SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) plays a vital role in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which focuses on clean water and sanitation. Through interdisciplinary research, the university contributes to understanding water resource management, pollution control, and sustainable practices such as rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, and ecosystem restoration. Its programmes foster collaboration among scientists, policymakers, and local communities to address water scarcity and improve sanitation systems. By promoting innovative solutions and public awareness, SUAD not only enhances water accessibility and quality but also supports global efforts to ensure sustainable water management for future generations. 

In March 2023, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi to collaborate in the fields of Research and Development. This partnership was further strengthened in June 2023 when the university officially became one of the eight founding institutions of the ADERN Network (Abu Dhabi Environmental Research Network), a part of Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi, leading the way to developing cross collaborative research in the field of environment. 

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) launched ADERN (Abu Dhabi Environmental Research Network), a community of research scientists, research institutions and allied innovators, to convene research and development experts around the scientific knowledge gaps facing stakeholders to continuously enhance the environment of the emirate. Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi has joined seven universities as a founding institutional member with a focus on addressing environmental challenges. ADERN plays a vital role in advancing the understanding and implementation of sustainability in Abu Dhabi. 

In March, RECAPP by Veolia became the preferred partner of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, sponsoring the “Green Dictation” public event and became the university’s provider of recycling bins on campus. 

As a signatory to the UAE Climate-Responsible Companies Pledge—supporting the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Initiative and advancing national decarbonisation efforts—Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi is also a member of the UAE Alliance for Climate Action (UACA), an alliance of stakeholders committed to accelerating progress towards Paris Agreement-aligned targets and fostering greater collaboration. 

Climatize is a sustainability award-winning partner of SERCO, the facility management company at SUAD. Climatize launched the BeyondZero+ initiative, which aims to address global challenges through actionable sustainable business objectives and programmes. This initiative runs in parallel with Climatize’s advocacy for and implementation of projects targeting carbon neutrality, zero energy, zero water and zero waste. 

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi is an active member of the Universities Climate Network, launched in April 2023. Comprising 12 higher education institutions, the UCN’s aims to encourage youth engagement across the country in the lead-up to COP28. SUAD joined the UAE Universities Climate Network (UCN) to Support Youth-Focused Objectives of COP28. As part of this collaboration with other HEI, the UN Special Envoy to COP28 and the COP28 team, SUAD showed commitment to ensuring that its initiatives and events throughout 2023 support the COP28 to achieve its key priorities:  

1. Global Stock Taking  

2. Climate Impact Responses  

3. Operationalising the New Loss and Damage Fund (agreed at COP27)  

4. Just Energy Transition  

5. Inclusion 

As part of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi’s Go Green 2023 initiative and its commitment to environmental sustainability, the university organises beach clean-up activities where its community comes together to clean-up the Abu Dhabi beaches. Participants in the initiatives collect 115 kg of plastic debris and waste from the Abu Dhabi shorelines. This waste would then be responsibly disposed of, leaving the beaches and their surroundings pristine and waste-free. 

Dr. Emad Alhseinat, Chemical Engineer, Khalifa University (Leading as PI)  

Prof. Kosmas Pavlopoulos, Professor of Environmental Geomorphology-Geology, SUAD (Leading as Co-PI)  

This project contributes directly to the efforts to achieve one of the goals of Abu Dhabi 2030 plan as it targets the issues related to water scarcity, lack of water resources and reducing energy consumption in UAE by providing full water management guidelines towards the utilisation of oil and gas produced water. 

Prof. Mateo Spagnolo Personal Chair, University of Aberdeen 

Prof. Kosmas Pavlopoulos, Professor of Environmental Geomorphology-Geology (Leading as Co-PI)  

A key to addressing long-standing questions about the underlying mechanisms of climate change in the Mediterranean—such as the timing and amplitude of precipitation variability—is the development of a multiproxy record (e.g., pollen, glacial and marine sediment data) that spans multiple glacial–interglacial cycles and is sensitive to regional hydroclimatic changes. 

As mountain glaciers change volume in response to climatic shifts, their former extents record past changes in climate, providing data on how patterns of ice distribution have varied spatially with time. Mapping and dating of past ice margins, documented by terrestrial glaciogenic sediments and landforms, provide valuable information to gain a better understanding of landscape evolution. To compare palaeoglaciers across different geographical settings, the Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) serves as a valuable tool. It represents the altitude on a glacier where annual accumulation equals ablation and is primarily influenced by air temperature and precipitation. 

The AquaTyr project, led by Jean Baptiste Yon and Prof. Kosmas Pavlopoulos, aimed to study how the Tyrians managed water over two millennia, adapting to geopolitical, environmental, and demographic challenges. Combining onshore and offshore investigations with multidisciplinary approaches, the project explored water flow from sources to the sea. It provided new insights into Tyre's water management, offering potential inspiration for modern, sustainable water networks. The project also allowed for a reassessment of Tyre's buried archaeological structures, contributing to a deeper understanding of the city's historical development.