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Stadium Building Competition’ group photo
Qatar Sustainability Week, in its seventhh edition, was organised by Earthna Centre as a nationwide campaign aiming to encourage people to lead more sustainable lives and create a movement of change by raising awareness of the impact of climate change, as well as emphasising that sustainability in Qatar is a responsibility.
The Pearl Island’s weekend-long activities included the inauguration of the Island’s first community garden in collaboration with Hadiqaa Middle East, which aims to educate community members about the importance of biodiversity and sustainability, create more green space in Qatar, and provide a sustainable lifestyle for the Island's residents. The event further engaged residents and their families in several environmental and educational activities.
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Sustainable stadium building activity
In this context, UDC had announced an initiative, the "first of its kind" in Qatar and the Middle East, to plant a tree for each new UDC employee in an effort to sequestrate employees’ carbon dioxide emission and lower the environmental footprint of UDC’s operations. This is in addition to 160 trees that were planted within the scope of the existing co-operation between UDC and the Green Organisation, in addition to 7,700 trees currently existing around The Pearl Island, which compensate for almost 197 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
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Plastic waste collection point for recycling.
In the belief that healthier lifestyles prompt healthier practices and choices that eventually contributes to a healthier environment, The Pearl Island’s residents were further treated to a fitness workout on Viva Bahriya’s beach in collaboration with local fitness providers, and invited to partake in a blood donation campaign in partnership with Hamad Medical Corporation, to help treat and save the lives of community members locally, which in turn helps create happy, healthy and sustainable communities.
To conclude the Week’s activities, UDC hosted a ‘Stadium Building Competition’ at The Pearl Island’s Amphitheatre involving teams of professional and student architects and engineers which competed to construct sustainable stadiums using single-use plastic and recyclable materials.
In this same context, UDC’s Environmental and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 recognises the implications of plastic on climate change and hence seeks to offset all greenhouse gas emissions, by advancing low-carbon solutions and encouraging reduction of plastic use as well as setting up recycling mechanisms throughout UDC’s offices, worksites and The Pearl Island.
Consequently, UDC had launched a three-month recycling initiative earlier in 2022, which yielded 2.3 tonnes of plastic waste supplied by residents, which were successfully recycled into useful goods for the community.
This year, UDC has also issued its Environmental, Social and Governance Report (ESG) to Qatar Stock Exchange, making it the first listed real estate company in Qatar to officially disclose its sustainability and environmental strategies and achievements.