The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) announced that its 10th annual conference will convene on November 2-3, 2017 at the iconic Le Bristol Hotel in Beirut, the same venue where AFED was born in 2006.
AFED Secretary General Najib Saab revealed that a new report entitled “Arab Environment in 10 Years”, will be launched and discussed at the conference. It will be the tenth in AFED series on the State of Arab Environment. The report tracks changes in environment over the last decade, using AFED’s 2008 report as a baseline for comparison. The changes in environmental governance and policies are highlighted, with special emphasis on water, energy, food, air quality, environmental scientific research and green economy. Success stories, not only failures, are documented, to draw conclusions and propose remedial action, helping to chart a better future path.
Concurrently with the report, AFED carried out a pan-Arab public opinion survey to track changes in attitudes towards the environment, in comparison with a similar survey carried out by AFED ten years ago. The new survey attracted over 20,000 responses from 22 countries, and results, currently being analyzed by a group of experts, will be published as an annex of the report and used in the concluding findings.
Over fifteen ministers, corporate leaders and heads of international and regional organizations have confirmed participation in AFED conference which will be dedicated to AFED’s founding member, Maroun Semaan, who passed away in May.
Forty top Arab and international experts and decision makers will discuss topics of the report in 8 sessions. Among them are: Adnan Badran, Chairman of the Board of Jordan University and Former Prime Minister of Jordan, Abdussalam Ould Ahmad, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for FAO, Kitty van der Heiden, Director Europe and Africa at World Resources Institute, Mahmoud Solh, former Director General of International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Waleed Zubari, Director of Water Program at Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Mohamed El-Ashry, Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, Mouin Hamzé, Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon and Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21.
Civil Society organizations from across the Arab countries will share their views in a special session on how to integrate all players in the sustainable development process. A special feature of the conference will be a session under the title “We are the Future”, hosting students from across the Arab region, and moderated by Dr. Maria Ivanova, Director of the Center for Environmental Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts.
Leading organizations are joining the conference as partners, including Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS), UN Environment (UNEP), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). Corporate sponsors include GE, Cimenterie Nationale and ARAMEX, alongside regional media sponsors. A special issue of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia magazine will be published on the occasion.
• For updates and more information on the conference: www.afedonline.org
• For inquiries, please contact:
AFED Secretariat, Ms. Amal Al Mosharrafieh, Tel.: +961-1-321800, Fax: +961-1-321900, E-mail: amosharrafieh@afedonline.org
http://www.afedonline.org/en/inner.aspx?contentID=1280