The Kuwait Environment Protection Society participated in a workshop organized by the US Embassy entitled «Environmental Media and Air Pollution,» as part of a series of workshops through which the embassy seeks to help journalists and those concerned to address and simplify various issues to facilitate their access to readers.
Khaled Al-Kaabi, a member of the association’s board of directors and its representative at the workshop, said, “Within the framework of the American Speaker Program, sponsored by the US State Department, Dr. Sumi Mehta presented a workshop to a number of journalists on media coverage of environmental issues and ways to introduce readers to the most important concepts related to them through Kuwaiti media.” He explained that Dr. Sumi has worked through the American Speaker Program with many governments around the world to develop environmental policies and is an expert in the field of environment and health. The workshop was implemented by the Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Section at the US Embassy.
Al-Kaabi stressed that the recommendations that emerged from the workshop, which are represented in (the need for media professionals to raise public awareness of the long-term risks resulting from pollution of all kinds and the extent of its impact on the health of their children in the future, and to propose solutions to any environmental problem through specialists, and to follow up on the implementation of solutions by officials through the media to ensure a better future for the coming generations, in addition to the need for absolute transparency in environmental information), the association supports and promotes the recommendations, and at the same time the association confirms that the required transparency is available on the website of our Environment, which belongs to the General Authority for the Environment, and therefore any information, clarification, statistics or information that they want is available to everyone, whether media professionals or website visitors.
Al-Kaabi noted that these recommendations align with the Kuwait Environment Protection Society's media policy, which prioritizes accuracy in presenting and processing environmental information before publication to maintain its credibility. Verifying the truth and accuracy of environmental information is crucial and must be considered when drafting news reports before any statements are made.
This is in accordance with the Environmental Protection Law, which stipulates that no false environmental information should be given so as not to cause panic among the people. According to Article 126, “It is prohibited to publish or spread false information about the environmental situation in the country, and the violator shall be punished with a fine of up to 50,000 Kuwaiti dinars.”.
Regarding the expert's information about the sources of air pollution in Kuwait, that the desert environment constitutes about 50% of the causes of pollution, and the rest is distributed among carbon emissions from car exhaust, petrochemical and oil industries, and other causes,” this explains the high rate of air pollution in many cases, which is due to dust, which makes us pause at some statements that frighten people by being issued from time to time,” calling for commitment to not spreading misleading environmental information because of its impact on people.
In this regard, he called for reliance on and attention to the website of (Our environment) affiliated with the General Authority for the Environment, through which the environmental situation can be monitored first-hand, following the principle of transparency in presenting and analyzing data and information in a manner that suits our environment, with warnings if the need arises, and praising the association’s invitation to attend the workshop, as it is one of the civil society organizations with a comprehensive environmental specialization and with accumulated experiences and scientific personnel.
