Abu Dhabi, June 20 (IANS/WAM): Environment related authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not been resting on their laurels since receiving an acknowledgment from the World Wildlife Fund in 2010, a UAE daily has reported.

The UAE authorities in charge of tacking environmental issues were recognised as number one in the world in terms of having the biggest ecological footprint.

"Proactivity has been their hallmark and untiring efforts ensure that plans are implemented and efforts are being made to tackle several initiatives that address major ecological issues in the country", said "Gulf News" in its editorial.

The race is now on to reduce individual footprint even further and the cut-off has been set for 2030 where, among other projects, carbon emission is set to be reduced by as much as 40 per cent.

The ecological footprint is a measure of a country's sustainability that compares the use of natural resources per person per capita, expressed by a unit of bio-productive land called the global hectare.