ANALYSIS / Business

Saving the planet through regulations

WWF in Dubai climate change and sustainability manager Tanzeed Alam
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Last week the WWF’s biennial Living Planet Report was released. The report has sent the issue of sustainable construction back up the industry’s agenda.

It confirmed that the UAE, having fought off stiff but spirited competition from the US and Kuwait, had retained its position as the nation with the highest ecological footprint per capita on earth – an angle that made depressing reading on the surface for UAE conservationists.

But it appeared that there was also positive news. The nation made admirable progress, cutting its ecological footprint from 11.9 to 9.5 global hectares per capita – among the highest cut of any of the nations in the table.

Before everybody got too excited, however, Emirates Wildlife Society – WWF managing director Razan Al Mubarak told Construction Week, “This change is not due to reduction of consumption. It’s due to the more robust data that we have used for the report.”

WWF International director-general James Leape drew parallels between the global financial crisis and the findings of the report.

“The possibility of financial recession pales in comparison to the looming ecological credit crunch,” Leape said. “Just as reckless spending is causing recession, so reckless consumption is depleting the world’s natural capital to a point where we are endangering our future prosperity.”

The directive issued by UAE vice-president and prime minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum earlier this year that all new buildings must meet green standards left some in a fair state of confusion. What exactly were these “green standards” that must be met? 

“There is a fair element of confusion at present,” Al Gurg Leigh’s Paints chief manager Sunil Gudur told CW. “Nobody really knows what amounts to being green. I think it means the UAE now needs to start taking steps towards becoming more environmentally friendly.”

The Government of Dubai will be among the first in the world to impose regulations as opposed to mere guidelines. The new laws will be introduced in four tiers, becoming more stringent at each stage.

The fourth tier is set to be introduced in 2015. With the introduction of tier four, Dubai is expected to become a world leader in sustainability

WSP was the consultancy charged with advising the Dubai Municipality (DM) with regard to the regulations. “Rating systems are not mandatory, they are voluntary. They are market driven,” said Green Building Regulatory project manager Susan Rogers. “Regulations on the other hand are mandatory. They set minimum requirements.”