A seminar at the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (Icba), was conducted in the UAE. It was urged to the leading oil companies in the world to build solar panels and avoid gas flares so that they could help minimise energy use.

The Director-general of the Opec Fund for International Development stated that time is running out for the big oil companies & that they are trying to convince Exxon Mobil, BP, Adnoc and Saudi Aramco to sign the energy access agreement to exchange information & work in their host countries. The good information is that Total & Shell are already party to this agreement.

It is the key for sustainable development that renewable energy be used more & more. These big oil companies use very high amount of energy thus if they move to renewable, It will be a giant leap in for ensuring the sustainability for Mother Earth.

UAE in investing heavily & has committed for the future i.e. by 2021 to generate 24% of its electricity from clean energy sources. This is a big commitment & require participation of big players as well as common people.

Energy, Water & food are all linked. Mounting with overpopulation the demand for these 3 key resources is expected to double by 2050 & its just 35 years away. We must wake up today & plan for tomorrow. If all these resources continue to be generated without using clean energy sources then we are going to get into big trouble.

Source: The National, http://www.icba-ag4tomorrow.org/