HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal said, on Monday (November 9, 2009), that there is a need to mobilise people towards the priorities of ‘greening’ the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region in the context of a holistic focus on building regional supra-national concepts within which joint projects can develop.

In his keynote speech at the consultation on “Greening WANA”, HRH said that a comprehensive approach in presenting development projects must take into account the cultural aspects of the needs of people, stressing that if the central planning era has ended, this does not mean that the era of priorities has also ended.

Prince El Hassan stressed the need for people to have the opportunity to give their best and develop their talents. He expressed hope in developing an active program, within the region, to make the law work for everyone, including the silenced majority.

Prince El Hassan said that the region needs an initiative for "Green Jobs", in order to develop a joint work program in which global commons meets regional commons, through governments, businesses and civil society, as well as addressing issues of poverty, migration, conflicts and climate change within a supra-national framework that takes into account the harmony between economy, society, culture and the environment.

HRH also said that it is time to organize the Arab house so that Arabs can have an intellectual and ethical starting point to participate in developing a human future. HRH pointed out the need to develop a road map that is sensitive to the social challenge of the Arab identity so that Arabs can actively participate in building a productive industrial base.

Prince El Hassan called for promoting awareness and moving towards the development of a consultation mode rather than a negotiating mode with regard to common issues in WANA. 

HRH said that the region needs a genuine development policy which comes from within and which is based on social realities and social solidarity. HRH stressed the need for increasing awareness among the various actors of the need to focus on core issues away from stereotypes and labels.

HH Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, CEO of the UAE Al Ihsan Charity Centre, spoke of the environmental challenges and roadmap facing the WANA region as well as other regions around the world, including population size and climate change. However, he remarked that the real challenge is to break down these challenges into basics and to look at the environment from the inside.

He encouraged participants to follow the principles of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that apply to nature, such as tawhid (unity), khalifa (stewardship) and amana (trust).

Sheikh Abdul Aziz highlighted the three E’s: Economy, Environment and Education and stated that these are all interconnected, especially for WANA.  “An environment without ethics does not work; it will be unsustainable We need a global environment ethics network”, he stated.

The event gathered experts, entrepreneurs, academics and dignitaries from WANA countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and the UAE, as well as partners from Japan.

The consultation aims to “green” the region by educating for water security and sustainable development and leapfrogging to the third, post-carbon, industrial revolution.

Environmental education, establishing a modern green industrial base and green regional infrastructure were among the priority issues selected by participants at the First Annual WANA Forum, which was held last April in Amman.

The Forum gathered 70 eminent individuals from WANA, and partners from outside the region, to identify regional challenges as well as discuss and evaluate feasible approaches for tackling these concerns and advancing regional cooperation.