Changing environmental behavior a national duty: British Minister
A visiting senior British official said that changing people’s behavior toward the environment should become a national duty. In an interview on the sidelines of a visit to the Environment Public Authority (EPA), the British Minister of Middle East and North African Affairs Tobias Ellwood emphasized yesterday the significance of educating people on the environment.
Ellwood called for a collective approach for the protection of the environment, noting that the UK’s Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, had started investing its long experience in Kuwait, namely to help build capabilities to understand and monitor the air and the maritime environment in the country. The British minister expressed admiration of Kuwait’s leading efforts for the preservation of the environment for the future generations.
Meanwhile, EPA’s Director General Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said that Ellwood’s visit is part of the efforts to boost ties between the authority and the British Department for Environment, which will be positively reflected on a host of projects. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmed stressed EPA’s keenness on exchanging expertise for enhancing the quality of work, and promoting the authority’s services.
During the official visit, Ellwood, the British ambassador to Kuwait Matthew Lodge and an accompanying delegation met with Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmed and his deputies for technical affairs Mohammad Al-Enzi, and environment monitoring Mohammad Al-Ahmad. The meeting discussed a host of the existing projects between the EPA and the British Department on the protection of maritime environment. In addition, the British delegation was acquainted with the EPA’s Geographical Information System monitoring the pollution rates in Kuwait round the clock.