective
and collaborative global response and
an innovative catalyst for national,
regional and global actions, to provide
high-quality, relevant, updated and comprehensive
environmental data at an appropriate
scale for decision-making at micro (local
community), mezzo (national, and macro
(regional/global) levels of impact."
Hamad
Abdul Rahman Al Madfaa, Minister of
Health and Chairman of the Federal
Environmental Agency of the United Arab
Emirates, greeted participants in the
press conference on behalf of Sheikh
Hamad Bin Mohamed Al Sharqi, representative
of the President of the UAE, who had
been unavoidably detained. Al Madfaa
said that the initiative had been formulated
under the stewardship of the President
of the UAE "as a response to the
pressing needs of the developing countries
and the need of the developed countries
for high-quality environmental data in
order to bridge the environmental data
gap among and between them."
AGEDI's primary objectives include cost-effective
and relevant environmental data collection;
enhancing environmental data collection
capacities on the local, national and
global level; ensuring that planning
for sustainable development is based
on quality data; providing data accessibility
to all stakeholders; enhancing mechanisms
of information processing and exchange;
enhancing national capacities in information
handling and communications; and ensuring
full participation of developing countries
through UN system collaboration.
The Environmental Research and Wildlife
Development Agency (ERWDA) of Abu Dhabi
committed initial funding in the amount
of $5 million for the initiative. This
will cover a headquarters pilot scheme
in Abu Dhabi; cost sharing with UNEP
for the Zayed Centre for Enviromnental
Information and Assessment at the Arab
Gulf University in Bahrain; international
and regional meetings; the implememtation
of AGEDI's activities, including capacity
building programs; and the development
of relevant research programs.
The initiative is to be implemented
in three stages. The first stage involves
a Strategic Implementation Plan to be
launched in late 2002. It will focus
on data collection, management, and dissemination
on the national, regional and global
levels. It will also evaluate existing
operational programs emphasizing data
quality, terminology, standardization,
and sustainability indicators.
In the second stage, the Regional Implementation
Pilot Programme to begin in West Asia,
AGEDI will support the development of
a UNEP assessment program and the establishment
of the Zayed Centre for Environmental
Information and Assessment. The third
stage, a National Implementation Pilot
Project, will take place at AGEDI headquarters
in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and function
as a model for replication. Its primary
objective will be the collection, verification,
assessment and standardization of environmental
data.
An interactive information program,
annual and evaluation reports, and tools
to promote the more effective use of
good environmental data for decision-making
are also being developed.
In a joint effort with UNEP, ERWDA plans
to mobilize resources through other donors
for a total of $30 million. AGEDI will
seek partners among governments, international
organizations, the private sector, research
centers, academia, and civil society
organizations.
|
