Dubai: In April, the World Meteorological Organisation released its ‘Status of the Global Climate’ report, which detailed the string of climate and weather records in 2015 worldwide. Given the trend we’ve seen in recent years, it’s unsurprising that 2015 shattered all previous records, including global temperature records, with exceptional rainfall, devastating droughts, unusual cyclone activity and intense heatwaves around the world.
Finding solutions to these problems is not always clear, particularly when improving energy security and addressing climate change may seem to be two conflicting goals. For two years now, Dubai has hosted the World Green Economy Summit (WGES) to continue its march to achieve its ambition to become the “global capital of the green economy”, facilitate a platform for green leaders to discuss partnerships and develop cleaner and green initiatives. This year WGES 2016, under the new theme of ‘Driving the Global Green Economy’, will help the region follow up on commitments made through the Dubai Declaration and create strong links to the UN Climate Agreement 2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Dubai is taking major strides to drive the green economy, with a series of initiatives announced over the past 12 months. In November 2015, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the launch of Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which sets a target for the provision of seven per cent of Dubai’s energy from clean energy sources by 2020, increasing to 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050. DEWA announced in January 2016 that it has opened consultancy tenders for a Dh100 billion Dubai Green Fund to provide financing for investors in Dubai’s clean energy.
Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050 will also see the planned capacity of Dubai’s Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park upgraded to 5,000 megawatts. The largest single-site renewable energy project of its kind in the world, it is a testament to the region’s commitment to developing a greener economy, to achieve the UAE Vision 2021 of a sustainable environment with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. We have also identified sustainability as a key theme in our upcoming Dubai Expo 2020.
-The author is vice-chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Chairman of World Green Economy Summit
