The United Arab Emirates, as the upcoming host of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), has increased its target for carbon emission reduction.
H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Al-Mheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, declared that the UAE is aiming to reduce emissions from economic activities by 40 percent below the usual level by 2030, surpassing the previous target of a 31 percent reduction.
Simultaneously, the UAE aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, becoming the first country in the Middle East to announce this ambitious goal.
Read more: UAE takes bold steps with 78 eco-friendly projects for COP28
The announcement of the new targeted reduction precedes COP28, with Al-Mheiri stating that the new plan, “underlines our national commitment to more ambitious climate action.”
According to the UAE’s plan, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced to 182 million tons of carbon dioxide by the end of the current decade, which means a reduction of 19 percent compared to 2019.
Earlier this month, the UAE stated that it would invest up to $54 billion in renewable energy projects over the next seven years, aiming to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s total energy production to three times the current share over the next seven years.
Al-Mheiri affirmed that the UAE aims to contribute to keeping global warming, “well below” two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, in line with the commitments outlined in the Paris Agreement.
In 2015, the countries that signed the Paris Agreement agreed to establish a global warming limit at a temperature significantly lower than two degrees Celsius above the average recorded levels between 1850 and 1900, aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In a recent press statement, Al-Mheiri expressed that the UAE is making every effort to achieve the 1.5-degree Celsius margin, acknowledging that this goal is currently out of reach.
While emphasizing the necessity of not losing hope in this matter, she expressed that her country is capable of exerting additional efforts in this regard.
According to Al-Mheiri, the UAE follows is committed to building a, “climate-friendly and growth-enhancing economy,” aiming to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
During a meeting of energy and environment ministers from European Union member states, hosted by Spain, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President-Designate, announced that the world has a limited seven-year window to reduce global emissions by 43 percent in order to maintain the possibility of achieving this goal.
Jaber highlighted the importance of tripling the production capacity of renewable energy, both domestically and globally, to facilitate a sensible, gradual, feasible, and fair transition. He urged all stakeholders to come together and cooperate in endorsing the inaugural “global commitment to renewable energy sources.”
Furthermore, he restated his recent appeal, made during the 8th International OPEC Conference, for nations and oil and gas companies to collaborate in minimizing methane emissions to nearly zero by 2030 and attaining climate neutrality by, or preferably before, 2050.
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