Desert landscapes have both a positive and negative impact on the global climate. As their size increases, the negative effects that make our lives more difficult are amplified. Global warming, a lack of precipitation and a decline in biodiversity are causing desertification to progress at a rapid pace. This process can be both a curse and a blessing for our society. On the one hand, the environmental conditions are hostile to life; on the other, the region has a natural energy advantage. This circumstance makes a path possible that provides a solution with the help of society.

When we talk about an energy advantage, we are not focusing on conventional energy generation, also known as active energy supply. Our interest is purely in passive energy conservation. In our imagination, we generate a passive energy source from nature by adapting the environment. If we were to reshape the region in our favor, the result would be a reduction in the amount of energy required.

This raises a question: how much energy do we need to provide in the future to meet the increasing demands of a desert region? This question is thought-provoking, because if you compare the costs of limiting the amount of energy by means of a healthy ecosystem with an active energy supply, you get the same supply performance. If you increase an energy-poor ecosystem to an energy-rich ecosystem, energy is stored in the form of biological processes, which in turn provide the region with passive changes (natural benefits). This reduces society’s energy requirements to a minimum and allows resources to be used in new forward-looking technologies. This means that the strategy of energy conservation prevails over the conventional strategy of providing more and more energy for our society. This step enables a future-proof and sustainable approach, which is achieved with the help of a balanced environment.

Terra-UAE is a holistic concept and describes the steps from planning, through the project, to the set goal. It shows the direction to establish natural processes in a desert region and to regulate new climatic changes. In this way, a nature-oriented rethink is growing in society, paving the way for a commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.