KACST official reiterates support for environment

Chief of research at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al-Saud has described the environment industry as an important one, stressing the Kingdom’s keenness in maintaining the environment and developing its resources.
While opening the International Saudi Conference for Environment Technology organized by KACST in Riyadh yesterday, the prince explained the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah of the event represents the government’s interest in the environment.
Prince Turki said at the conference: “There’s a wrong perception that countries exporting and importing oil don’t care about the environment. The Kingdom, which is one of the biggest countries in the oil exporting field, gives much attention to the environment.”
The conference’s activities started with three sessions, including one headed by Assistant Supervisor of the Atomic Power Research Institute Dr. Majed Bukhari on soil pollution and ways to treat it.
Another session on pollution and quality of air was headed by the supervisor of the Environment Technology National Center at KACST Dr. Badr Al-Harby.
This session ended with a paper on controlling traffic pollution in the Kingdom presented by Ahmed Al-Hazmi, ecological affairs manager at SABIC. “The Kingdom’s cities are growing increasingly due to the increasing numbers of cars in the Kingdom. So, to control the pollution here we have to take decisive actions,” he said.
Astana conference
Saudi Arabia will chair the 5th conference of environment ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Thursday.
Head of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) Prince Turki bin Nasser, who is also chairman of the executive office of the OIC environment ministers, said the conference would finalize the draft Islamic declaration on sustainable development, which will then be presented at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20), to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20-22.
The conference will also discuss a host of other issues related to environment and sustainable growth in the Islamic countries.
Prince Turki said the conference was based on the guidelines of the Tunis Declaration adopted by the ministers in October 2010.
The declaration also called for strengthening sustainable development in the Islamic world in a way that ensures protection of environment.
According to the PME chief, the conference will review the progress and achievements made by the OIC member countries in major environment issues related with sustainable development since the last global summit on sustainable development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. “The conference will also discuss the report of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) about its efforts in achieving sustainable development in the OIC member countries over the last 10 years,” he said.
Ministers of environment from 57 OIC member countries in addition to representatives of several international and regional organizations and panels will attend the conference. These organizations include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Arab League, Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, North Africa Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission, Muhammad VI Foundation for Environment Protection, and Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe.