Our Nation's Road To Sustainability - A Priority or An Attraction?

Suhana Maledan

Arabian Youth Environmental Program

29th August '23

A modernized, initiated global society revolving upon the very hinges of our carbon footprint. Activists, political leaders, organizations, communities, etc to begin addressing environmentalism - a concept that allows us to look at the bigger picture of what we’re taking from our home. Our planet. The 21st century, with over 50 years of various environmental endeavors accomplished and lessons learned. Unfortunately, the presence of the planet’s pressing environmental conflicts is still at an utmost standstill; ranging from international, endangered species, to the hole in our ozone layer, hazardous substances, and climate change.

To mention the drastic measures that must be taken for the survival of our planet, our environment, and our survival would be an understatement. The little hope we have left lies within the hands of international cooperation, sometimes on an unprecedented scale. Furthermore, the studies of economic research have so far yielded a minimal chance of achievement in international environmental agreements - IEAs. Particularly pointing towards one direction, in which multiple findings display that no improvements are beyond what would have occurred during the absence of IEAs.

Evaluation & Efficacy - Environmental Policymaking

To support our understanding, we have to lay into the foundations and critical purpose of the implementation of environmental policies, beginning with the governing relationship between humans and the environment in an associated beneficial manner. It is clear to state that this indigenous relation has countless facets to which immediate and righteous pledges are not in accordance with a state’s actions. According to the Finnish Environment Institute, ‘evaluation has been slow compared with other sectors’ due to the critically prolonged time frames as ‘practices are not standardized’ concerning geographically and remote sectors. Furthermore, various studies suggest the US has higher proportions of racial minorities and low-income groups that reside in communities holding larger hazardous waste facilities than others, whilst 15% of the world’s population living in affluent nations produce an approx. of 50% of the global CO2 emissions. Thereby, initiating the argument to state that this result obliges the more energy intensive-economies to be held accountable.

For example, an average American would have used 16 times as much energy as an average Indian civilian. (Economist, 2003: 94).

Furthermore, evaluating the precise implementation procedure of our nation’s environmental

policy-making by rectifying any doubts at hand, particularly to evaluate the efficacy. The

process thereby assembles upon the recognition of a latent environmental complication

combined with the response by the policymaker, the legislature. To which the feedback takes

the form of a regulation implicating requirements within an industry, or consigning authority

to a governmental, regulatory agency; such as the EPA or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Moving forward, these agencies develop more specific directives or programs to accomplish

legislative objectives. To illustrate, natural resources agencies enforce hundreds of profuse, new

regulations every single year. In addition, during Michael Greenstone’s evaluation of

nonattainment designations (nonattainment areas are defined as areas that do not meet the

national standard of purity and air quality) under the Clean Air Act, he noted that a potent

correlation between regulation and the following decrease in sulfur dioxide were to be

eminent. With his investigation, it showed that nonattainment sectors displayed much more

rapid decreases in sulfur dioxide volumes than was with the sectors designated as attainment.

Despite this, the examination proved insufficient to presume the efficiency of the Clean Air Act

to have caused the plunge in SO2 concentrations since other determinants did indeed account

for the much obvious decline. Nevertheless, this proves that in an ideal yet completely fictitious

world, an analyst could simply manipulate policies and distinguish ensuing outcomes, quite like

a chemistry experiment. Thereby, situating our understanding of researchers’ common yet

causal link between policies and their outcomes.

Table 1 - Criteria of Evaluation in Environmental Policies

Criteria - Description

Ecological Impact

Ensure stability in the policy's effects on air/ water quality, biodiversity, habitat, etc.

Reduction in CO2 emissions and cost-effective pollution prevention

Evaluate the policy's contribution to minimizing and preventing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change as a whole with the ability to perform and enable efficient reductions in pollution.

Conservation of natural resources

Illustrate how the policy promotes the effective use of natural resources such as energy, materials, and water.

Refine The Promotion of Renewable Energy

Regulate the limit to which the policy can implement renewable energy sources.

Protect and Support Biodiversity

Evaluate and measure the policy’s efficacy on the preservation of local flora and fauna diversity.

Social Justice & Value

Assess if the policy can address the current environmental conflicts at hand and deliver justice to all segments of the global society fairly.

Economic Practicality & Possibility

Investigate the policy’s cost-efficiency along with its stability and influence over employment and economic growth.

Stakeholder Association

Examine the commitment of multiple stakeholders, communities, businesses, and NGOs.

Durability & Sustainability

Take note of whether the policy engages practices that could be sustained without depleting resources.

Adaptability

Reinstate the policy's flexibility regarding future environmental changes and issues.

Enforceability

Analyze the proficiency in enforcing the policy's directives and ensuring compliance.

Transparency

Inspect the citation of information provided about the policy's objectives, implementation, and development.

Scientific Basis

Look into the basis of the policy, and consider whether the policy is grounded in credible scientific research and statistics.

Policy Consistency

Evaluate how well the policy aligns with any other current policies and regulations.

Public Recognition

Review the status of public understanding and assistance for the policy's regulations.

Adapted from: Per Mickwitz “A Framework for Evaluating Environmental Policy Instruments.” Finnish Environment Institute. 2003 & www.alberta.ca

a. Research-based on the evaluation criteria to assess environmental policies.

International Environmental Agreements - IEAs

The Big 4 Life-Changing Case Studies - A dive into the nation’s documents

Looking into international environmental agreements, one may suggest the agreement as a treaty bounding nations together to forego a greater cause and solve it. Perhaps in an ideal world, everything is as it all seems, rainbow and sunshine. Although, once we read between the lines, we may realize that there is always a larger picture behind it. As the Guardian newspaper had stated, “Many treaties to save the earth, but where’s the will to implement them?”

According to the UN Environment Program, we are instilled in a ‘treaty congestion’, as multiple world leaders across the globe have signed up to an immense amount of 500 internationally recognizable agreements during the past 50 years; including 155 biodiversities related; 61 atmospheres related; 179 hazardous/waste/chemicals related; 46 land conventions; 196 conventions related to water scarcity. It is noted that the environment is now apparently the most customary area of global rule-making, thereby namely after trade.

Fig. 1. UN Environment Program Framework, University of Eastern Finland - www.unep.org

The UNEP evaluated 90 of the utmost vital of these agreements for its yearly Global

Environmental Outlook Report and what came out of it were some mildly startling conclusions:

- ‘Some’ progress was displayed in only 40 of those goals. Which included the expansion of secured domains such as parks to reduce deforestation.

- ‘Little to no’ progress was determined in 24 goals including the ones related to climate change, fish stocks as well as desertification and drought.

- ‘Further deterioration’ was shown for eight of these goals which included the status of protection and state of the planet’s coral reefs. While no other available data was showcased for 14 of the other goals.

Case Study 1 - CITES; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna

CITES is an international environmental agreement designated between governments all across the world (excluding DPRK and South Sudan) to ensure that international trade between wild animals and plants does not endanger their survival. Coming into force on the 1st of July 1975 and has currently begun near-universal support - 183 signatories. Illegal international trade in wildlife is a major crisis in which the business is quite substantial, being worth tens of billions of dollars annually and not to mention, organized by dangerous international traffickers. As for the list, the Swiss-based IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is accountable to develop the ‘Red List’, however, it is managed and compiled by the Global Species Programme Red List Unit. To add on, all of the exports and imports of registered fauna and flora, and their products, are authorized through a licensing network which is then implicated by the signatories through national legislation.

The list of species is then specialized into three Appendices, designated upon their degree of protection. The submission or the removal of a proposal for species is then moved from one Appendix to another, which is discussed during the triennial Conference of the Parties - CoP; the most current one to be held in UAE itself, CoP28.

Fig. 2. CITES Trade Database, 1975-2021 - www.cites.org

However, the conflict present at hand remains in its law, pledges, and cooperation. Wildlife smuggling continues to grow on much larger scales for several reasons, such as legislation in countries being inadequate or penalties being too low, or even the regulations not being applied to non-signatories such as DPRK and South Sudan which can immensely impact the status of all species. For instance, African elephants represent a specifically conflicted case in the midst of this, as the species would be listed under Appendix I or II (threatened to not necessarily with extinction and a certain degree of ban upholding trade). As recently as in the conference of the CITES parties in 2019, the SADC party was, to say the least, quite unsatisfied with the already confusing regulations. Hence, under the organization of CITES, the legality of Namibia’s actions rely on the identity of the buyers, as the regulation states that export permits should only be granted once the Appendix II elephants are moved into a conservation program within a country belonging to its natural range of domain.

In August of 2021, the nation announced that it had sold 57 of the 170, mentioning that at least 42 of them would be shipped abroad without any further explanation. Then the Namibian media began to speculate about the zoos in the UAE.

The infamous Swiss documentary filmmaker known for his divulgence in the Asian tiger bone trade, Karl Ammann, stated that he knows more than just the rumors can impose.

“These elephants will go to the Al Ain Zoo and the new Sharjah Safari Park.”, he states, claiming to have seen the current paperwork. As apparent, these destinations are neither a conservation program nor range countries of equal species. To put it clearly, the debate about Namibia’s elephants is quite indicative of broader conflicts within the CITES organization.

The community of SADC is quite displeased with the multiple rejections within CITES over a conservation philosophy that has been claimed to have led to a healthy number of wildlife species in their nation. This philosophy entails a pro-trade agenda at its core, with ideals such as trophy hunting. With claims such as a commercial interest implemented in our ecosystem shall safeguard conservation better.

Not to mention, another argument frequently entails CITES’ constant refusal to allow Zimbabwe to trade its completely legal and immensely valuable stock of ivory and rhino horn. The alternative or solution provided was to burn the stockpile, and while Namibia holds ivory and rhino horn stocks as well and wishes to sell them, they have too been refused permission to do so.

The SADC community strongly believes that the banishment of the ivory trade shall not solve the issue of poaching, with the example of the rhino population that had persisted under threat for 40 years after the ban on trading rhino horns was instilled by CITES.

Financially-strapped Zimbabwe states that the support of trade would be the only strategy to recompense the costs of its protection for the 83,000 elephants in the country while addressing a potential proposal that reinstates that 70 tonnes of raw ivory in its storage facility are to be worth an approx. of $35 million. “To us, burning is not an option, we need the resources for sustainable wildlife conservation.”, Muchinguri (Environment Minister) had said.

Fig. 3. Elephant Preservation in Zimbabwe, wwf.panda.org

Case Study 2 - CBD; Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international legal agreement for the conservation of biodiversity worldwide, including the sustainable and righteous use of its instruments and the equitable distribution of the benefits arriving from the usage of genetic

resources that have been ratified by 196 countries. To say the least, the CBD has accomplished incentivizing the implementation of NBSAPs in all but the following four nations:

- Cyprus

- Libya

- Monaco

- Palestine

While three-fourths of the signatories adopted the refined NBSAPs after 2010, and global biodiversity targets were allocated and combined with the Aichi Targets. Nonetheless, criticisms arise and leveled against the adoption of the CBD, including the charges that the abbreviation of sustainable utilization from conservation has hindered the progress of sustainable development, that the multiple legal responsibilities implicated upon the parties

has differed advancement on substantive problems as well as the criticism that the nations consigned have failed to convey forest issues. As Guruswamy 1998, this influence will carry upon the argument that the conflicts per se of implementation referred to start from essential weaknesses in which the community of supporters of the CBD ‘understandably but regrettably turns a blind eye.’

Unfortunately, the CBD dismisses the concept of sustainable development by which it should prioritize economic stability and growth over environmental security as well as enables international assets to be earmarked to safeguard and conserve biodiversity to be spent on economic growth that may inevitably destroy biodiversity. Not to mention, the organization also denies state responsibility for damage to the global commons.

In addition to these apparent flaws, the CBD, though an essential framework for international cooperation on biodiversity, faces countless facets along the way, such as:

1. Lack of Binding Enforcement

2. Limited Funding

3. Complexity for Non-Experts/ Lack of Public Awareness

4. Lack of Integration

5. Insufficient Implementation

6. Inefficiency

7. Lack of Inclusivity

8. Conflicts of Benefit Sharing

9. Splintered Approaches

10. Inaccurate Data

11. Neglection on Marine Biodiversity

Case Study 3 - Kyoto Protocol

An international environment agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in the year 1997 yet owing to its complex ratification process, was ensured into work from 16th February 2005, with over 190 parties delegated to the Kyoto Protocol. Most of the protocol is deemed to have been influenced by its created principles and provisions of the Convention as it follows an ‘annex-based structure’. Though, it seems to only be binding developed countries while placing a burden on them under the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility

and respective capabilities’, seeming to it that the country should be aware that it is largely responsible for the high GHG emissions in the atmosphere. In addition, the agreement has produced a vigorous monitoring and authentication system to ensure the transparency held accountable by its signatories. In fact, under this protocol, nations’ accurate data of emissions has to be recorded to be informed of the trades carried out. Although, various researchers and experts might state that the major flaw of this entire agreement relied upon no legal implications on the developing countries for not committing to the climate targets. Statistics display that the economies of major nations such as China, India, and Indonesia arose swiftly in the coming years along with the rise in their greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Kyoto Protocol was successful in terms of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions but has also had economic impacts, slowing down per capita GDP growth.”, stated Eren Cifci, a student at Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Economics.

To conclude our case study on the Kyoto Protocol, it is clear to state that the protocol has surely been successful in its ways, seen by the accurate data representations, at least to prevent a worse-off situation had it not been for the ratification of industrialized countries to come along with the agreement, whereas there could have been higher emission levels.

Fig 4. Kyoto Protocol Conference, UN.

Case Study 4 - Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer

The Montreal Protocol has clearly instated its original aim to have been designed to prevent

the production and stop by all means the import of ozone-depleting substances and reduce

their concentration in the environment to protect the earth’s stratosphere - ODS was

previously commonly used in products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers,

and aerosols. However, according to the UNEP, the agreement has been well in its way of

reducing the ODS and reactive chlorine and bromine in the planet’s stratosphere. In turn,

resulting in the ozone layer looking upon a fresh, new line of recovery. As many might look

upon the multiple successes and accomplishments achieved by this initiative, what is not

considered is its major drawback, recommending the replacement of CFCs with HFCs. As this

very component was later to be recognized as a potent greenhouse gas.

In order to rectify this, the Kigali Amendment was developed to phase out the utilization of HFCs and in the year 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was initiated to limit carbon emissions from developed countries. Another gap-hole in this strategic plan was the substantial emissions leak from three of the immensely known CFC so-called ‘banks’.

Nonetheless, to this date, this agreement has been considered to be one of the most successful environmental agreements to have been created globally.

Conclusions & Ending Remarks

Analyzing UAE’s Potential in Sustainable Development and Current Efforts

To conclude the entirety of this article, it is notably analyzed that governments have spent years negotiating environmental agreements but then they happen to just ‘willfully’ ignore them. It’s quite a dismal record. And what is the point? I believe that we all have one question lying in our heads, are all these agreements no more than vain pledges kept to impress the gullible electorates, all by our misanthropic governments? There are many possibilities as to why there is a lack of loyalty in the system of environmental governance:

1. Wealthy, industrialized countries have persistently been boosting a global economic agenda in which it intentionally reveals impoverished nations to powerful, corrupt corporations that can dismiss the environmental laws set in place. Examples of this include oil companies in Nigeria polluting, GM corporations using developing countries, and biofuel corporations that can destroy forests to build whatever they want.

2. Some countries have been unjust, acting with impunity. As for climate change, Canada had ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but then dismissed its pledges ‘in the national interest’. This failure of developed countries to participate in treaties undermines the whole concept of global environmental protection.

3. Economic theories have demonstrated that due to the ‘free ridership’ problems that IEAs can hardly achieve any progress compared to what countries as a standalone can achieve without the agreements in place.

It is quite clear to observe that most empirical work as well suggests the theories above, finding that IEAs have resulted in no progress beyond what would have occurred during their absence. The University of Chicago press had stated that various evidential sources state that around 1000 or so different international environmental agreements are currently operating and have proven to be ineffectual, and just merely business-aspired objectives and outcomes.

As for the United Arab Emirates, it is simply observed to be primarily focusing on its SDGs that circulate the accessibility of clean energy, sufficient food at affordable prices, high-quality education and healthcare along with the enablement of sustainable economic growth, environmental systems, and resource efficiency. The Ministry of the UAE has addressed that environmental protection is considered to be it’s one of it’s leading objectives of the UAE’s development policies, not to mention, the country has been ranked first in the MENA region as of 2022 as well as 11th globally in the 2022 Quality Infrastructure for Sustainable Development Index Report issued by the UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization).

Reports have displayed that approx. of 96% of UAE citizens stated that they’re willingly prepared to take personal action to combat environmental issues, in comparison to the 85% marked globally. In fact, four in five (83%) civilians in the country believe that they’re even more self-aware and mindful of their carbon footprint and impact on their environment since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, it is clear to conclude that the emirate has been taking major initiatives and striving forward to reduce its carbon footprint, making it the greenest city in the Middle East.

Fig 5. UAE’s Pavilions, Initiating Modernized Sustainability

Works Cited

Contributor, Geographical. “The Problem With CITES, the Convention to Protect Endangered Wildlife.” Geographical, Mar. 2023, geographical.co.uk/wildlife/the-problem-with-the-cites-endangered-wildlife-convention.

“Explained: What Is the Convention on Biological Diversity, and What Does It Do?” Natural History Museum, 1 Dec. 2022, www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-the-convention-on-biological-diversity-and-what-does-it-do.html.

Maamoun, Nada. “The Kyoto Protocol: Empirical Evidence of a Hidden Success.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 95, Elsevier BV, May 2019, pp. 227–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2019.04.001.

Kellenberg, Derek K., and Arik Levinson. “Waste of Effort? International Environmental Agreements.” Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1, no. 1/2, University of Chicago Press, Mar. 2014, pp. 135–69. https://doi.org/10.1086/676037.

Vidal, John. “Many Treaties to Save the Earth, but Where’s the Will to Implement Them?” The Guardian, 19 Oct. 2022, www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/jun/07/earth-treaties-environmental-agreements.