Slowdown must not be allowed to damage 'green' agenda

Nakheel's Palm Jumeirah has been called a "model of sustainability."

Environmental concerns must not be allowed to slip down the industry’s agenda in the face of the global economic downturn, a top international consultancy has warned.

“The environment is often a lower priority when there are questions over the performance of the real estate sector,” Hyder Consulting Middle East environmental function leader Amanda Robertson said.

Robertson added that the benefits of proper environmental impact assessment (EIA) were a vital part of securing regional infrastructure expansion to in turn assist long-term economic development.

“We have seen massive expansion of built-up area, large-scale reclamation, artificial islands, canals, green belts and skyscrapers vying to go beyond the kilometre mark,” Robertson said.

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“Looking to the long-term future, it is important to put in place proper environmental foundations so as to guarantee the success of developments and countries as a whole for decades to come.”

EIA is a tool used to measure the environmental consequences of infrastructural developments and in the design of appropriate green-management plans.

It is intended to ensure that decision makers consider the ensuing environmental impacts to decide whether to proceed with a given project.

Robertson highlighted challenges to the regional adoption of EIA, such as a lack of uniform policy, unavailability of reliable data and in some cases, a lack of monitoring after the assessment to ensure compliance.

“EIA also helps to estimate the costs and benefits of environmental integration and facilitates top level decision-making as well as public participation in development,” said Robertson.

“Systematic and scientific
analysis of how the projects and developments will influence living conditions in the region is inevitable to strike a balance between development
and sustainability.”

Hyder has contributed to the engineering on a number of GCC projects including the Burj Dubai.