It was organized by the Qatari “Green Tent” program via video technology.
Dr. Wajdan Al-Aqab, President of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, revealed the Society’s participation in the electronic seminar organized by the “Green Tent” program – affiliated with the “Every Spring a Flower” program, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development – via video technology, about the positive aspects of the expansion of the presence of living organisms in urban areas due to the total home quarantine in many countries of the world, including the State of Kuwait, as well as the better air quality due to the decrease in car exhaust and for residential and urban areas.
During her intervention, Dr. Al-Aqab said, “It was necessary to pay attention to the negative impact of the Corona pandemic on the environment, which is the accumulation of plastic waste, given the sharp trend towards using single-use plastic products in dealing with Corona patients or suspected cases to prevent the spread of the virus and to dispose of them, as well as some smart products that were produced to wrap shopping cart handles and so on, in addition to many plastic products that are used to reduce the spread of the virus.”.
She added, “We are now facing another problem, which is the accumulation of plastic waste that is also polluting, and the failure of some people to dispose of it by throwing it in designated places, which contributes to the spread of the virus if it comes into contact with other people by mistake or because it is transferred from one place to another.” She pointed out that “this is a suitable opportunity to encourage, urgently, the production of environmentally friendly plastic materials and to prevent the use of ordinary plastic, especially single-use plastics, and to prevent the use of non-biodegradable plastics, which is an environmental and health disaster that must be dealt with urgently.”.
She explained that “the 15 experts, specialists, and academics participating in the symposium from Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Canada, Egypt, Algeria, and Libya confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant benefits for the environment, as it has reduced carbon dioxide levels and allowed the Earth to breathe, as environmental reports confirm the expansion of vegetation cover.” She noted that “the participants pointed out that there are positive changes that have occurred on planet Earth due to the coronavirus pandemic, including what satellites and reports published by NASA and the European Space Agency have shown regarding the decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions, which result from the use of fossil fuels, due to the slowdown in economic growth, the shutdown of some factories, the reduction in traffic and the cessation of social activities, as well as the decrease in carbon dioxide levels by about 25 percent in some countries and up to 50 percent in others, a percentage that the United Nations has been striving to achieve for decades through its numerous climate conferences.”.
