West Asia

UNEP Regional office for West Asia (ROWA)

Country celebrations – Bahrain
The Regional Office of West Asia (ROWA) hosted this year’s WED celebrations in Bahrain. The main activity this year was to broadcast through Gulf Airline two spots that show UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors (Gisele Bundchen and Don Cheadle) promoting WED 2011 and the International Year of Forests (IYF) 2011. The DVD is slated to play onboard during June and July at the takeoff and landing, on all Gulf Air destinations.

The celebrations in Bahrain also included a ‘Clean up the beach’ and a tree planting-campaign in and around Bahrain, and Gulf Air was the main partner of the event providing the trees for planting and t-shirts for the participants.

In collaboration with UNEP/ROWA and the Bahrainian Ministry of Education, Gulf Air organized the main event in line with the UNEP/Tunza, 20th international painting competition: "Life in Forests". Gulf Air awarded the best painting which was used on all collateral used in the promotion of the International Year of Forests.

Contact: 
Marie Daher Corthay
Information and Outreach Officer
marie.daher@unep.org

Country celebrations – Dubai
1) EPIC Dubai Sustainable Living Expo
In commemoration of World Environment Day (WED), EPIC Dubai Sustainable Living Expo, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), hosted a celebration to honour supporters and partners for their impactful contribution to the EPIC initiative and to a greener, more sustainable United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Louis Palmer, UNEP Champion of the Earth and solar advocate standing with children around a locally engineered solar powered car

The event took place June 5, 2011 adjacent to The Dubai Mall in The Address Downtown Dubai Hotel, and featured speeches by influential figures and renowned celebrities as well as a screening of a short EPIC Dubai film aimed to motivate and inspire eco-change.

UNEP Champion of the Earth, Louis Palmer, a global environmental adventurer and the first man to circumnavigate the planet in a solar car, showcased solar powered cars conceived by UAE’s S.S. Lootah Group.

Contact:
Shereen Zorba
Head, Newsdesk
shereen.zorba@unep.org

2) Government of Dubai, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA)
For the second consecutive year the government of Dubai, the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), marked WED with a 3-day event that began on 3 June.

The event illustrated DSOA’s commitment to emphasize the importance of green issues in Dubai, such as: global warming, green architecture, water conservation techniques, planting of trees, and recycling. The objective of the event was to raise awareness on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting flora and fauna, and saving planet earth.

The first day of the campaign was hosted at the DSOA’s head quarters, and included environment-friendly initiatives such as planting of trees within the DSO community. The event was open to all DSO customers and employees.

The second and third day were hosted at the Dubai Festival City, where numerous initiatives were implemented to educate Dubai shoppers on the need to become environmentally-conscious. These included distribution of informative materials, displays on the virtues of green technology and distribution of information and advice to visitors of the center.