Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in partnership with the Emirates Marine Environmental Group, has conducted 10 events from February 2023 to February 2025 focused on environmental conservation at the Jebel Ali Marine Sanctuary. Through these efforts, 13,350 mangrove trees have been planted.
The initiative involved more than 1,650 volunteers made up of DEWA employees, their families, subsidiary staff, and students from DEWA Academy. Collectively, they contributed 3,626 hours of service. During these campaigns, a total of 3,546 kilograms of plastic waste was removed from the area and eight tonnes of algae and seaweed were cleared from the beach.
DEWA reported happiness scores among participants of 92.9% in 2023 and 94.3% in 2024 for these activities.
“Driven by our social responsibility, we have been launching campaigns and initiatives for years to encourage employees, their families and community members to plant more trees, support nature-based solutions to combat climate change, support biodiversity and preserve the environment and terrestrial and marine habitats. As part of our efforts to achieve the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 – which include measures to ensure clean water and sanitation, advance climate action, protect life below water and conserve life on land – and our endeavours to support the national initiative to plant 100 million mangrove trees in the UAE by 2030, we collaborate with the government and private sectors to increase green spaces, especially with native trees like mangroves that can absorb carbon and greenhouse gases at a rate approximately four times greater than tropical forests,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
These actions are part of broader efforts within the United Arab Emirates to expand green spaces using native tree species such as mangroves that play a significant role in absorbing carbon emissions.
