The UAE will submit its new national climate action plan before November's Cop29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, has said.
Speaking in New York on Thursday, Dr Al Jaber said the road map was ready months ahead of the February deadline and he urged others to follow suit.
Dr Al Jaber said the UAE’s submission will “cover all greenhouse gases and every sector of the economy, including energy, industry, transportation and waste”.
“It will leverage the latest technologies, including artificial intelligence, to drive decarbonisation and enhance adaptive resilience by transforming food, health and early warning systems,” he said. “And it will back all efforts with a robust legal framework that holds every sector accountable to specific, timebound goals.”
Dr Al Jaber was speaking at a Cop presidencies troika event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The troika was established to ensure momentum from Cop28 continued through to Cop29 and Cop30 and Dr Al Jaber said it is primarily focused on stimulating the “highest level of ambition” in the next round of NDCs.
Utmost importance
Climate plans are known formally as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and are five-year plans for how a country will reduce emissions, boost resilience and build a greener tomorrow.
Countries are required to publish their new NDCs next year, before Cop30 in Brazil in November 2025, as part of efforts to tackle man-made climate change and keep global temperatures from rising above the key 1.5ºC threshold. But 2023 the warmest year globally on record.
Countries at Cop28 agreed, for the first time, to transition away from fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of man-made climate change.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell has called this round of NDCs “among the most important policy documents produced so far this century”.
“We need every country to have a plan by 2025 and make progress on implementing them by 2030,” he said in June.
Dr Al Jaber, meanwhile, called on parties to present fresh NDCs that “meet the urgency of the moment” and represent a “comprehensive response plan” to Cop28. He said NDCs should be viewed “not as a burden” but as “platforms for new streams of growth, green jobs and a clean future”. Done right, they can leverage the three megatrends: the energy transition, the rise of AI, and the expansion of emerging markets.
The UAE has previously announced plans for net-zero emissions by 2050. Dr Al Jaber said the country has more than doubled its renewable energy capacity since 2019 and is on track to more than triple it by 2030.
“Let me take this opportunity to call on all parties to be early movers and to provide concrete signals on their NDCs by or before Cop29 to build momentum during this critical decade of action,” he said.
“Let’s deliver transformational NDCs backed by serious investment to deliver on the mandate of the UAE Consensus, and let’s drive a new era of sustainable socio-economic growth that keeps 1.5°C within reach, advances prosperity and leaves no one behind.”
Pressure on for Cop29
Cop29 will take place in Baku from November 11 to 22. Climate finance is expected to dominate the talks with countries still deadlocked on how to deliver more funds to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change.
Cop29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev earlier this month said some progress had been made but talks still risk falling short. Countries at the summit need to agree a new financial target to replace the $100 billion-a-year pledge from developed countries to developing countries. The financial target is formally known as the “new collective quantified goal” but parties remain in stalemate over how much to pay and who should be contributing.
Dr Al Jaber on Thursday said it was crucial countries agreed a new target at Cop29. Climate funds are sorely needed in developing countries who lack the financial power to switch from fossil fuels.
Dr Al Jaber referred to the Africa Green Investment Initiative, which is investing US$4.5 billion in renewable energy projects across the continent, and Alterra, the climate investment fund launched at Cop28, which has deployed US$6.5 billion with investors, as models “that can and should be replicated to enable green industrialisation and clean growth at scale and pace”.
Alongside the UAE Consensus, historic levels of funding were raised during Cop28, with $85 billion mobilised for climate action.
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