Dubai: The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) is developing a strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Saeed Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), said: “Dubai plans to step up its efforts to slash its carbon emissions, currently set at 1.5 million tonnes per year, by adopt strict quotas for reducing carbon emissions on different project and across different entities.”
The state-owned companies such as Dewa, Dubal and Enoc, and Dubai’s airports and ports will also be expected to play a role, he said.
Najeeb Zaafrani, Secretary-General and CEO of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, said: “Creating an incentive-based mechanism to reduce carbon emissions will establish a regional benchmark for sustainable development and help finance new investment in clean energy infrastructure, further supporting the growth of Dubai.
“This initiative would be a contribution to the UAE drive to achieve green economy for sustainable development and also contribute in turning UAE vision 2021 into reality in the coming nine years”.
According to the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, the government is looking to diversify its sources of energy, targeting renewable energy to supply 1 per cent of its energy by 2020 and 5 per cent by 2030.
Part of this initiative is the Dh12 billion solar project — the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park — which will be able to generate 1,000 megawatts of power.
“This initiative will verify an initial comprehensive study to measure the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions in Dubai upon which a strategic plan would be carried out to introduce an abatement programme,” Al Tayer said.
Further to a carbon dioxide baseline study by the DSCE last year, the DCCE will complete a detailed inventory of Dubai’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with the requirements of the International Panel on Climate Change, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, he added.
Viable targets
The UAE currently has a significant number of registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, and five are undergoing validation, Waleed Salman, DCCE Chairman, said.
“The carbon abatement strategy will be a key step in translating these objectives into concrete action, generating additional momentum behind the Integrated Energy Strategy 2030.
“DCCE expertise will help the council develop emissions reduction frameworks aligned with global standards, and harness the many economic opportunities of emissions reduction,” he said.
“It will develop a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) framework in order to harmonise and streamline data collection from the council’s members, which include the main energy, manufacturing and utilities companies in Dubai.”
Under the directive of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the DCCE was launched in 2011 through an agreement between the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
DCCE focuses on opportunities created by global carbon-emission reduction projects, while simultaneously working to stimulate a carbon-efficient economy in Dubai by developing carbon incentives for the emirate’s society, businesses and the public sector.
“The DCCE will also recommend viable targets for reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases and a methodology to monetise emissions, similar to the European Trading Scheme, the Clean Development Mechanism developed under the Kyoto Protocol, and other carbon reduction schemes.”
Salman also added that the strategy would also examine the best options to build a ‘Clean Energy Fund’ linked to carbon dioxide reduction and dedicated to new investment in energy-related projects in Dubai.
