H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, President of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP18), addressing the session.
Doha: The Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, who is also President of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP18), has affirmed the importance of the issue of dry lands, as around a billion people live in these areas and face food, water and security challenges.
Qatar is fighting these challenges on national and international level, Al Attiyah asserted. “On national level we have established the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) to advance food production using green energy. It is our means to achieve sustainable development.
Al Attiyah indicated that Qatar has demonstrated its leadership on international level with the launch of the Global Dry Land Alliance (GDLA), assuring that this new global challenge requires new procedures and working side by side with specialised UN agencies to stand against it. He expressed hope that the COP18 would build its decrees and recommendations on successes achieved regarding water and food challenges for discussions to move forward.
Al Attiyah warned that the water and food sectors are the most affected by climate change, which threatens the lives of millions and needs to be taken into account. QNA
