US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI1114

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA, NEA/ARP, OES 
DEPT PASS TO USTR - JASON BUNTIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KSCA, SENV, ETRD, ECON, EPET, TC 
SUBJECT: UAE Environmental Efforts 
 
Ref: State 60561 
 
1. The UAE, led by the emirate of Abu Dhabi, has taken a 
number of steps to protect the environment and to increase 
environmental awareness in the UAE.  The Federal 
Environmental Agency (FEA), established in 1993, is the 
federal agency charged with drafting UAE environmental laws 
and regulations.  It is also the point of contact for 
international conventions such as CITES and the UN 
Convention to Combat Desertification.  The UAE passed and 
implemented a comprehensive federal environmental law in 
1999 (Federal Law 24 of 1999).  The law stipulates that all 
projects implemented in the UAE require environmental impact 
assessments to ensure that the project does not adversely 
affect the environment.  The law also stipulates penalties, 
including fines and imprisonment, for polluting the 
environment:  for example, the penalty for discharging oil 
into the marine environment is imprisonment and a fine of 
not less that 150,000 dirhams ($40,000) and not more than 
one million dirhams ($270,000).  In keeping with the federal 
nature of the UAE, enforcement of environmental laws is the 
responsibility of the individual emirates, although the FEA 
has the authority to monitor implementation.  In all of the 
emirates except Abu Dhabi, enforcement is the responsibility 
of the municipal authorities.  Abu Dhabi established the 
Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency 
(ERWDA) in 1996.  On 27 November 2000, the Agency was 
designated by Abu Dhabi Emirate's Executive Council, as the 
"Competent Authority" for environment and wildlife issues in 
the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and it serves as Abu Dhabi's 
official agency responsible for implementing environmental 
laws.  ERWDA is also a scientific and educational 
institution that serves, for example, as the UAE's 
scientific authority for the CITES convention. 
 
2. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, through ERWDA, has taken the 
lead in the UAE in trying to increase environmental 
awareness, especially in the protection of the marine 
environment.  One of the steps that ERWDA has taken is to 
try and establish environmental baselines and databases. 
ERWDA, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Fisheries, conducted a survey of the marine environment and 
determined that the waters around Abu Dhabi were over 
fished.  In response, the UAE passed a federal law 
regulating fishing.  The UAE has also created wildlife 
protected areas and engaged in captive breeding programs to 
rebuild stocks of endangered animals, including the Houbara 
Bustard, a favorite game bird for falconers.  In 2002, ERWDA 
launched the The Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data 
Initiative during the "World Summit for Sustainable 
Development" in Johannesburg in partnership with the United 
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  The goal of this 
initiative is to bridge the environmental data gap between 
and within developing and developed countries and provide 
direct and cost-effective access to environmental data. 
This initiative aims also at upgrading ways of monitoring 
environmental problems.  ERDWA is working with the USG on 
this intitiative. 
 
3. As an oil exporting country, with a "car culture," the 
UAE faces the challenges of air and water pollution.  The 
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has established Health, 
Safety, and Environment policies and objectives.  These 
include the elimination of hydrocarbon flaring and other 
policies designed to minimize the impact of the oil industry 
on the environment.  Based on a 1998 GCC resolution, the UAE 
phased out leaded gasoline and replaced it with unleaded 
gasoline as of January 1, 2003. 
 
4. Excessive water and electricity usage are among the UAE's 
most pressing problems.  The average per capita consumption 
of water in the UAE is approximately 133 gallons per day. 
Much of the water produced in the UAE is desalinated 
seawater.  Nearly all of the wastewater in the emirate of 
Abu Dhabi is treated and used to turn large areas of desert 
into green areas.  Almost half of the wastewater in the 
northern emirates is treated and used for irrigation. 
Despite the high level dependence on seawater and water 
treatment, however, the UAE is estimated to be depleting its 
aquifers. 
 
5. The UAE's high water usage is partially due to population 
pressure and to poor pricing policies.  It is also due to 
the UAE's active efforts to combat desertification and to 
reclaim or create useable agricultural land.  More than 70 
per cent of the country's water is used for irrigation. In 
the 24 years from 1977 to 2001, the amount of land under 
cultivation in the UAE increased by 1,604%.  The number of 
palm trees in the UAE increased, during the same period, 
from 1.7 million to over 40 million.  The UAE acceded to the 
UN Convention for Combating Desertification in 1997. 
 
6. The UAE has also taken steps to meet its CITES 
obligations.  In 2002, the UAE instituted a national falcon 
registration system and passed Federal Law 27 of 2002 which 
was issued to enforce the CITES Convention and help to 
identify strict legal procedures to control illegal trade in 
wildlife trade and penalize violators.   Under the law 
possession, sale or display of any species listed in the 
CITES appendices without the appropriate registration is 
punishable by imprisonment for a term not to exceed three 
months and/or a fine of not less than 5,000 dirhams ($1350) 
and not more than 30,000 dirhams ($8100).  In March 2003, 
the FEA raided pet shops in the Abu Dhabi port area and 
confiscated a number of endangered animals. 
 
7. More information on the UAE Environmental system can be 
found at the Federal Environmental Agency's web site 
www.fea.gov.ae and at the web site for ERWDA 
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/index_eng.html. 
 
Wahba