Dubai students participate in sustainability summit

In advance of World Environment Day, the youth organization Green Hope conducted a day-long summit on sustainability that brought together students from all over Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and even Oman on June 4.

Hosted by students, the Consume with Care Summit gave participants the opportunity to discuss matters of sustainability with leading experts and sustainable lifestyle proponents. Included on the panel were Ibrahim Al Zu'bi, senior adviser for sustainability with the Dubai Land Department; Anne Russel, a teacher at the American Community School in Abu Dhabi; and Elena Weber, CEO and founder of ICONS Coffee Couture.

“It is time for civil society to introspect and take urgent action to reverse the trend of environmental degradation before it is too late," Kehkashan Basu, the 14-year-old founding president of Green Hope, said. "Our planet’s finite resources are depleting at an alarming rate and this in turn is putting our future in jeopardy. A sustainable future can be realized only if its three pillars work and grow in harmony. The current trend of economic growth at the cost of environment and society must be stopped. We have an obligation to protect our natural resources and ensure that we leave the natural and human environment in at least the same good condition as it was received.”

Participants also planted 150 Jetropha saplings and wrote pledges for a sustainable future during the summit.