Muscat, The 2nd edition of Oman Environment

Forum today kicked off under the theme “Towards Systematic

Consolidation of Environmental Citizenship”. The forum aims to enrich

the debate on a range of environmental issues in the Sultanate and

address the challenges facing the environment.

Mohammed bin Salim al-Toobi, Minister of Environment and

Climate Affairs said in a statement while opening the event that the

forum reflects the size of the partnership between the public and

private sectors through the volume of national and foreign

participations. He affirmed the government’s interest in protecting and

preserving the Omani environment, which stems from the keenness of

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said who accord an utmost attention to

environmental issues.

He pointed out that the Ministry aims through the forum to

promote environmental awareness and the highlight the importance of

preserving and promoting the elements of the Omani environment and

enhancing various environmental investments.

Honourable Hatem bin Hamad al-Ta’ee, Editor-in-Chief of “al

Roya” newspaper, Supervisor General of the Forum, said in a speech

that the current version of the forum will discuss four themes in relation

to seeking to provide new potentials for experts and specialists to

create a comprehensive community awareness that contributes to

comprehensively enhancing the human relationship with nature, his

surroundings and nurture active individuals and generations in

achieving sustainable environmental development.

Al-Ta’ee unveiled the inaugural of “Oman Environmental Forum

Award” to be an honouring platform associating with deliberations of

the Forum during its next version. The award aims to support the

efforts of the environmental groups in order to stimulate further

initiatives that drive the national action aimed at environmental

sustainability.

Yasser bin Obaid al-Salami,

Director General of the Office for Conservation of the Environment, said

that the 2nd edition of Oman Environment Forum establishes a

systematic concept of environmental citizenship, which is of great

importance in the protection of cultural heritage. It is based on several

rights, duties and freedoms that guarantee for everybody suitable

environments that promote the concept of conserving the environment

and respecting the rights of successive generations to benefit from it.

Dr. Sami Dimassi, UNEP Regional Director for West Asia, gave a

presentation on the strategic relationship of cooperation with the

Sultanate of Oman during which he discussed initiatives, agreements

and some key achievements in the Sultanate with respect to

multilateral environmental agreements including the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris

Convention.

The forum includes the opening of the exhibition associating

with the Office of Environmental Conservation, in cooperation with the

Ministry of Education, in addition to a presentation on student projects

who won the student art competition accompanying the forum, entitled

“Environmental Risks and Clean future”.

The forum will discuss four topics related to “Environmental

Citizenship: From Behaviour to Responsibility” and “Environmental

Conservation Laws; Duality of Legislation and Implementation”.

Dr. Ahmed al-Busafi, First Instance Chairman in Bidbid, member

of the Technical Office of the Supreme Court, presented a working

paper entitled “The Judicial Role in Promoting Environmental Protection”.

Source: Oman News Agency