The UAE has actively participated in COP29, hosting multiple discussion panels and events that highlighted key aspects of the energy transition and climate change. In the most recent developments, Mariam Almheiri, Head of International Affairs at the Presidential Court, affirmed the importance of partnerships and technological breakthroughs in transforming food systems for a changing climate, during her participation in a series of pivotal events as part of COP29 in Baku.
Following the announcement of the UAE and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Partnership on Agricultural Innovation at COP28 last year, Almheiri participated in a number of events at COP29 aimed at highlighting progress made in implementing the partnership over the last 12 months.
Pilot AgriLLM project launched
Almheiri participated in a fireside chat at the COP29 UAE pavilion co-organized by the UAE, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event, entitled ‘Partnering to Create AI-based Public Goods for 500 Million Smallholders’ focused on how to increase access to agricultural extension services, which hold the key to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of smallholder families worldwide.
The event discussed the potential of harnessing generative AI as a powerful tool for improving the delivery and broadening access to agricultural research and extension services in climate-vulnerable countries.
“Extension workers and farmers could be well served by gaining access to a new generation of digital tools powered by regenerative AI technology, such as large language models. With the new pilot AgriLLM project we have launched with our global partners at COP29 we will leverage UAE’s open-access suite of Falcon LLMs to make accurate, trustworthy, and transparent information available to farmers from around the world,” Almheiri said. As a first step, Almheiri explained that the AgriLLM will aim to act as a decision-support tool for agricultural researchers, development professionals, and extension agents.
For his part, Martien van Nieuwkoop, director of agricultural development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “At COP28, the UAE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a new partnership to invest in agricultural innovation, responding to the urgent needs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia for better tools and resources to help them adapt to the escalating threats of climate change.”
Empowering farmers to adapt to climate change
As part of her engagement program in COP29, Almheiri also participated in an event that focused on the Agriculture Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale) under the title “Empowering small-scale producers with farmer-centered weather information”. During the event opening, Almheiri participated in a fireside chat with professor Amir Jina, the AIM for Scale Technical Panel Chair.
“Imagine empowering hundreds of millions of farmers with the most critical climate knowledge they need to secure their future: weather forecasts. We’ve seen the positive impact that access to improved climate services can have on helping farmers adapt to climate change by making informed decisions about planting, harvesting, and risk management,” she stated.
Almheiri explained that innovation is the lifeblood of climate action and at the heart of AIM for Scale. She also reiterated the UAE’s commitment to fostering a global ecosystem that supports the development and deployment of groundbreaking technologies to accelerate the transition to a net-zero future, including reimaging food systems.
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UAE launches AI-based weather program
During COP29, Almheiri also expressed UAE’s commitment to the AIM for Scale Weather Innovation Package by announcing the launch of a new AI-based Weather Forecasting Research and Training Program. Led by MBZUAI, the program will work with global technical partners including the World Meteorological Organisation, the University of Chicago, and the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology to develop new techniques for using artificial intelligence to inform weather forecasts.
In addition, the program will provide technical training and support to more than 30 country partners over a three-year period.
Earlier in the week, Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, was joined by multilateral banks, and senior government and non-governmental representatives, at the AIM for Scale Launch Event, hosted at the UAE Pavilion. The event provided a platform to formally launch AIM for Scale’s first Innovation Package: a blueprint for collective action to scale access to high-quality, farmer-centered weather forecasts in LMICs which mobilized $1 billion in funding commitments.
