COP18 Organizer: Logistic Arrangements Going Alright

Doha, November 28 (QNA) - Chairman of the COP18 Organizing Sub-Committee HE Fahad bin Mohamed Al Attiyah has said all the arrangements and logistic activities are going alright except for some minor complaints about transportation that will be addressed and handled. Speaking at a press conference at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) here on Wednesday, HE Fahad bin Mohamed Al Attiyah said that the smart paper technology used in the conference has saved up to 97% of the paper use over the past two days (750,000 paper sheet or 90 trees). "We are proud of that and we will work on raising the percentage of smart paper use in the coming days of the conference," Al Attiyah said. He said that Qatari youths will organize a march on Saturday to celebrate Qatar's hosting of the COP18 conference, noting that he is pleased and proud that the organizers and leaders of the march are Qatari young people. The Organizing Committee invited several Arab and international organizations to participate in the conference, besides the participation of Qatar Sustainability Network (QSN), which includes a lot of companies and civil society organizations. Al Attiyah noted that 350 young men and women from outside Qatar currently participate in the conference, which underlines Qatar's keenness on the presence and participation of young people in the climate change issue. HE Fahad bin Mohamed Al Attiyah added that thanks to the internal and external efforts of concerned parties, the conference is being held with the participation of up to 17,600 participants registered so far, in addition to 6700 monitors from non-governmental organizations, regional organizations, and media. He projected the number will increase in the coming days. HE Fahad bin Mohamed Al Attiyah pointed out that several activities on the sidelines of the conference will address climate change and the environment, sustainability issues, education programs and other relevant interactive activities such as environment documentaries, visits and field trips to some Qatari landmarks. Chairman of the COP18 Organizing Sub-committee added that Qatari youths will present heritage and recycling projects, noting that recycling containers will be distributed in various areas in Doha to promote awareness of the practice and encourage people to adopt it. Asked by Qatar News Agency (QNA) about a potential survey to measure participants' satisfaction with services and logistic arrangements, HE Al Attiyah said this procedure is routinely done every day through communication points and volunteers. He noted that the Organizing Committee holds a daily coordination meeting to review survey results and discuss problems that come up, and solutions to avoid their occurrence again. The Chairman of the COP18 Organizing Sub-Committee also mentioned that the Organizing Committee has assigned a media team to deal with media since Qatar was chosen to host the event. HE Al Attiyah hailed the cooperation of the state's concerned entities in organizing the conference, giving special thanks to the Ministry of Interior and Internal Security Force (Lakhwiya) for coordination and partnership. (QNA)