The UAE is participating in the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with a delegation consisting of a diverse range of delegates.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed will lead the delegation at the conference, which provides an opportunity for the UAE to strengthen existing sustainable development partnerships.
The delegation will focus on strengthening the UAE’s close partnership with Egypt, supporting the Egyptian COP27 Presidency in their endeavor to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, as well as bridging outcomes from COP27 to COP28, the Emirates Climate Conference in 2023.
The main objective of the UAE’s participation in COP27 is to highlight the nation’s commitment to a low-carbon path, which creates opportunities for sustainable socio-economic development in all countries, including developing countries, which are the most climate-vulnerable.
The UAE will be the first country in the MENA region to develop a national pathway to net zero. This represents a pragmatic and vital step forward to mobilize whole-of-country efforts and build on the Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
The UAE became an official UNFCCC party in March 1996 and was the first country in the region to sign and ratify the Paris Agreement, the first to commit to an economy wide reduction in emissions with the Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
Home to three of the world’s largest single-site and lowest-cost solar plants, the UAE has invested over $50 billion in clean energy investments across 70 countries, of which 31 are climate vulnerable states. The nation has committed to additional $50 billion in the next 10 years.
The UAE recently signed the UAE-US Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) to decarbonize the energy the world relies on today, while scaling up investment in zero carbon energies in both the countries and in emerging economies around the world. PACE will source and catalyze $100 billion in investments to produce 100 GW of clean energy in the UAE, the US and emerging economies by 2035.
The UAE has been the first in MENA to invest in industrial-scale carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS), the first to deploy peaceful nuclear power, and achieved the most cost-competitive wind power generation globally. The nation has pioneered the exploration of clean alternatives such as green hydrogen.
The UAE has also taken proactive and global-first initiatives to cut methane intensity and emissions, achieving the lowest methane intensity rate in the global energy sector two decades before the global pledge was made calling for gradual reduction. The UAE updated its second Nationally Determined Contributions in September 2022, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions by 31 percent by 2030.
The UAE is also promoting holistic solutions to address climate change, such as accelerating investment in climate-smart Agri-Tech through the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate). The UAE pledged $1 billion of increased investment to accelerate innovation in climate-smart agriculture and food systems.
The UAE launched Etihad 7, a UAE-led innovation program, dedicated to securing funding for renewable energy projects in Africa, with the goal of supplying clean electricity to 100 million people by 2035.
The UAE hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The UAE and IRENA joined efforts to launch the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, a global climate finance facility targeting the deployment of 1.5 gigawatts of new renewable power in developing countries by 2030.
The UAE committed $400 million in funding provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) towards the platform, which was formalized through agreements signed by IRENA with ADFD and Masdar, the UAE-based global renewable energy leader. Masdar currently invests more than $20 billion in renewable energy projects in more than 40 countries, which generate over 15GW of clean power and displace nearly 19.5 million tonnes of emissions annually.
The UAE also supports grassroots community empowerment through programs such as the Zayed Sustainability Prize, which recognizes impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainability initiatives.
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