A water summit lauched by United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi

WAM (the United Arab Emirates): His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces has launched the International Water Summit to be held alongside the World Future Energy Summit in January 2013.

UAE Minister of Environment and Water, Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, and Dr. Glen Daigger, President of the International Water Association (IWA) held a press conference at the World Future Energy Summit today to make the announcement.

Dr. Rashid said: "As a result of the increased pressure on this valuable resource due to various factors including over population, agricultural and economic growth and the unsustainable consumption patterns, various countries around the world are currently facing real problems with water resources. Moreover, climate change has increased the pressure on this resource as well. Therefore, this launch - as a result of our visionary leadership's drive towards achieving water security - helmed by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan - will shed a real light on the subject.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed al Jaber said: "based on the directives of His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the launch of the International Water Summit and its bid to face the most pressing challenges facing the world today - is a testament to the UAE's role in shedding light on today's relevant subjects and a clear testimony to thought leadership." Emphasizing the clear directives laid by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed when he recently stated "water is more important than oil in the United Arab Emirates," Dr Al Jaber, called the statement a bold and clear signal - that an economy based on oil - is placing water at the topmost of its agenda; adding that His Highness also made a clear call to action: that we need to enhance and increase the studies and research necessary, create strategic action plans, and find solutions to preserving this invaluable resource for future generations....

Abu Dhabi as seen by the SPOT satellite, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license