Abu Dhabi A delegation from the UAE will attend the highly anticipated 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris. The UAE will join more than 190 nations to discuss — and potentially agree on — a binding universal agreement to tackle the threat of climate change.
“No nation is immune from the effects of climate change,” said Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE minister of state and UAE special envoy for energy and climate change. “The Paris negotiations offer an unprecedented opportunity for the world to unify around a common cause, and to ultimately, secure a sustainable and low-carbon future.
“We are optimistic that these negotiations will result in a binding agreement, creating a pathway forward to address climate change,” said Dr Al Jaber. “Climate action is not a zero-sum scenario. By working together, we can simultaneously achieve economic growth and protect the environment.”
The gathering in Paris aims to reach a binding, universal agreement applicable to all countries that combat climate change in an effort to avoid a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius.
“The UAE is embracing the challenge of climate change to create economic opportunities at home,” said Dr Al Jaber. “Climate action represents a multi-trillion dollar global economic opportunity and the UAE is already taking swift action through the development of exportable clean technologies, the installation of wind and solar power globally and by training future leaders who are able to compete in a 21 century economy.”
“The UAE is committed to climate action and to working with government leaders to agree upon an ambitious solution,” added Dr Al Jaber. “We believe the outcomes from Paris should be comprehensive, allowing for a diversity of action, while also recognizing the wide-ranging national and geographic circumstances. The agreement should also encourage advanced countries to fulfil their pledge to fund climate-action initiatives for developing nations, supporting mechanisms for public-private partnership, technology transfer, adaptation and other critical measures.”
A key distinction of the Paris negotiations from previous summits is the voluntary submissions of Intended Nationally-Determined Contributions (INDC) by individual countries. To date, more than 160 countries, including the UAE, have submitted national action plans aimed at addressing climate change, carbon emissions and related factors.
The INDC submitted by the UAE outlines an ambitious roadmap to curb emissions at home by setting a bold target of generating 24 per cent of the country’s electricity from clean sources by 2021.
