UAE delivers Climate Action Plan to United Nations ahead of COP 21 in Paris

ABU DHABI, 27th October, 2015 (WAM) -- Following directions from President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates has formally submitted its Intended Nationally-Determined Contribution, INDC, an outline of what actions the UAE aims to take to combat climate change, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC. The UAE Cabinet endorsed the proposed climate action plan at its meeting on the 25th of October. The plan reflects the UAE’s economic diversification strategy and its commitment to sustainable development, which harness innovation and green growth to ensure prosperity and environmental protection. The country’s national target to generate 24 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2021 reinforces its contribution to climate action. "Our leadership recognises that climate action can simultaneously create economic opportunity and protect the environment. Therefore, the UAE has set an ambitious course to accelerate the creation of knowledge-based sectors to underpin our nation’s ability to thrive in a 21st century economy," said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change. The UAE’s actions to address climate change and to transform its energy mix are already underway. Delivering clean energy to the national grid through Shams 1, a first-of-its-kind concentrated solar plant in Abu Dhabi, and the construction of the 1-gigawatt Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai, is underway. The UAE is also introducing energy-efficiency standards, funding the creation of world-class research centres and is advancing critical innovations, such as Carbon Capture Usage and Storage. Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, is contributing to the UAE’s clean energy leadership by establishing an integrated 'new-energy' industry in Abu Dhabi and around the world. Masdar is the region’s largest supplier of clean energy, and takes an integrated approach to sustainability by combining academia, R&D, investment and technology deployment, to spur innovation and investment in clean energy. The International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, headquartered in Masdar City, is also a reflection of the UAE’s bold actions and commitment to addressing the world’s most pressing energy and climate challenges. In advance of the 21st session of the Parties to the UNFCCC, COP21, in Paris this December, governments have agreed to submit INDC plans, detailing the actions they intend to take to limit greenhouse emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. During COP21, leaders from the world’s 193 countries are expected to finalise a new global climate change agreement which will set a framework for international efforts to combat climate change. The new agreement will be the accumulation of negotiations since 2011 that will help reinforce and build on national actions to fight climate change. "Above all, our role is to turn political ambition into a climate-action reality," said Dr. Al Jaber. "Each nation has a tremendous opportunity to seize the positive economic and social returns of climate action and to help transition the global economy toward a sustainable, enduring, economic future." The UAE leadership has been proactive about sustainability at home and abroad since its founding. For more than a decade, the government has remained committed to renewable energy deployment, research and development, infrastructure modernisation and to working with the world to address the impact of climate change. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395287162944.html