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NDCA calls for shaping a new interconnected and clean economy | |
| Staff Writer |
The MOCCAE has launched the National Dialogue for Climate Ambition (NDCA) , which runs from May to September 2022, as a platform to define and raise sectoral climate ambition and advance all-inclusive participation in the UAE Net-Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative to meet the country’s international climate commitments, particularly the Paris Agreement.
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The second National Dialogue for Climate Ambition (NDCA), themed ‘The energy sector: A catalyst towards carbon neutrality’, was hosted by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE) and convened 52 representatives of relevant public and private sector entities, including leading UAE-based power companies, in which the participants discussed the global energy perspective, reviewed the status of the local sectoral landscape, and explored emerging solutions that can help build a net-zero energy system, such as clean hydrogen.
Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, addressed the gathering said: “In the UAE, we see significant opportunities to generate the clean energy that the world wants and needs while revitalising the national economy, reducing our carbon footprint, and creating jobs of the future. Through our endeavours at home and abroad, we are contributing to shaping the new energy economy that will be more electrified, efficient, just, inclusive, interconnected, and clean.”
The UAE energy outlook is governed by the National Energy Strategy, launched in 2017 and is projected to reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector by up to 70 per cent by 2050.The strategy targets an energy mix that comprises 50 per cent clean energy – 44 per cent renewables and six per cent nuclear power – and 50 per cent fossil fuel-generated energy by 2050.
UAE has increased its clean energy share and today, it is home to three of the largest-in-capacity and lowest-in-cost solar plants in the world. It is also the first country in the region to build a commercial-scale carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) facility and deploy nuclear power for peaceful purposes with the launch of the 5,600 MW Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. Furthermore, it is exploring the potential of clean hydrogen as a sustainable source of energy and has launched the first industrial-scale green hydrogen project in the region. The country’s clean energy capacity is on track to reach 14 GW by 2030.