The international community was urged to accelerate its transition to renewable energy to keep global temperature rises in check and support a more sustainable future on the opening day of a key environment conference being staged in Abu Dhabi.
A record 2,000 delegates – including key energy industry players – have converged on the capital to put the climate change fight at the top of the agenda for the two-day International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) Assembly.
According to the World Health Organisation, almost 700 million people worldwide still live without access to electricity, highlighting the crucial need to take action.
“We will go to a new energy system that will be dominated by renewables, complemented by hydrogen, nearly green hydrogen, and the sustainable use of biomass,” said Irena director general Francesco La Camera.
He stressed that the world has reached a tipping point now, but that “we are going in the right direction”. The challenge now, he added, is the speed and the scale of the energy transition.
Renewable roll-out needs to speed up
The push to renewables has never been more urgent. On Friday, official figures from the EU's official climate tracker service, Copernicus, confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record globally and the first in which global temperatures reached 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“The clean energy age is coming,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the summit.
“The benefits for energy sovereignty, security and affordability are crystal clear, but we must move faster to bring the great benefits of clean power to all and to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C.”
In Paris in 2015, world leaders committed to limit the rise in global temperatures to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
This agreement prompted almost all nations to pledge to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases driving global warming.
Irena has been entrusted with the task of monitoring progress on renewable energy goals set in the UAE Consensus announced at Cop28.
To do this, the organisation established a series of special annual reports dedicated to monitoring progress and providing recommendations on achieving key energy goals.
The consensus includes calls to triple renewable power capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, with the aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
UAE doubles clean energy capacity in one year
The UAE plans to generate a total capacity of 19.8 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030.
Dr Amna Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, highlighted that in the past two years, the country has doubled its renewable energy capacity.
Global climate disasters, including the wildfires in the US, are “devastating on so many levels”, Dr Al Dahak said.
She has called for collaboration to achieve climate and renewable energy targets to tackle climate change.
“We call on the world to collaborate and make sure that we use this platform for the purpose it was designed,” Dr Al Dahak said.
Mr La Camera voiced hope that the summit will prompt more governments to include more succinct renewable energy targets in their national climate plans, due in February.
The incoming president of the 15th Irena assembly, Slovenian Environment Minister Bojan Kumer, echoed his words and said such a step will pave the way for this year's Cop30 climate talks in Brazil.
He reaffirmed the need for countries to include renewable energy in their nationally determined contributions, which he called “the most effective way to ensure the goal of limiting global warming is kept within reach”.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
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Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Where to donate in the UAE
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
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Sector: Transport
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