Emirati Climate Pioneer Explains How Palm Jebel Ali Is Preparing for Rising Water Levels

Some people learn about climate change from documentaries. Others learn about it while skiing across frozen deserts at –30°C, camping on ancient ice, and watching the planet quietly change in front of their eyes.

That’s exactly what Dr. Hussain Khansaheb did!

He isn’t just a marine engineer or an executive at Dubai Holding Real Estate, he’s an Emirati who’s quite literally stood on the front lines of the climate crisis, and that’s what he discussed on the Lovin Dubai show this week

As Dubai Holding’s first-ever National Sustainability Champion, Dr. Khansaheb recently returned from one of the most extreme places on Earth: Antarctica, where he joined the 2041 Foundation’s Ice Station Expedition. And what he saw there has completely reframed how he thinks about the future of our cities, our coastlines, and projects like Palm Jebel Ali.

 

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In the show, Dr. Khansaheb takes us from the boardrooms of marine engineering to the silent, icy vastness of Union Glacier, where he cross-country skied more than 10km and camped overnight in sub-zero temperatures

It wasn’t a tourist trip. It was an endurance-based scientific expedition designed to expose global leaders to the realities of climate change where it’s happening fastest. He talks about witnessing icebergs breaking away, NASA scientists studying dry permafrost, and the way Antarctica quietly controls much of the world’s climate system. And the biggest surprise? How fragile it all really is. For Dr. Khansaheb, this wasn’t just an adventure, it was a wake-up call. Being in such an extreme environment stripped sustainability down to its basics: survival, balance, and respect for nature. Every decision mattered, every resource was precious, and that same mindset, he says, should guide how we build and protect places like Dubai.

Back home, those lessons are being applied directly to projects like Palm Jebel Ali, where marine engineering, coastal protection, and climate resilience are no longer optional extras; they’re essential. Rising sea levels, changing tides, and long-term sustainability are all being designed for now, not later

But what makes this conversation truly powerful is how personal it gets. Dr. Khansaheb opens up about the toughest moments on the glacier, the mental challenge of pushing through the cold, and the quiet, emotional weight of standing in a place that feels untouched, yet is already changing.

From Antarctica to Dubai’s coastline, this is one conversation that connects the dots between the most remote place on Earth and the city we call home.