The Living Planet Report 2006 (LPR) reported that the UAE had the highest per capita Footprint in the world, for the year 2003, more than five times higher than the average humanity's Footprint. This meaning that if every person on the planet lived as a person in the UAE, humanity would require nearly 7 planets to cover its needs.

This resulted in the UAE Government wanting to understand the Footprint concept, how it is calculated, its data needs and options to reduce it

In response, the Al Basama al Beeiya (Ecological Footprint) Initiative, was launched in October 2007 as a national effort to ensure a sustainable future by measuring and understanding the impact of our ways of living on planet earth. This two-year federal initiative is under the patronage of the Ministry of Environment and Water, who is working in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), the Emirates Wildlife Society – WWF and the Global Footprint Network.

The Initiative made the UAE the third country in the world to embark on such in-depth research collaboration, after Switzerland and Japan. The key aims of the study were to better understand the Footprint methodology, review data for the LPR 2008 and look at the possible institutionalization of the Footprint in the UAE.