The world is celebrating the International Mother Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22nd, which was selected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to be celebrated each year, in order to activate the environmental activities to draw attention to the environmental problems of the planet and address the causes and consequences of those problems. This year's celebration, under the slogan "It's our turn to lead", where a billion people still live on less than a dollar and a quarter per day, comes at a time when the developing countries are still insisting on achieving economic growth regardless of the environmental cost of this growth, as the United States and developed countries have caused pollution at their ascent to the top of economic growth. The phrase "Mother Earth" embodies the interdependence between the human beings and other living beings and the planet we all live on. Celebrating this day represents a recognition of the reasons of life and food that the earth and its ecosystems provide for its population, and a recognition of collective responsibility, which the Rio Declaration of 1992 called for to promote harmony with nature and earth to achieve a fair balance between the economic and social needs of the present and future generations. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in December 2014, said that 2015 is a good time to work on the climate issue that will culminate in Paris Conference, which will be held in December 2015, and added that this is the year during which the Member States will adopt the “Post-2015 Development Agenda” in a special summit in September, including a set of global goals, stressing the importance of the commitment of leaders of public and private sectors in the countries of the world to collecting more than 200 billion dollars by the end of 2015 to finance the reduction of carbon emissions and the development of climate change flexibility. The UAE hosted in May 2014 a high-level meeting included Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Al Gore, former US Vice President, Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, and Felipe Calderon, former Mexican President, and considered this hosting as an international recognition of the central role played by the leadership of the UAE in supporting actions, measures, and practical initiatives undertaken to limit the consequences of climate change and its implications. His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his speech at the meeting, commended the higher education system in the UAE and the efforts exerted to contribute to the support of these initiatives and measures, and the smart investments of the State in the education sector, research, and inventions and innovations in the technology sector led by "Masdar Institute", especially the investment in the future energy by creating centers for inventions and research, such as Masdar Institute for graduate studies, and Research Center for clean technologies in Masdar City, which strives to be one of the most sustainable world cities, and support the cultivation and development of crops that can cope with drought conditions, which can be irrigated using less amounts of fresh water to come up with a sustainable agricultural sector that ensures food security. His Highness also stressed UAE's commitment to providing a total of almost half a billion dollars in grants and financial aid to support investment in renewable energy in the developing countries, in addition to being a major investor in the renewable energy business, a permanent base for the International Renewable Energy Agency "IRENA", and the perfect place for the meeting of the world countries and leaders and all stakeholders in the public and private sectors to reach constructive practical solutions, as it hosted conferences and events such as the "World Future Energy Summit", "World Water Summit " and "Zayed Future Energy Prize".
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