In Support of the Qatar National Vision 2030
The Qatar National Vision (QNV) of 2030 outlines Qatar’s long-term vision by providing a framework within which national strategies and implementation plans can be developed.
The QNV 2030 outlines five overarching national goals:
- Modernization and preservation of traditions
- Intergenerational justice
- Managed growth and expansion
- Building up the know-how and quality of the workforce and selecting the optimum path of development
- Economic growth, social development and environmental management
The QNV forsees Qatar's development through four interconnected pillars:
- Human Development: Development of all its people to enable them to sustain a prosperous society
- Social Development: Development of a just and caring society based on high moral standards, and capable of playing a significant role in global partnerships for development
- Economic Development: Development of a competitive and diversified economy capable of meeting the needs of, and securing a high standard of living for, all its people both for the present and for the future
- Environmental Development: Management of the environment such that there is harmony between economic growth, social development and environmental protection.
Qatar seeks to develop its domestic agricultural sector through securing the energy and water requirements necessary to build a sustainable agricultural economy. By doing so, the QNFSP aims to contribute to the four pillars of the QNV, namely Human, Social, Economic and Environmental Development.
As Qatar seeks modernization, as highlighted in the QNV, it will need to do so by meeting "the needs of this generation without compromising the needs of future generations."
The QNV outlines how Qatar's "growth could deplete its resources, overstrain its economy and derail it from its targeted objectives" and how Qatar "must target growth rates that are compatible with its capacity for real economic expansion." The QNV further adds:
"Sustainable development is a process that seeks to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This is often called intergenerational justice."
"The rights of future generations would be threatened if the depletion of non-renewable resources were not compensated by the creation of new sources of renewable wealth."
There is little prospect of resolving the future of the Food Security issue without arriving at a sustainable solution to the intertwined problems of water and energy shortages. The depletion and damage to the groundwater aquifers can only be compensated through seawater desalination – which is the only feasible solution to providing Qatar with fresh water. As the QNV states, "Qatar's National Vision will choose the development path that carefully balances the interests of the current generation with the interests of future generations." The QNV further states:
"Qatar has already committed to enforcing international standards for environmental protection when designing and implementing its industrial projects. The country must also commit to making its future path of development compatible with the requirements of protecting and conserving the environment. Wherever there is an environmental cost to be paid for economic progress, it must be compensated with investments in technologies that help improve the environment."
The significant freshwater demands that will be posed by expanded agricultural production will be met by a dedicated industrial-scale desalination facility. Sustainability rests at the core of the QNFSP, and although the programme will initiate economic and technological development, this will not be done at the expense of the environment. This is echoed in the QNV:
"Environmental degradation can be reduced through investment in advanced technologies designed to minimize the damage caused by economic projects. It can also be reduced by avoiding rapid and unplanned growth."
"Economic development and protection of the environment are two demands neither of which should be sacrificed for the sake of the other."
