Ahmed Mourad (Cairo)
Experts and specialists have appreciated the efforts of the UAE in confronting the effects of climate change in many developing and poor countries by providing aid and development initiatives aimed at mitigating the repercussions of climate change and the resulting humanitarian crises facing millions of residents of those countries.
The UAE aims to accelerate the pace of transition to clean and renewable energy as one of the most important mechanisms for confronting climate change, as the country’s investments in this regard amounted to $16.8 billion in 70 countries, and it also provided $400 million in aid and soft loans for clean energy projects.
Dr. Tahseen Shola, head of the environmental biotechnology department at Misr University for Science and Technology, explained that the development assistance provided by the UAE to developing and poor countries, especially in Africa and Asia, plays a major and influential role in facing the repercussions of climate change and mitigating its severe effects on people.
Shula said, in a statement to Al-Ittihad, that the UAE used to launch development initiatives with each session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to enhance international efforts to confront the repercussions of climate change, especially in developing and poor countries.
He added: During the “Cup 26” in Glasgow, Britain, in 2021, in cooperation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UAE launched a global platform to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy projects in developing countries, and pledged $400 million through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to support the platform in raising financing. Not less than a billion dollars.
The environmental expert stated that the UAE has adopted about 78 initiatives to combat climate change and protect the environment, the most important of which are the national strategy for low-carbon and long-term development, the integrated waste management strategy at the state level, carbon footprint measurement systems for the health sector, and the initiative to regulate the issuance of bonds, green securities and sukuk.
Dr. Tahseen Shula stressed that the UAE was not satisfied with confronting climate change at the local level, but rather was keen to launch initiatives to reduce the effects of climate change at the regional and international levels.
Between 2018 and 2023, the UAE provided development aid of about $750 million to the Sahel group of countries in Africa, which includes Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, which contributes to reducing the repercussions of climate change.
According to a World Bank report last year, the five Sahel countries face many of the effects of climate change, with temperatures increasing by two degrees by 2040, which enhances the value and importance of UAE development aid to the region.
The environmental expert pointed out that “COP 28” enhances the pioneering role of the UAE in the areas of confronting climate change regionally and internationally, and in this context it is possible to put forward a set of initiatives that attract all international parties to participate actively during the conference.
For his part, the expert on climate change and sustainable development, Dr. Al-Sayed Sabri, stressed in statements to Al-Ittihad the importance of the pioneering and pivotal efforts made by the UAE in confronting climate change and mitigating its effects, whether at the local, regional or international level, which represents one of The priorities of the UAE’s general policy for the environment, due to the serious repercussions of climate change that threaten the future of humanity as a whole.
On the sidelines of its participation in the “COP 27” conference in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh last year, the UAE announced the global launch of the Crimean Alliance for Climate in partnership with Indonesia, with the aim of expanding the areas of mangrove forests globally as one of the natural solutions to confront climate change, which enhances efforts to absorb and isolate Global greenhouse gas emissions, as mangroves are a carbon store up to four times more than land-based tropical rainforests.
The climate change and sustainable development expert praised the UAE’s keenness to provide development aid that works to mitigate the effects of climate change in many developing and poor countries, which gives great impetus to the “COP 28” conference, which is expected to witness broad and effective participation from most countries of the world.
#Experts #COP #enhances #UAEs #role #regionally #internationally