The UAE has revealed a new plan for ground-breaking new green goals at the Cop28 climate summit, currently closing in Dubai. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the country’s Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, set out the sustainability strategy at a meeting of the UAE Cabinet at Dubai Expo City.
He told ministers and delegates that during the current year the country had: ‘issued more than 60 policies, initiatives and decisions to promote the UAE’s efforts to combat climate change and its impact’.
During the ministerial conference 10 initiatives and decisions were approved, including the adoption of a framework for the Biodiversity Strategy 2031.
This will monitor and protect natural ecosystems and increase sustainability, with the aim of rehabilitating and restoring 80 per cent of degraded land and marine areas, preserving at least 21 per cent of land and marine ecosystems and improving the status of endangered native species by 10 per cent.
The UAE pledged to join more than 60 countries in signing up to the ‘global cooling pledge’ to reduce emissions from the cooling sector, announced at Cop28 last week.
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The gathering also agreed to support a global drive to remove carbon from the waste sector and set up a national registry of carbon credits, which would enable government and private institutions to evaluate and document their contributions to reducing emissions.
‘We also approved the country’s fifth national communication report to be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention, which documents the success of national efforts in reducing carbon emissions in various sectors,’ Sheikh Mohammed wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
In other moves for the sustainability strategy reached during the meeting ministers agreed to form a company called Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Company which will run charging facilities
Also, the sustainable aviation fuel policy aims to ensure at least one per cent of the total fuel supplied at UAE airports to national airlines in 2031 will be sustainable and produced domestically, with the production of 700 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel annually by 2030.
‘I chaired the Cabinet meeting at the Expo City Dubai, in conjunction with COP28. We reviewed the outcomes of the national efforts for sustainability and climate change The UAE has made significant strides in climate action and continues its efforts towards sustainability,’ HH Sheikh Mohammed said.
‘The UAE ranked second globally in the Energy Transition pillar of the Green Future Index (GFI) 2023; the 6th highest per capita consumer of solar energy in the world. It invested more than $50 billion in renewable energy projects in 70 countries and has also committed an additional investment of $50 billion over the next decade.
‘The UAE has made significant strides in climate action and continues its efforts towards sustainability. Our efforts in this field are aligned with our commitment to economic development’
Ministers approved these initiatives as part of the Sustainability Strategy:
The framework of the National Biodiversity Strategy 2031
The Global Initiative to Decarbonise Waste, called ‘Waste to Zero’
The National Carbon Credits Registration System
The UAE’s fifth National Communication Report, to be submitted to the UN
Report on Low-carbon Development Strategy and Long-term Emission Reduction
The UAE’s accession to the global cooling pledge
The establishment of the UAE Electric Vehicle Charging Station Company
The Guideline on Sustainable Aviation Fuel
The National Guide for Smart Construction
