The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, has organised a ceremony for 75 graduates of the second batch of the Carbon Ambassadors’ Programme.

DEWA’s programme, which conforms to the criteria set by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, is supported by the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, or Dubai Carbon. The programme’s practical component involves implementation of turn-key projects in partnership with a number of government and private entities. The project aims to retrofit service containers to turn them into sustainably functioning units.

The delegates were divided into teams, each supervised by a partner. A panel of judges evaluated the projects and selected the best three teams.

At the graduation ceremony, DEWA honoured the first three winning projects, sponsored by the UAE Water Aid Foundation, Suqia, the Ministry of Climate Change and the Roads and Transport Authority, RTA.

Suqia, which works under the aegis of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, is sponsoring an innovative project being carried out by a team from the Carbon Ambassadors’ Programme. The project aims to provide clean drinking water to people in one of the largest urban areas in Nairobi.

As a part of the initiative, it will transform a 20-foot converted shipping container, using innovative solutions, into a sustainable water purification unit, employing reverse osmosis technology. The 800-gallon capacity unit can be operated solely by using solar energy and will produce 7.6 cubic metres of drinking water, catering for over 1,500 people a day.

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has sponsored a Sustainable Agriculture Container, a project developed by the second batch of the Carbon Ambassadors Programme.

The project aims to transform used service containers into sustainable agricultural containers. These will help spread awareness about the environment, and encourage people to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Another project, sponsored by the RTA, features an innovative concept to create desks for employees that conform to the principles of environmental sustainability.

"In line with the directives of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, DEWA is committed to involving the youth in achieving sustainable development objectives, as part of the UAE Vision 2021, to transform the UAE into one of the best countries in the world by 2021," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA.

"Today, we are pleased to honour the second batch of graduates of the Carbon Ambassadors’ Programme. These students have succeeded by making every effort to become role models for Emirati youth and support the cause of sustainable development in the UAE, to achieve the objectives set in the Dubai Plan 2021 to turn Dubai into a smart and sustainable city, with a clean, healthy and sustainable environment," he added.