The Eye on Earth Summit Declaration, a key outcome of the Summit, which will provide input to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012, was signed Thursday by the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) after endorsement from the public and representatives of government, business, and civil society. The Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2011 Summit ended Thursday. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi and Co-Chair of the Summit, said in her closing remarks: “In the past 4 days, thousands of people have converged in Abu Dhabi for the Eye on Earth Summit and Exhibition. Not only does this exemplify the diversity and breadth of the Summit attendees, but more importantly it represents the diversity, breadth, and global importance of the environmental and societal data movement… we are united by our common interest and, now, the Eye on Earth Community is emerging. Abu Dhabi is committed to fostering and facilitating this movement, developing its sense of community, and playing a lead role in the development of the Eye on Earth Community.” This commitment to greater access and sharing of environmental information includes the continuation of Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative's (AGEDI) mission as a catalyst for the development of the Community, the strengthening of EAD's relationships with Eye on Earth's Executive Advisory Board and partners, especially the European Environment Agency (EEA) and UNEP. “To paraphrase Bill Clinton in his remarks earlier this week ‘Talk is cheap'. We all know that our commitments require accountability. Therefore, we are committed to sharing our achievements with you in 2 years' time, and we would like you to report on your achievements. We invite you to reconvene for the Eye on Earth Abu Dhabi 2014,” she said. She announced that AGEDI will serve as a coordinator of the Special Initiatives at a regional level for the Eye on Water Security, Eye on Biodiversity, Eye on Oceans: Blue Carbon and Eye on Network of Networks Special Initiatives that were announced Thursday. Four other special initiatives were also announced; Eye on Disaster Management, Eye on Community Sustainability and Resiliency, Eye on Environmental Education, Eye on Access for All. All eight Special Initiatives will be taken forward, often with the financial or otherwise support of organizations that have similar interests and have already expressed their desire to keep the process going with the ambitious but realistic objective to have these issues addressed in a transformative way in the next three to five years.
