How Abu Dhabi Civil Defense Can Reduce Pollution within Abu Dhabi and the Other Emirates - Case Study Example

Re: Order No. 351856 Introduction In this paper, an attempt is to be done to practically show how an environmental management plan could assist Abu Dhabi Civil Defense to reduce pollution within Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates. As such, the bulk of this paper is discussion of the environmental concerns that beset UAE (particularly Abu Dhabi) and their corresponding legal and non-legal issues. A cursory mention of the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense is going to be in place precisely because it is the agency that is mandated to meet the growing needs arising from urban expansion and industrial development taking place all over the country, including the environmental impact(s) that the foregoing come to effect. Since an environmental management plan is referred to, then, the paper likewise considers the benefits of ISO 14001 and ISO 14004. Environmental Concerns in Abu Dhabi Firstly, we consider the environmental concerns in Abu Dhabi. This is crucial since it will not only justify the need for an environmental management plan, but also will provide pointers on the specifics of the subsequent environmental management system (EMS) that is going to be planned for and implemented through the Civil Defense. In this prospect, the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi is unambiguous. In its first state of environment report released in 2006, the UAE recognizes the concerns that it has over its ground water, waste and waste treatment, marine resources, land use, biodiversity and atmosphere. And, accordingly, these concerns have been made such primarily on account of human activities – a testimony of Abu Dhabi’s failure to make development and environmental sustainability co-exist. The ground water table of Abu Dhabi has been significantly lowered because of uncontrolled drilling of wells occasioned by a sharp increase of use of water over the last 20 years. Likewise, it is also being threatened by possible contamination from leaks coming off the landfills of the country. This is because until now waste and waste management in Abu Dhabi are yet to be handled properly, with recycling efforts still remaining at the hand of the private sector observably driven more by economic – note: not a genuine environmental – considerations. The marine resources of Abu Dhabi are also being intimidated into loss, degradation and even fragmentation by physical alterations – e.g., land reclamation, dredging and putting up of breakwaters – in consonance with urbanization necessitating new and additional roads, among others, and the growth of heavy industries that are said to contribute significantly to algal blooming in coastal waters. Commonly, fish kills are resultant effects of industrial sewage in the sea waters. The use of land in the country is similarly problematic. The deserts have already been conquered. Together with the infrastructures for petrochemical industry, cities are being made to sprawl; artificial recreation areas are being promoted; and the locales for irrigated agriculture and forestry are increased. The negative effect, however, of these developments is the disturbance of the natural balance of environment. Actually, even the atmosphere has become collateral damage – in a manner of speaking – of development in the country. For one, the Emirates have one of the highest per capita CO2 emission rates in the world, with the oil and gas industry, followed by transportation and power sectors, as the main sources of air pollution. In addition to the preceding, the impact of humans and human lifestyle in Abu Dhabi is very well seen in the biodiversity of the entire Arabian Gulf region. Two major factors are identified: the burgeoning of human population and the rapid rate of development since the inception of the oil-based economy in the 1960’s. These two factors are the fonts of infrastructure development, over-grazing, the abstraction of ground water, landfill and dredging, plantation development, and pollution. And they are exacerbated by inadequate environmental regulations. The Legislative and Non-Legislative Issues This section is aimed to bring into fore compendium of legal and non-legal issues pertinent to the environmental issues cited in the foregoing. The significance of this is its being able to provide hints as to what would primarily be the issues to be addressed by an EMS in Abu Dhabi. To the credit of the Abu Dhabi, we need to mention here that UAE is actually a signatory to a number of international and regional conventions and protocols related to the environment and wildlife. These international instruments are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and the Regional Convention on Protection of the Marine Environment. Further, the Emirate has already a number of supply of legislations on maintaining biodiversity. To date, Abu Dhabi has the following: 1999 Federal Law on the protection and development of the environment; the 2002 Federal Law on control of international trade in endangered species; the 2006 Federal Law on hunting; and the 2005 Local Grazing Control Law. The new grazing law, for instance, specifically mandates that a committee be organized composed by members from grazing areas and relevant authorities to coordinate grazing activities. Further, the law frowns on the use of motorized vehicle in grazing activities and regulates cutting or burning of plants, littering, hunting or harming animals and birds, collecting eggs, destroying nests, and bringing animals infected with communicable diseases to pastors. Aside from these pieces of legislations, the country has already come up with such initiatives and program intending to: improve public awareness and capacity building to manage biodiversity; establish and manage protected areas; restore habitats, e.g., establishment of mangrove plantations; embark on captive breeding for and reintroduction programs for important species such as the Arabian Oryx and Houbara Bustard undulate; and monitor and research on how to improve the citizens’ understanding of biodiversity within the country. More specifically, the UAE is mulling to implement the phasing out of ozone depleting substances like the Chlorofluocarbons (CFCs) and Halon beginning the first month of 2010. (Note: this is in consonance to Montreal Protocol that is meant to decrease the global use of ozone depleting substances.) Recovery of coral reefs is currently under way, and designation of protected areas that ambitiously target at least twenty-two per cent (22%) of the Emirate’s total land area is being spearheaded by the government. Notwithstanding, the Environmental Agency still impresses the urgency for which UAE needs to intensify its act lest natural environment is degraded further and more species of flora and fauna become irreversibly extinct. And this is on account of, firstly, the marked deficiencies of Abu Dhabi in certain aspects of its very own initiatives and programs. For example, the response of the Abu Dhabi government on the issue of waste and waste management is founded on its inadequate treatment capacity and control. Surprisingly, it is still difficult – if possible at all – to estimate capacities needed for waste treatment since there are no weighing stations at the transfer plants nor is there public statistics on waste collected from households. Same is true in industrial sector since industries often take care of their own waste. Too recycling is never a regular practice among Abu Dhabi households as there is a dearth of encouragement coming from the municipalities (except of course some small scale pilot projects) for recycling and re-use. Noticeably, there is an absence of policy implementation to control waste generation and disposal quantities. Another big issue is on the quality of waste separation plants and landfills, as the planning and realization of new capacities for waste treatment does not keep up with the growing amounts of waste generated. Matters would be made worse by the performance level at several landfills that likewise fails to match international standards in several respects – e.g., untrained or inexperienced staff; putting the health and safety of the workers at risk; uncontrolled dumping of liquid and some hazardous wastes; unsatisfactory practice of burning solid waste at the municipal dump sites, among others. Secondly, the UAE actually has only the lack of regulation and control over, say, water resources development in the past as the prime reason for the current water situation. The government has failed to identify a single authority for water resources management so that the subsequent water resources development has been largely temporary and bereft of proper planning, with resultant duplication of efforts that lead to wasted resources. Thirdly, we raise the point here: the very environmental issue that is Abu Dhabi tries to address is caused by its principal economic source – fossil fuel. Finally, among citizens of Abu Dhabi, there is a rather low level of environmental awareness (cf. Manibo, 2008). The Abu Dhabi Civil Defense Now, it is our turn to look at the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense as an organization. As already said in the preceding, it was founded to meet the growing needs out of urbanization and industrial development in the UAE. Its mission is to ensure the protection of people and public and private property, to guarantee the normal functioning of communications and transport, and to ensure the continuity of social activities in public premises. In addition, the Civil Defense is mandated too to protect the national heritage and others sources of wealth in times of war and of peace, and during disasters and emergency situations. To prevent disasters and limit their consequences, Abu Dhabi counts on its Civil Defense for fighting fires, organizing assistance, rescue, preventing risks and the functioning of alarm systems over all the territory. As an organization, the Civil Defense is based on the Civil Defense Council, the General Directorate of Civil Defense, and the Civil Defense Regional Committees in each Emirate. It is likewise made up of the following departments and sections: operations, civil protection and security, technical, administration and finance, civil defense institute, legal affairs, planning and development, public relations and moral support, information technology and multimedia, and regional directorates at each Emirate. Further, the Directorate General of Civil Defense has already established twenty nine (29) centers in residential quarters and industrial areas with the aim of identifying the risks and intervening more efficiently. For our purpose, we focus on the Civil Defense Institute that organizes training sessions and courses on the various subjects relating to civil defense activities with the aim of improving the participants’ knowledge of the protection of persons and property. It operates specialized centers, as it keeps abreast of the technical progress made in different fields of activity and ensures that its personnel is constantly informed. For this, its personnel are regularly sent abroad to take part in training courses in Europe and the United States. EMS through the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense First, we define an EMS. An environmental management system is a mechanism or a tool that an organization uses to help ensure continual improvement in managing the environmental affairs over which it has some level of control. An EMS is not a foreign animal – so to speak – for Abu Dhabi. Actually, sometime in February 2008, the Secretary General of Abu Dhabi Executive Council launched what is called an integrated Environment, Health and Safety Management System (EHSMS) for Abu Dhabi Emirate. According to the Secretary General, it (the EHSMS) “is not only a prime component of Abu Dhabi’s Government Policy Agenda but also one of the Environment Agency’s priority areas set in its Strategic Plan 2008-2012.” Explaining further, he reasoned out “EHSMS is considered an important tool that will help (UAE) in bringing the best available technologies and international standards, to develop (UAE’s) economy, and to contribute to the global efforts in minimizing the effects of pollution and conserving (UAE’s) natural resources.” Specifically then, how shall an EMS be designed through Abu Dhabi Civil Defense? A very specific suggestion is for the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense to subscribe to ISO 14001/ISO 14004. The former is about EMS requirements and application guidelines; the latter is on general guidelines on EMS basic principles, systems and support techniques. For one, certification by ISO 14001/ISO 14004 has the following potential benefits: provision of a framework for management of environmental affairs; demonstration of commitment to environmental protection (to public, regulatory agencies, etc.); help to ensure continuous improvement; it comes as a condition of some customer/supplier transactions, as a factor in alternative regulatory programs, and as a condition of business loans; and it results to lower insurance premiums. And, since, it is the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense that is the conduit for the EMS, we can already be assured of organizational infrastructures to easily provide for each and every components of EMS’s implementation. Foremost of these “accommodating” organizational infrastructures is the Civil Defense institute. References: Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Atmosphere, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 . Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Biodiversity, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 . Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, EAD launches Integrated Environment, Health and Safety Management System for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, 2008 retrieved on 14 December 2008 < http://www.ead.ae/en/?T=4&ID=3586>. Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Ground Water Depletion, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 < http://www.soe.ae/Abu_Themespage.aspx?m=50&amid=488>. Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Land Use, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 . Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Marine Resources, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 . Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, Waste, State of the Environment Abu Dhabi, 2007, retrieved 12 December 2008 . International Civil Defense Directory, General Civil Defense Directorate, General Directorate of Civil Defense, retrieved 13 December 2008 . Manibo, Medilyn, Survey Reveals Overall Environmental Awareness in Abu Dhabi Stands at 49%, AmeInfo, 2008, retrieved 12 December 2008, < http://www.ameinfo.com/160348.html>. Smithers Quality Assessments, Benefits of ISO 14001 Certification, A Smither Group Company, 2008, retrieved 12 December 2008, < http://www.smithersregistrar.com/iso14001/page-benefits-iso14001.shtml>. Wasmer, Rene. Environmental Management: Revision of the ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 Standards, retrieved 12 December 2008, < http://www.sqs.ch/en/news-20040310.pdf>. Read More