UAE Minister wants to make sustainability mainstream

Mariam Bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, called upon UAE businesses to mainstream sustainability into all their operations as a pathway for unlocking inclusive climate solutions and to support the nation’s goals to be Net Zero by 2050.

Almheiri was addressing the 12th National Dialogue for Climate Ambition (NDCA), a monthly stakeholder forum organised by the Ministry to raise sector climate ambition and advance all-inclusive participation.

The latest session was held under the theme, ‘Innovative Financing through National Carbon Registry’ and was held at SEE Institute in The Sustainable City, Dubai. The event was attended by Olav Myklebust, Ambassador of Norway to the UAE, and around 260 representatives of governmental and business entities.

Addressing the gathering, Almheiri said: “As the UAE prepares to host COP28 with the goal of delivering the most inclusive and solutions-driven COP summit, it is important to engage all partners to accelerate climate action, here and abroad. In this, our goal is to make sustainability mainstream, because we believe that if we can complex climate change issues relatable to communities across the world, then we can definitely achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

“If we can ‘mainstream sustainability’ then we unlock a world of solutions. And I believe the innovative, and ambitious business community here today and across the UAE holds the key to it,” she added. To achieve this, Her Excellency called upon all businesses to take the UAE Climate Responsible Companies Pledge, a part of the Ministry’s initiatives focused on scaling up the UAE’s climate action to achieve higher greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Responding to the Minister’s call, 12 companies took the UAE Climate Responsible Companies Pledge, taking the total number of businesses making the pledge to 117 companies. Those companies are, Etihad Water & Electricity, Dubai Islamic Bank, Industrial Innovation Group, ideanco, INVESTCORP, MASOOD, MUBADALA, MASDAR CITY, Three Eight Six, dar, CIMENT LION and See institute.

“Businesses that have taken the pledge have committed to stepping up collective efforts to combat climate change, measure and report greenhouse gas emissions in a transparent manner, develop solutions to reduce emissions, and share their plans with the government to achieving our Net Zero goals,” Almheiri said.

Underlining the importance of carbon registries, she said they are decarbonisation’s best kept secret. “It is a platform that allows organizations to track, manage and trade greenhouse gas emissions. These registries are essential because they provide a way for companies and governments to measure, report and verify emission reductions, to deliver on our ambitious commitments made under the Third Update to the Second Nationally Determined Contribution.”

She also called for accelerating climate finance for projects that will help deliver negative emissions and neutralise residual emissions. “Climate finance is a critical enabler of climate action, and it is crucial that we ramp up efforts to accelerate it, which is one of the key objectives of the UAE at COP28. The climate crisis is already changing the way we live and the way we work. But climate change and the transition to a net-zero future can and will create new industries and new growth opportunities for businesses,” she concluded.

The 12th NDCA focused on exploring the implementation of the Carbon Registry and provided an overview of its role in registering and distributing carbon credit in the country. Experts highlighted the registry’s objective of being a platform to list, transfer and track carbon credits generated by projects and businesses, and the opportunities associated with the use of a Carbon Registry to achieve the nation’s decarbonisation goals. The session also highlighted the global impact of carbon registries in facilitating the transfer of carbon credits across borders, thereby promoting international collaboration in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

At the event, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, highlighted the importance of carbon registries. A panel discussion on carbon registry was held attended by representatives of regulators, industry players, auditors, and registries. In addition to detailed presentation on decarbonisation strategies covering hydrogen, carbon capture and storage and energy efficiency, several breakout sessions were held on themes such as technology for voluntary carbon markets; cap and trade of greenhouse gas emissions; and the carbon registry’s role for prioritising hard-to-abate sectors.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri recently called upon global nations to leverage the significant opportunity offered by COP28 in the UAE to drive climate action, with a special focus on food systems transformation and promoting nature-based solutions.

This was during her high-level meetings on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Almheiri, who is also the COP28 Food Systems Lead, underlined the importance of collective action to create more sustainable global food systems, highlighting the prominence placed by the UAE on food and agriculture in the COP28 agenda.

She also marked the UAE’s endorsement of the Mangrove Breakthrough and announced the Mangroves Ministerial to be hosted at COP28 on the Nature, Oceans and Land Use Day to drive forward discussions to advance nature-based solutions.