Emirates Nature-WWF | جمعية الإمارات للطبيعة

✨ On 20 October 2024, we celebrated #WorldFoodDay with an inspiring event introducing halophytes as a superfood for the #UAE! The Umm Al Quwain Halophytes Harvest Festival, organized with the Department of tourism and archaeology, Emirates Nature-WWF, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and Casa Mikoko, and made possible by HSBC and key partners through the Nature-based Solutions (#NbS) project 🌊. This innovative event showcased halophytes—edible plants thriving in saline environments—as a promising superfood for the UAE, contributing to sustainable food systems and food security. Guests, including members of the UAQ Business Women Council and local decision-makers, engaged in hands-on activities like transplanting and harvesting native halophytes such as Salicornia and Arthrocaulon. A special chef demonstration by Chef Bethany Kehdy highlighted their culinary potential, making for a memorable tasting experience. Key insights from H.E. HAYTHAM SULTAN, Dr. Tarifa Ajeif AlZaabi, Ed.D, and Laila Mostafa Abdullatif emphasized the critical role of halophytes in climate resilience, biodiversity, and local cuisine. Together, we're paving the way for a more sustainable future. Nature is our greatest ally in tackling the #ClimateCrisis. If we take care of it, nature will take care of us right back. 🌍 Thanks Umm Al Quwain University , David Ramos Álvarez, Naveen Raza, for your presence! Read more here: https://shorturl.at/DtF6b

🚨 Calling All Sustainability Professionals in the UAE! 🚨 Are you or your organization contributing to the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative? The UAE Alliance for Climate Action (UACA), endorsed by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, seeks your input to help deliver on the UAE's Net-Zero objectives and support the implementation of decarbonization across the private sector, and amongst non-state actors. We're looking for your insights via this survey and welcome you to be part of a UAE-wide Net Zero Report, highlighting national ambition. Responses are confidential and published in aggregate. 👉 Take the Survey: https://lnkd.in/dGWfnsaK 👈 Learn more about the movement at www.uaca.ae

🌿 The ‘mainstreaming of biodiversity’ is emerging as a key takeaway from the ongoing #COP16Columbia conference.   🤔 What does this mean? We know that nature is a powerful ally in tackling the #ClimateCrisis, helping mitigate emissions and boost natural defences against the impact of climate change. Take care of nature, and it will take care of us right back. To halt and reverse nature loss, we must prioritize nature in decision-making at all levels, especially across government and economic sectors such as food, agriculture and finance. By promoting #nature restoration, #sustainable practices and investments towards Nature-based Solutions, we can collaboratively mobilize and transform these influential sectors to combat biodiversity loss. 🔎 What does this look like in action? Here in the UAE, we are mainstreaming biodiversity in several ways: ✅ Our multi-stakeholder #NaturebasedSolutions (#NbS) project helps protect, restore and manage coastal ecosystems in the UAE leveraging #science-based solutions and innovation. We recently conducted pioneering research on Blue Carbon stored across multi-habitats revealing the vital role these ecosystems play as both rapid and long-term carbon sinks. This critical data has directly informed the UAE's national climate and biodiversity strategies, contributing to the designation of the Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) coastal lagoon as both an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) and a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) under the IUCN. The NbS project is also exploring the potential of harvesting salt-loving halophytic plants that grow naturally in the lagoon as a local, nutritious, climate-resilient culinary ingredient. ✅ These initiatives contribute to national #nature, #climate and #foodsecurity goals and align with the UAQ Sustainable Blue Economy strategy, which aims to regenerate the marine and coastal environment by making more than we take, to create more value for everyone. The Blue Economy is a key strategic driver for economic growth in UAQ. Emirates Nature-WWF is proud to support this initiative with strategic recommendations and as a partner in implementation. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gg2vCZmS #ActForOurPlanet #COP16 #Biodiversity

Dear EV Ecosystem Players in the UAE,   17 UAE Organizations have joined forces as part of UACA's Road2.0 initiative which is leading the uptake of Commercial Zero Emission Vehicles in the UAE. By the end of 2024, Road2.0 Signatories will have put 90 Commercial EVs on UAE Roads!    They have published the EV Demand Declaration to signal their intent to electrify corporate fleets and key actions required to scale up commercial adoption of EVs.    The Declaration has been endorsed by the MOEIUAE (Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, UAE) and the وزارة التغير المناخي والبيئة Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE, UAE)   Together, Road2.0 signatories have ambitions to deploy up to: 6,000 zero emission vehicles by 2030 20,000 zero emission vehicles by 2040. Let's work together to #drivechangeUAE   Road2.0 is sponsored by talabat and Unilever   The full list of Road2.0 signatories includes: Advanced Media | Video . Photography . Broadcast . Cinema, Aramex, Arla Foods, Chalhoub Group, Ehfaaz, Enviroserve UAE, Farnek Services LLC, Kibsons International LLC, Landmark Group, Majid Al Futtaim, Nestlé, Positive Zero, RNZ Group, Schneider Electric, talabat, Unilever and YES FULL CIRCLE. Read the full Declaration here - https://lnkd.in/djzi92fF #UACA #Road2.0 #ClimateAction #NetZero2050 #Decarbonization #EV

Biodiversity loss has been identified as one of the greatest threats facing humanity. Alongside undermining nature’s ability to sequester carbon and protect us from the worse impacts of the climate crisis, the loss and degradation of ecosystems increases our vulnerability to pandemics and threatens food security and livelihoods. More than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. #COP16 is a critical moment to get back on track to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. To achieve this target, it is imperative to #mobilize and #transform key sectors, from Food and Agriculture to Finance - so that we can eliminate overexploitation and overconsumption and address pollution, climate change and habitat loss. This calls for urgent action across all of society. By prioritizing actions that ensure nature and people are central to all decision-making, we can collectively accelerate a just and nature-positive transition for our economies. 

Thanks to a historic global agreement, we’re one step closer to reversing nature loss. But we need to see action—urgently—to end this decade with more nature than we started with. Negotiations are underway at #COP16Colombia, and here’s what you need to know so you can #ActForOurPlanet. Over the next few days, we'll share updates from #COP16, as well as some of our local conservation projects that contribute to the global goal to halt and reverse nature loss.

Save the date: Join the climate action conversation and the future of the UAE's net zero agenda at the RAK Energy Summit. #UACA is a proud supporting partner of this integral summit, and our Head of Climate Nadia Rouchdy is driving positive change as part of the summit's high-level Advisory Board.   Ras Al Khaimah Municipality Department Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/d-GdqB33

At the EU-GCC Green Transition Forum, Emirates Nature-WWF teamed up with #EUGCC for a special session on #UACA - the UAE Alliance Climate Action, which brings together non-state actors to accelerate decarbonization in the UAE, in line with the Paris Agreement and UAE #NetZero2050 strategy. Our UACA lead Nicky Velani shared the alliance's stellar growth in its inaugural year, and called upon more non-state actors to be part of UACA's mission to accelerate the UAE towards net-zero. EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition #EUGCCGreenTransition #ClimateResilience #ClimateAction #GreenTransition

We are delighted to launch the Shu’a project to advance food #innovation and address the biodiversity crisis, in partnership with Visa. The project promotes nature as a business and economic opportunity. It aims to empower rural communities with opportunities to diversify crops and enhance livelihoods through entrepreneurship. Together, we are promoting: 💡🥗 food innovation ♻️💧sustainable farming practices, and 🌿🫧 production of sustainable products from the Shu'a tree Shu’a, also known as Arabian Moringa, grows naturally in the mountains of the UAE and offers strong benefits for pollinators, soil quality, healthy ecosystems, and climate mitigation. In addition, its leaves and roots can be harvested for food; and oil from its seeds can be used in perfumery, cosmetics, and cooking. The Shu'a project seeks to unlock these holistic benefits; building upon collective efforts to restore Shu'a in collaboration with Visa employees and local communities. It follows a wider #naturebasedsolutions approach, aligning with UAE’s climate action plans (NDC) and its commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (captured in the UAE’s NBSAP). #COP16Colombia Learn more about the project: https://lnkd.in/dsfbXbME

Our Chief Conservation Officer, Marina Antonopoulou, was part of an insightful panel at the EU-GCC Green Transition Forum, where she highlighted the importance of leveraging nature-based solutions (#NbS), ecosystem protection, and circular economy principles to build #climateresilience. Thank you to everyone who attended and the EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition team for this valuable platform.