On the occasion of

Celebration of the 13th.National Environment Day
"  The Emirates is free from plastic bags"

First of all , I have the honour to seize the occasion of celebrating the 13th. Environment Day to extend in my name and the names of all the workers in the field of environment in the country our sublime thanks and gratitude to the high consideration of H.H. Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayid , president of the country ( may God bless him)  and to  His brother H.H. Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Mektoom – vice president , prime minister – ruler of Dubai ( may God bless him)  for their  unlimited and continual support  of  protecting and developing the environment efforts  which had always the utmost impact on the eminent position  which the United Arab Emirates had attained on the world 's environmental map.

Undoubtedly , the civility of H.H. president of the country ( may God bless him ) to foster graciously this occasion  is just an evidence of  his concern in  the environment  issues.

Our celebration in this national environmental occasion , under the motto " The Emirates is free from plastic bags " reflects without doubt the fears and concerns associated with the overuse of the indecomposable plastic bags  by most people and the damages to the public health and environment incurred by the use and improper disposal of such bags .Since their use on a broad scale in the last quarter of the elapsed century , the plastic bags of single use , light weight , durability , resistant to water and humidity and low cost have been considered an important achievement and alternative to bags from papers and cotton and to the multi-use of purchasing bags as well.

  
Despite the variable assessments of the world consumption of plastic bags , the minimum assessments indicate that the world consumes as many as 500 milliards to trillion plastic bags every year.
 
This immense quantity which accumulates in nature year after year in view of its slow indecomposition has caused many undeniable  environmental and health damages as from hindering the natural renewal of several land resources as a result of burying enormous quantities underground to their impact on man's health and other living organisms and finally to tarnishing the civilized scene.
 
In the light of compiling proofs and evidences on the damages of the indecomposable plastic bags, the warning calls have been voiced against the damages and risks in various parts of the world and ranged between limiting necessarily their use and banning them conclusively. The last call was that of the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme last year, in June to ban them or dispose of them gradually in which he sees it unjustifiable at all  to proceed with manufacturing them in any place of the world.

Actually , the public pressure which triggered many governments to interfere for limiting the overuse of plastic bags has succeeded . The procedures in this concern have fluctuated between imposing financial levy on use , banning them partially or wholly or turning to the use of decomposable plastic bags and the alternative bags ; this is besides , paying continual concern to creating awareness about the dangers of the  indecomposable plastic bags .There are several countries in the world , advanced and developing , that have banned definitely the  indecomposable plastic bags and placed controls and legal and financial mechanisms to limit them as maximum as possible , such as Ireland , Denmark , India Bangladesh , Kenai China , Taiwan  , some states of the USA and many others. . 

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In the United Arab Emirates , the high income level , economical openness and the low awareness level of some individuals and society segments have spreaded unsustainable consumption types , overuse of   the  indecomposable plastic bags .
The incomplete information taken from the first stage of the field survey conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Water on two thirds of the establishments of the plastic bags in the country  has so far indicated that the production of such establishments comes up to (50) thousand tons annually , a great number in comparison to the number of inhabitants. It indicates clearly to the growing overuse of the  plastic bags which has become a distinguished and worrying  phenomena at the same time , the thing that motivated the ministerial council for services to issue its directives at the end of the year 2007 to lay down necessarily the appropriate solutions to confront such phenomenal  and to mitigate the harm impacts of the indecomposable plastic bags as well .    
 
Based on this directive , the Ministry of Environment and Water has studied the subject from all its sides and held series of meetings with the most important manufacturers of plastic bags in the country , cooperative societies and   hypermarkets to ensure their participation in facing actively and seriously this phenomena.

The Ministry has also conducted a quick preliminary survey on the produced and consumed quantities of plastic bags and studied the experiments and procedures conducted by the other countries in this context. In such concern , the Ministry has prepared a memo to set a programme to reduce the use and production of the plastic bags and other plastic products for the years 2009 – 2012 and presented it to the ministerial council for services.
 
The programme aims basically at mitigating the passive impacts of the indecomposable plastic bags on man's health and the other living organisms and environment by contracting gradually their quantities being in use in the United Arab Emirates in a move to ban them completely and get them supplanted by the decomposable plastic bags and the alternative bags. 
 
The Ministry has got profit from the efforts exerted by many of the concerned parties in the former years to upgrade the environmental awareness about the risks of the plastic bags;  hence , this initiative has come to add to the awareness dimension other dimensions , financial and legislative ones.

The Ministerial Council for Services has approved this programme in April of the last year and decided in addition to it to prohibit the use of the indecomposable bags and other plastic products that are not in compliance with the approved specifications as from 1/1/2013 with regard to the procedures of the initiative.  
 
Based on this decision , the Ministry has begun to take verbal procedures to implement this programme ; therefore , it launched  on October 20th. 2009 the initiative   " The Emirates is Free From Plastic Bags"  in order to execute all the stages and activities of the programme through it.
 
In a step to expedite the pace of the use of the decomposable plastic bags which are available now in the country and in use by an increasing number of the trading shops , the cabinet agreed in August , the last , to ban printing on the indecomposable plastic bags .
 
The esteemed cabinet approved also in November the standard specification " Specifications of the plastic bags and others from decomposable plastic wastes " as an incumbent specification of the Emirates as from 1/1/2010 .
 
The issuance of this decision is an advanced step towards achieving the key target of the programme  which is banning the production and using the indecomposable plastic bags in the United Arab Emirates by the advent of the year 2013 .

The efforts exerted by  several concerned parties has promoted the environmental awareness level of the risks associated with the indecomposable plastic bags . This is seen clearly through the concern of more hypermarkets in replacing the indecomposable plastic bags with the decomposable ones.
 
Despite the importance of such step and our utmost appreciation of it , the thing  we actually look forward to from our efforts is not only represented in replacing such type of bags , but also in reducing radically the number of the plastic bags of  single use ( for once) , whether decomposable or indecomposable . 
 
From here , our interest in the legislative and financial dimensions ; besides, the awareness one acquires great importance . As an example ; one of our   hypermarkets has by imposing 30 fils - fee against each plastic bag reduced the number of the provided plastic bags beyond 40%.   

Although this financial mechanism being in use in more than a place in the world has proved to be efficient , its implementation in the United Arab Emirates should be subjected to a deliberate and comprehensive study  that leads to an entire organization of it.
 
The legislative mechanisms are not of less importance and efficiency . In view of the continual increase in use of the plastic bags , many countries of the world have begun to  enact legislations to ban partially or completely the indecomposable plastic bags . I should seize this occasion to praise Ajman initiative which was launched mostly two weeks ago to ban the indecomposable plastic bags in the Emirate as from next June.

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 Selecting the motto " The Emirates is Free From Plastic Bags" for our celebrations in the 13th. National Environment Day will add a thrust to the exerted efforts to mitigate the dangers of the plastic bags in the United Arab Emirates . We are sure that the wide official and public participation and the numerous activities  which will be conducted as from today up till the end of February will have a great impact on what we aspire to.  
 
It is true that banning the indecomposable plastic bags and avoiding the dangers arising from their overuse is our interim  and proclaimed goal of our efforts in such context ; but our final and wide goal is represented in creating  awareness about one of the issues of special priority   in the United Arab Emirates which is the rational use of our natural resources within the framework of the sustainable purchase and consolidating this awareness by the best possible method for the purpose of sustaining our natural resources , in such a way that this awareness is converted into a daily practice and life style.
 
 
In conclusion , We seize this occasion to invite society with all its individuals and categories to contribute seriously and actively in protecting our natural resources and environment for the present and forthcoming generations and to have this contribution a real  and credible translation of the motto " My Environment is My National Responsibility " .