Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) is hosting a two-day summit with 330 students and 110 teachers from 120 schools in Abu Dhabi. EAD is conducting an initiative named Sustainable School Initiative (SSI) and the Eco Club Summit is part of EAD's SSI. The summit is a platform for school children to share their ideas, network and improve their school's environmental impact. It is a nice opportunity bringing together global environmental youth leaders and students from Abu Dhabi's leading school eco clubs under a common platform to enrich the knowledge of all participants. The summit is supported by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) and sponsored by BP.

SSI aims to enable all schools including their teachers and students to make positive environmental changes within their school. To assist them move towards eco sustainability, EAD provides training and resource materials necessary to assess their own environmental impact. EAD also requires the formation of eco clubs in the schools and fosters regular interaction among the members through hands-on experiences by conducting seminars, arranging field trips, eco project studies etc. The initiatives by eco-clubs range from recycling by encouraging students to bring along paper, tin, glass and plastic from home and waste from the school also. Students reach out to the community also to recycle waste. Energy saving by switching off unnecessary lights and fans/ACs not in use,  fitting taps with water-saving devices, planting heat-tolerant trees and shrubs to reduce the air pollution are some of the activities by such eco-clubs.

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General of EAD, inaugurated the summit and said: "Since the EAD was established nearly 18 years ago, we have placed great emphasis on engaging the emirate's youth. This is simply because we strongly believe in their power to initiate change. It is also because the decisions that we make now, and in the years ahead, will have a profound impact on the world that these youth inherit. Youth, both in the UAE and around the world, have proven to us that they are agents for change, perhaps because it is they who have the most at stake. We are very excited and inspired to see these large number of students and teachers participating in the summit," she said.

Dr Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Director-General of Adec, said: "Abu Dhabi Educational Council focuses on and supports sustainability initiatives by using advanced environmental education programmes in new schools in Abu Dhabi. These schools were built according to the highest international environmental sustainability standards, as we aim to reduce our footprint, raise awareness about consumption, apply best practice in health and safety procedures, as well as establish environmental education through the curriculum. Our ultimate objective is to make sustainability the center of students' attention."