Bahrain Bay in environmental move
Manama, June 22, 2009
Bahrain Bay Utilities (BBU), of the $1.5 billion urban development venture Bahrain Bay, has appointed Ernst & Young, a leading professional services company, to provide advisory services on potential greenhouse gas abatement projects.
The move aims to obtain carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
BBU, a joint venture between Arcapita Bank and Dalkia, will focus initially on district cooling projects at Bahrain Bay and Al Areen, said a Dalkia spokesman.
Dalkia is a district heating and cooling solutions.
"From a sustainability perspective, district heating and cooling have real advantages," the spokesman added.
"Different organisations in the Middle East are starting to recognise the value of the clean development mechanism, showing that sustainable development does not have to be a trade off or an added cost," said Ernst & Young director of climate change and sustainability services Amjad Rihan.
Rihan said that he was excited about the growing possibilities in the region.
"Our initial focus will be on greenhouse gas abatement projects that otherwise might not be eligible for funding under the Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism," he said.
"If, by working with Arcapita, Dalkia and other interested parties, we are able to establish a functional process, we will be able to make sustainability a central plank of any further developments in the kingdom - which is of course an important part of Vision 2030."
Vision 2030 identifies sustainability as one of the guiding principles of economic development in the kingdom over the next 20 years.
"The CDM initiatives that BBU are putting in place are a demonstration of their commitment to Vision 2030," he said.
"We hope that, by working with regional leaders like Arcapita and Dalkia, the whole region can benefit from Ernst & Young's expertise in the field of sustainable development - and in doing so show that economic growth should not have a negative effect on the communities where it happens,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service
