The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) organized its first media briefing of 2017 on the UAE National Climate Change Plan 2017-2050. Held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the briefing introduced the National Climate Adaptation Program (NCAP), endorsed at the annual meeting of the UAE Government in September 2017.
In his opening remarks, Engineer Fahad Mohammed Al Hammadi, Director of the Climate Change Department at MOCCAE, said: “Global warming presents a crucial development challenge for every country today, leading to unavoidable climatic changes – including rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increasing occurrences of extreme weather events – with severe consequences.”
He added: “The UAE has taken resolute measures to address this phenomenon at an early stage through mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The country has adopted an important set of policies and strategies that focus on the shift towards the green economy, introducing new types of clean energy into the national energy mix, enhancing energy efficiency, green construction, sustainable transport, expansion of green spaces, as well as protection and development of environmentally sensitive land and sea areas.”
Engineer Al Hammadi explained that the National Climate Change Plan 2017-2050 draws from the UAE Vision 2021, the UAE Green Growth Strategy and the UAE Green Agenda. He also briefed the audience on the three main objectives of the plan – mitigating GHG emissions, adaptation to climate change, and promoting economic diversification through innovative solutions and the involvement of the private sector.
Speaking on the timeline of the plan, he said: “We started the work in 2016 based on existing policy frameworks. In 2021, we will build on the achievements of the UAE Vision 2021. Moving forward, we will reassess the results at regular intervals in 2025 and 2030, with the aim of finalizing our long-term climate action plan in 2050.”
Furthermore, Engineer Al Hammadi reviewed the newly adopted National Climate Adaptation Program that aims to build the resilience of the country’s social and environmental systems and economic sectors to better manage the dangerous consequences of climate change that have become an explicit reality.
He said: “Successful adaptation warrants three phases. The first phase will evaluate the current situation through a comprehensive study of existing adaptation measures and gap analysis, as well as an assessment of the expected risks of climate change across sectors. The second phase will assign due weightage to risks based on their seriousness and identify the impacts of climate change. This stage will require urgent action for each ecosystem, social system and economic sector. Meanwhile, the third phase will involve the development and implementation of appropriate adaptation measures in six focus areas: raising awareness, mitigating risks and capitalizing on opportunities, capacity building and leveraging existing knowledge, private sector involvement, legislation and policy-making, and monitoring progress and effectiveness.”
Starting in early 2018, the work on the program will comprise a field study to evaluate existing climate adaptation efforts and identify gaps in four key sectors, a training to raise awareness and build capacities, risk assessment, and identification of priorities. In addition, it will include the creation of an innovative mechanism for coordinating efforts between local and federal entities and monitoring performance.