Saving the planet through regulations

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Nakheel's Palm Jumeirah was called a 'model of sustainability' by CEO Chris O'Donnell.

The WWF's Living Planet Report 2008 saw the UAE retain its top spot in the ecological footprint per capita table. Developers are certainly willing to talk of going green, but will the financial crisis see them less able?

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."

GCC nations are on the back foot from the beginning when it comes to sustainability.

The dry, arid climate means that much energy is dedicated to air-conditioning, from hotels and shopping centres, to the workplace and the home. Water desalination, an energy-intensive process, is also essential to the vitality of the region.

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