Shorouk Awad (Dubai)
90 climate scientists and researchers from government agencies, universities and research centers located in most parts of the country joined the membership of the UAE Network for Climate Change Research, to contribute to the formulation and definition of the priority and required climate research agenda in the UAE, and to communicate and cooperate through a common base that provides updated data and information. Permanently, which enhances their ability to research and study.
Aisha Al-Abdouli, Assistant Undersecretary for the Green Development and Climate Change Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, confirmed in exclusive statements to Al-Ittihad that the work of these scientists and researchers organizing the network launched by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment in January of last year (2021) was distributed according to For their scientific climatological specializations, they were divided into 5 research groups, and some of them were distributed to more than one group at the same time, where 32 climatologists and researchers were distributed from the total number of scientists and researchers to the first group represented by “climate data and modeling”, and 21 scientists and researchers to the second group “ Climate change and infrastructure”, while 23 scientists and researchers were distributed to the third group of “climate change and terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems”, and 20 scientists and researchers to the fourth group specialized to “climate change and public health”, and 23 scientists were distributed And a researcher for the fifth and final group specialized in “Climate Change, Food and Water Security”.
Al-Abdouli said: “This category of state scientists, in addition to their membership in the UAE Climate Change Research Network, also works as employees in several entities and in view of what climate change poses and its effects resulting from the growing fields of research in the UAE, and in order to expand and enhance these Research, the launch of the UAE Network for Climate Change Research, which includes a group of climate scientists and committed researchers, to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and promote the development of research cooperation, as climate research is critical to understanding short- and long-term changes in temperature, sea level, precipitation precipitation, air quality, extreme weather events, and other climate indicators, and assess the effects of these changes on the environment, economy and society while identifying appropriate adaptation measures.
Raising community awareness
She added: “From this standpoint, the network is directed towards enhancing the effectiveness of data collection and management, advancing research related to public policies on climate impacts and adaptation to them, helping to adopt new research tools and methodologies related to the study of the UAE, and raising awareness of the components of the local community on the nature of climate change.” What the country is witnessing, its effects on all sectors, and ways to enhance the capabilities of these sectors to adapt to the repercussions of this change, comes in keeping with and strengthening the path of the UAE and its global efforts to work for the climate.”
She indicated that the network also serves to achieve 6 main goals, which are to provide a platform for discussing topics related to climate research in the UAE and the Arabian Gulf, to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, actions and ideas for further climate research, to facilitate the process of identifying challenges facing research and proposed solutions, and to allow the government and academia by identifying gaps in knowledge and data, setting a climate science agenda in the country, promoting research cooperation and joint research projects, and providing opportunities for climate scientists in the region to engage with each other and with researchers from other countries and the broader Arab Gulf region, which is a priority for the network.
climate information base
She stated that the network’s scientists are working on creating an information base about the climate changes that the UAE is witnessing at the local level. The level of all countries of the world, which is the challenge of climate change, as their knowledge of the effects of this change and its repercussions contributes to the sectors and components of the local environment. Therefore, network scientists represent a strong supporter of facing this change, reducing its causes, reducing the severity of its repercussions, and enhancing the capabilities to adapt to it.
National legislation and plans
She pointed out that the UAE Network for Climate Change Research is one of a group of efforts made by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, which is the federal entity in implementing the country’s directions on climate change. The country’s sectors have learned to identify the impacts that can be caused by the repercussions of climate change and the requirements to adapt to it. The National Climate Change Plan 2017-2050 and the National Adaptation Program have been launched, and a series of climate change risks assessment reports have been prepared on vital sectors in the country and many others.
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