(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
By Deepak John | The Peninsula
Doha: International and local experts provided insights into the science of climate change, the necessary adaptive strategies and their effect on Qatar's and the regions' coastal cities during a virtual conference held recently. Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) with the French Embassy in Qatar, and the Doha Institute for graduate Studies (DIGS) held a virtual conference titled 'Coastal Cities, Climate Change and Adaptive Strategies'.
Ambassador of France to Qatar H E Jean-Baptiste Faivre and representatives from the Qatar Green Building Council, the Global Green Growth Institute, the World Bank, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, the French National School of Architecture in Marne-la-Vallee, and Leigh & Orange Middle East participated in the discussion.
Delivering introductory remarks, Meshal Al Shamari, QGBC Director, said,“This webinar is addressing a very important topic about most of the coastal countries and cities in the coming few years as it touches on the GCC countries and Qatar as well. We can foster and collaborate together and to support each other in this journey. The key thing is to work together and join forces and take action on ground and together let's build the sustainable future.”
Marie-Gaëlle Robles, Deputy Head of the Mission at the French Embassy said,“Addressing the challenges related to climate change is more important than ever. Recent predictions show that with climate change we will face more extreme weather events, increase in annual temperatures, and also rise in sea levels that could endanger many parts of the world. In coastal cities especially this could lead to more frequent and severe heat waves which are an issue that will have an immediate impact on the world, including Qatar and France.”
“The response of climate change is very much a priority for France. A lot of French companies are involved in proposing solutions for energy transitions and sustainable development. The issue of climate change being a global challenge is also taken up by a number of countries and adaptative strategies are needed to be put in place. We are therefore delighted to work on shared initiatives such as this conference on coastal cities. It is important to come with concrete solution as we are now a few days ahead of COP26 in Glasgow,” she added.
Dr Laurent Lambert, Water-Energy Climate Nexus, School of Public Administration and Development Economics, Doha Institute of Graduate Studies discussed on the topic 'Climate Change and the Expected Impacts in Qatar.' He said,“Qatar is directly impacted by climate change. In the decades to come if the international community does not reduce the greenhouse gases, the cities in the Gulf region will suffer from unbearable temperature.”
Speaking about the smart adaption Dr Lambert said,“The smart adaptation to climate change risks can be understood as an opportunity for Qatar. Reducing some of the least useful subsidies for energy and working on reducing water and energy wastage is important.” He emphasized the need to develop hydrogen industry that may help Qatar decrease its emissions of GHGs and adapt to the“new energy economy” which the global energy transition is currently shaping.
“The global energy landscape is transforming and Qatar needs to be part of the transformation. Qatar has a deep experience in capacity to invest in the energy transition of this new energy economy and this will be beneficial to Qatari economy and the world at large,” he added.
Steven Humphrey, Director, Leigh and Orange Middle East said,“Qatar has taken the lead in looking at how they build the assets, and the new Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is a classic example, which is a demountable building.”
“Qatar has been very good at building infrastructure for the future, and they have been planning for long term. So a lot of the infrastructure has been built with climate change and long term demand in mind. Qatar's infrastructure is brand new, however the focus now has to move to operation and maintenance,” he added.
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