Greening The Urban Jungle

The UAE might be a hot place. But it can be a global leader in sustainable ways to cool our cities

- Carla Maria Issa

Second only to the aptly-named Death Valley in California, most countries in the Middle East and North African region are home to the hottest temperatures on Earth, reach-ing extremes of up to 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 degrees Fahrenheit). While many have found ways to make some of the hotter months liveable, we have to always be asking, “at what cost?” While climate experts have been sounding the horn for years on the irreversibility of the effects of climate change, extreme weather has reinvigorated the debate. In 2015, the leaders of nearly all the world’s nations came together to sign the landmark Paris Agreement, which stipulated a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per country. The success of the agreement resulted in 185 countries acceding or ratifying the agreement as parties to the treaty, and another 11 signing on. Proportionate to its output, in 2016, the United Arab Emirates committed to reducing its carbon emissions – of which it contributes about 0.53 per cent of the global total – dramatically in the coming years.