Abu dhabi: The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has been awarded the Gold Award in Environmental Policy at the 2025 Green World Awards, held in Auckland, New Zealand. The award recognises EAD’s Abu Dhabi Environmental Policies and Regulations Framework, which has set a benchmark for sustainable environmental governance, innovation and measurable impact.
According to Emirates News Agency, the Green World Awards, organised by the UK-based Green Organisation, an independent and non-profit environmental body, celebrate the world’s best practices in environmental management. This year’s recognition places EAD firmly as a leader in integrating policy with action, science with strategy, and ambition with accountability.
Sheikha Al Mazrouei, Executive Director of Integrated Environment Policy and Planning sector at EAD, remarked on the global recognition, emphasizing the rigorous, data-driven approach applied across every environmental policy developed by the agency. The agency’s comprehensive environmental framework covers critical areas including climate change, biodiversity, marine water quality, groundwater, air quality, and plastic pollution.
One of the framework’s most impactful pillars is the Abu Dhabi Climate Change Strategy (2023-2027), targeting a 22 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2027. By the end of 2024, driven by the energy sector, Abu Dhabi achieved a reduction of 26 million tonnes in CO2 equivalent emissions. The agency also developed a Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system, the first in the GCC region, aligned with the Paris Agreement.
In terms of groundwater quality, significant improvements were noted, with the index rising to 79 per cent in 2023. Annual abstraction rates were reduced by 3 per cent, signaling a shift toward more sustainable water management. In biodiversity conservation, EAD issued a suite of progressive regulations and established the Sheikh Zayed Protected Areas Network, which now includes 20 protected areas covering 17 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s territory.
The agency’s biodiversity efforts led to fish stock recovery levels surpassing 97.4 per cent by the end of 2024, 34 per cent more than the global benchmark. Abu Dhabi’s marine restoration work was named one of the UN’s 10 World Restoration Flagships, and the agency launched the region’s first Plant Genetic Resources Centre. Additionally, EAD will host the IUCN World Conservation Congress in October 2025.
EAD introduced targeted regulations and policies to safeguard Abu Dhabi’s marine environment, improving marine water quality. These efforts resulted in Abu Dhabi’s sediment quality standards being adopted nationally, ensuring a unified benchmark across the UAE. The Microbial Water Quality Index achieved a top score of 100 in 2024 for the second consecutive year.
In 2024, EAD launched a landmark Air Quality Regulation aimed at reducing pollutant emissions from both mobile and stationary sources. The Single-Use Plastic Policy, introduced in 2020 and enforced from 2022, led to a 95 per cent reduction in single-use plastic bag consumption. EAD also launched an innovative bottle return scheme in 2023, collecting over 2,000 tonnes of plastic bottles.
Additionally, EAD drives the Emirate’s green agenda through the Abu Dhabi Environmental Centennial 2071, a visionary 50-year framework for environmental resilience and innovation. Together, these achievements reflect EAD’s integrated, evidence-based, and future-focused approach to environmental policy. The Green World Gold Award reaffirms EAD’s role as a global thought leader shaping the environmental narrative for decades to come.