“Higher Education” participates in “Earth Hour”

The “Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research” participated in the “Earth Hour” campaign, which is on Saturday (29^th) of March. The Ministry’s participation in this campaign comes in implementation of his Excellency Sheikh “Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan’s” directives, and within the framework of the social responsibility of the Ministry as a responsible governmental authority in the society, to implement initiatives and awareness programs for various segments of society, especially all matters related to the environment and preserving it, so as to save energy and preserve planet Earth, which will contribute in achieving the mission and vision of the State to achieve sustainable development. The UAE prepares for this campaign every year through switching off the nonessential lights in most of the country, and encouraging the people to participate in this campaign which helps reduce energy consumption and gas emissions that harm the environment.

The Ministry started preparing for this campaign, which started on Sunday the (23^rd) of March, through publishing media materials including posters and prints on “Earth Hour”, and it published the campaign’s slogan on its website and on the social media platforms. The Ministry sent e-mail reminders to the staff to remind them of this campaign, and to the Cultural Attachés abroad. It also sent awareness bulletins to identify the campaign and its goals, and how to participate in it to achieve its desired goals.

The State’s interest in “Earth Hour” indicates the leadership’s commitment to protect the environment and encourage the people to participate with their efforts to achieve that. The “UAE” is considered one of the few countries in the world which announces the results of energy saving during the “Earth Hour”, and his Highness Sheikh “Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum”, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of “Dubai”, affirmed in a “tweet”, on the occasion of celebrating “Earth Hour” in the UAE last year, that “preserving the environment will remain fundamental in our development programs, national projects, and governmental policies, and it is the right of the coming generations to inherit a healthy and clean environment”. The participation in this campaign includes switching off the lights between (8:30 – 9:30) PM, which coincides with the global campaign which includes more than (140) countries. The campaign started in (2007) in “Australia” in order to encourage the population of the earth to save energy and contribute to reducing harmful gas emissions.