His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, confirmed the...

26 February 2014 News

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Community Development, confirmed the success of the International Conference on Emergency and Crisis Management. This conference is part of a series of significant events successfully hosted in the country and receives support from the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE (may God protect him). It represents a unique and advanced model in construction, development, security, safety, and stability.

In a speech delivered today on the second day of the Emergency and Crisis Management Conference 2014, His Excellency stated, “The UAE always looks to the future, adopting sound planning as a method and approach to achieving its goals. The country prepares for all changes and developments, constantly striving to be at the forefront, contributing earnestly and effectively to the progress of the region and the world.”

He added that Abu Dhabi possesses the willpower and determination to be a leading and pioneering city, adopting the best knowledge and practices globally. It has a clear strategy for how the community deals with emergencies, disasters, and crises, embodying the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The strategy emphasizes continuous improvement in the quality of life and a firm commitment to ensuring safety and security for the nation and its citizens against all risks and disasters, whether natural, environmental, climatic, or man-made.

He affirmed that the conference, which provides opportunities for dialogue and discussion on various techniques, procedures, and approaches to managing emergencies and crises, benefits from practical experiences worldwide and ongoing research in this critical field that impacts human lives everywhere.

His Excellency praised the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, for his significant interest in the conference's topic. He expressed appreciation for His Highness's commitment to making the conference a platform for learning, idea exchange, and experience transfer, which enhances the efficiency of all involved in disaster and crisis management in the country, region, and world.
His Excellency extended thanks and appreciation to the National Security Council and the National Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Authority for their initiative in organizing this conference, which highlighted the importance of having an effective emergency management system in every country and raising awareness of achievements in this area globally. This includes preparedness for and response to disasters and effective management of their real-world impacts.

He noted that modern disasters and crises have become larger and more complex, possibly due to the intricacy of societal life and the ability of media to disseminate and monitor their effects. We observe the impacts of earthquakes, storms, floods, climate changes, pandemics, famines, wars, cybercrime, and terrorism around us. At the same time, our organizational and technical capacities to address these crises have significantly improved. We see clear advancements in our ability to collect information, develop analytical and predictive methods for crises, and manage them effectively.

He highlighted the strong community commitment to facing these risks and disasters, noting an increased public awareness and expectation that any country should be fully capable of handling these issues with minimal losses. There is a qualitative development in human societies’ perspectives on managing crises and a strong and ongoing commitment to creating effective emergency and crisis management systems globally.

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan explained that crisis and emergency management, from an insurance perspective, involves risk management, including understanding various risks, their types, dimensions, and probabilities, how to prepare for them, and the ability to influence their course seriously. Effective risk management anticipates potential occurrences, prevents them, prepares for them, and provides information, studies, and models to formulate suitable policies and procedures.

He emphasized that risk management is closely linked to the community’s capacity and resolve to face challenges and the success of mobilizing individual and institutional efforts to identify, assess, and effectively address potential risks. Media plays a crucial role in awareness and providing information.

He stated that crisis and disaster management assigns specific responsibilities to individuals, institutions, central and local governments, and communities. There must be purposeful community dialogue about these responsibilities, aiming to establish genuine partnerships and focus on local preparedness and readiness.

His Excellency praised the conference’s focus on building bridges of cooperation and joint work among all stakeholders, including ministries, government and private sectors, countries, and those interested in disaster management globally, as well as volunteers and professionals in the field. He lauded the emphasis on scientific research, awareness, training, and studying ways to build national, regional, and global capacities for policy formulation and effective action.

For his part, His Excellency Engineer Suhail Mohamed Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, affirmed that crisis management involves handling potential risks before, during, and after their occurrence. Planning, forecasting, and preparation contribute to successful crisis and emergency management. The community and media are key partners for official agencies in managing crises.

In a speech delivered on behalf of the Minister of Energy, Her Excellency Engineer Fatima Al Furaiji Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary, stated that the energy sector is vital globally, and its loss can cause or exacerbate crises due to its natural, political, technical, and environmental factors. An energy crisis in one country can have cascading effects on other countries. This impact varies depending on preparation and contingency plans. For example, the 2011 Fukushima incident in Japan, which led to the shutdown of all nuclear reactors and increased Japan's need for natural gas imports, highlights natural risks to the energy sector. Similarly, oil sector price hikes by intermediaries, as seen in 2007, can affect the global economy.

She added that the current trend of some gas-producing countries seeking to raise gas prices or link them to oil prices drives consuming countries to seek alternative energy sources, develop local gas resources, or explore unconventional sources like shale gas.

The Minister of Energy emphasized that the UAE’s wise leadership has been crucial in sustaining economic growth and increasing the country’s GDP. This growth has led to increased demand for electricity and water. The leadership, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE (may God protect him), has paid special attention to energy provision and maintaining the UAE’s global role as a major energy source.

The leadership has also focused on future plans for energy security and sustainability while adhering to the highest environmental standards.

He added, “We rely on sound future planning by leveraging successful global experiences to build a comprehensive strategy to secure our natural resources needs and diversify energy sources by incorporating nuclear and renewable energy into the national energy mix.”

The UAE aims to balance its global position as a major oil source within OPEC and its role in meeting domestic oil needs by increasing its production capacity to 3.5 million barrels per day by 2017, with significant budgets allocated for this balance.
Natural gas remains the primary source for electricity generation in the country, and domestic demand will continue to increase. Ensuring gas supply security has been a key aspect of the energy sector strategy, prompting the UAE to diversify its gas sources to secure its natural gas needs. Recently, the UAE allocated $25 billion to develop new gas fields and increase output from existing ones. In 2007, the Dolphin Gas Project was launched to import 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas from Qatar, with ongoing work to increase the line’s export capacity to 3.2 billion cubic feet. In 2010, the Jebel Ali Port was opened for LNG import and processing with a capacity of 3 million cubic feet. The Abu Dhabi Executive Council approved the UAE LNG project on the eastern coast, allowing the country to import 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas daily.

These efforts are part of the UAE’s preparation and forecasting to meet demand and ensure continued gas supply for electricity generation. To reduce dependence on natural gas for electricity production and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which are the primary cause of global warming, the UAE has adopted a policy of diversifying energy sources in line with its geographical and climatic nature. The UAE has been a pioneer in solar energy applications and has established research centers and specialized institutes.

He noted that the opening of Shams 1 in the western region with a capacity of 100 MW in March last year and the first station of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park with a capacity of 13 MW in October last year, part of the 1000 MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, demonstrates the country’s commitment to solar energy. Additionally, the UAE’s decision to use nuclear energy for electricity is another element of its energy diversification policy. The first reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is expected to start generating electricity in 2017, with a total capacity of 5600 MW from four reactors by 2020.

He mentioned that connecting the country’s electricity grid to the GCC Interconnection Authority for emergency exchanges is one way to mitigate energy sector emergency impacts.

He concluded by emphasizing that given the rapid changes in the global energy landscape, there is a need at all levels—national, regional, and international—to discuss the latest developments and highlight key challenges related to water, energy, sustainable economic growth, and waste management, while continually seeking ways to expand clean energy solutions. Such conferences play a critical role in achieving the best solutions.

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, confirmed the success of the International Conference