Mohammed Al Muna (Abu Dhabi)
The UAE is a long-time oil producer and exporter, an active member of OPEC and a founding party in the OPEC Plus alliance. Oil extraction activities began in it since the 1950s, with oil forming the starting point for a comprehensive economic, urban, industrial and scientific renaissance that has never been greater, thanks to Successful plans and wise policies have become the country that is best able to employ oil revenues and transform them into economic, social, cultural, industrial, agricultural, service and structural outputs… in a way that touches the ceiling of the dream and the limits of imagination in the fields of construction, reconstruction, development and advancement.
The UAE has succeeded in implementing a policy of diversifying sources of income, aiming to move from an oil rentier economy and reliance on petroleum sector revenues towards diversifying the economic base and strengthening sectors with high added value, that is, towards achieving sustainable development goals. It is a transition during which the contribution of oil to the state’s gross domestic product, which represented 77 percent in 1975, gradually decreased, until the situation reversed in 2022 and the contribution of non-oil sectors became 73.5 percent of the gross domestic product.
The relative weight of the oil sector within the structure of the country’s gross domestic product has declined, in favor of other non-oil sectors, which are achieving significant growth and prosperity, such as manufacturing industry, trade, contracting, tourism, environment, services, and scientific research…etc., which achieves the goals of “UAE Vision 2021” regarding transformation. Towards a knowledge economy based on innovation and creativity as drivers of development and economic growth, and at the same time expresses the successful policy that the state has pursued to diversify its economic sources and to create sustainable development that lays firm and solid economic foundations.
The UAE is the first country to start planning early for the post-oil era, and began developing plans and policies, preparing itself for the day when it exports the last barrel of oil. Just as it directed early attention towards renewable energies, at home and abroad, and became a major country in the field of solar energy, wind energy, and water energy, it has paid special attention to the environment since the era of Sheikh Zayed, who succeeded in transforming the desert into paradise and green meadows, and paid attention to agriculture and afforestation, and established reserves, He was concerned with protecting animal species and preserving various elements of the environment and natural resources. These are concerns that together constitute what is currently called “sustainability.”
As an embodiment of this long history of concern for the environment and preserving its safety, the countries of the world unanimously agreed in 2009 to choose Abu Dhabi as the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), making the UAE the first Middle Eastern country to host the headquarters of an international agency. It was also chosen in 2021 to host COP 28, as an expression of the confidence of the world and its organizations in the UAE’s firm commitment to climate protection and its tireless efforts in the field of sustainability.
Sustainability and clean energy
Over the past two decades, the UAE has played prominent roles in the field of renewable energy by developing its projects at home and abroad. In 2006, it established the Masdar Future Energy Company (Masdar), and assigned it work on developing clean energy projects, sustainable urban development, and promoting environmentally friendly activities. The environment as a way of living and preserving the environment to ensure a safe environmental future. In addition to research and development through the “Masdar Institute”, Masdar is concerned with developing “Masdar City” in Abu Dhabi, as the most sustainable environmental city in the world, and works to spread clean energy through “Masdar Clean Energy”, and provides consulting services through “ The Special Projects Unit hosts initiatives and organizes events related to its field of interest, such as “Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.”
Masdar is implementing a large number of clean energy projects inside and outside the country, including the Shams 1 concentrated solar power plant, and the photovoltaic power plant in Masdar City itself, as well as carbon capture and storage projects in the Emirates to reduce the resulting carbon emissions. About industrial activities. On the external level, Masdar Company is implementing and developing a large number of clean energy projects, and is participating in the development and implementation of a large number of these projects in various parts of the world, in an effort to accelerate the application of renewable energy solutions, in a way that helps developing countries achieve development and combat poverty. And to reduce pollution that causes global warming as a direct factor behind climate change that threatens life on Earth with its violent effects and dangerous repercussions.
COP 28 successes
Aware of these effects and repercussions, and keen to protect the planet from risks and threats, the UAE hosted the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which witnessed the first global assessment of the progress made in achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, which concluded His work yesterday (Tuesday) in Expo City Dubai was a great success, as he achieved unprecedented achievements in the history of the COP conferences since the launch of its first session in Berlin in 1995. This included his success in ratifying important decisions aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, which he initiated. By agreeing on the Global Climate Fund, or formerly the Loss and Damage Fund, to help developing countries confront the effects of climate change. The establishment of this fund is an important step towards promoting climate justice and helping the most fragile countries adapt to climate risks.
Another important success of the conference was the “UAE Declaration on Climate and Health,” which places health at the heart of climate action and aims to accelerate the development of sustainable societies capable of adapting to climate risks. It is the first intergovernmental declaration that recognizes the severe impacts of climate change on the health of human societies, and emphasizes the significant health benefits of climate protection, including reducing air pollution and its role in reducing health care costs.
The UAE’s presidency of “COP28” came as confirmation from various international parties, states and organizations, of the great confidence in the country’s policies and in the efforts it is making and the initiatives it is putting forward in the field of sustainability. During the conference, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, launched his… God created a $30 billion global fund for climate solutions, announced the “Green Credit Initiative,” and honored the winners of the “Zayed Sustainability Award.”
Climate initiatives
During the recent period, the UAE launched a group of successive initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and reducing the risks of climate change, as it announced the launch of a “road map to reduce carbon in the industrial sector,” especially in industries such as iron, steel, aluminum, and cement. As President of COP28, the UAE launched the “Climate Neutral Transition Charter” with the aim of encouraging private sector companies to take effective measures to confront the repercussions of climate change, in addition to the “Climate Neutral Governments Charter 2050” initiative, and the “Crimea Alliance for Climate – Agriculture” initiative. 700,000 mangrove trees, and the “Zero Waste” initiative, which came in cooperation between the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Company “Tadweer”… and other initiatives and projects aimed at achieving climate goals and the visions of “COP 28”, in which it participates over a period of 13 days. More than 100,000 people representing States Parties, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, regional governments, private companies, academic bodies, civil society organizations, religious organizations, and the media… making it the largest international climate conference in the history of the world ever. As for his decisions and achievements, their success is unparalleled in the history of joint international action on climate and its challenges.
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