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Under the patronage of Minister of Energy His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and the United Nations Environment (UNEP) at a ceremony held at the NOGA office on Tuesday, May 19, 2015.  H.E. Dr. Mirza signed the MoU on behalf of NOGA and Dr. Iyad Abumoghli, Regional Representative and Regional Director at UNEP Programme in West Asia on the other side, in the presence of NOGA General Secretary Dr. Ahmed Ali Al Sharyan, General Manager of Strategies and Planning Mr. Ali Abdul Jabar Al Sawad and number of senior NOGA and UNEP officials.

The MoU encompassed a joint cooperation framework between NOGA and UNEP West Asia (UNEP-ROWA) in the field of environment and climate change in the oil sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Minister said it would promote united action between NOGA and its subsidiaries with UNEP in various fields and develop a climate change strategy for the oil sector in Bahrain, including the establishment of reporting system for greenhouse gas (GHG), the first of its kind initiative in the Gulf region.

H. E. Dr. Mirza expressed his delight over the MoU aimed at promoting cooperation between NOGA and UNEP in environmental management for companies including ecosystems, clean energy, energy efficiency, climate change, clean production, technology transfer as well as sound chemical and hazardous waste management. He said all the goals would be implemented through mutual participation initiatives, events and joint ventures. The Minister said 2015 was an important year, with global preparations for the new climate change agreement underway, which is expected by year end.

H.E. Dr. Mirza said that the issue of climate change was a reality, its impact felt in many disasters over the past years, be it the melting ice, rising sea level in many regions of the world, including the Arab Gulf, the impact on marine life as well as storms and hurricanes, which have become threats to the development goals we have been building over the decades.

He said he was pleased that the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain was attracting local, regional and international parties for the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects and other Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action projects (NAMAs) supported by specialized international organizations, financing institutions and specialist international companies, including several projects involving application of Carbon Capture & Storage techniques in geological formations and depleted fields under the CDM of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Dr. Abumoghli expressed his gratitude and appreciation to H.E. Dr. Mirza for hosting the signing ceremony, which would strengthen the cooperation between UNEP and NOGA and serve the oil and gas sector which was witnessing remarkable development and had a commitment to legislation and authority in order to fortify community health and national interests. He said it reflected the Kingdom’s environmental initiative to promote and play a meaningful regional and global role.