World Requires “Transformation” Progress To Meet Net-Zero targets – Dr Al Jaber

"Over the last 15 years, the UAE has invested a total of $50 billion in renewable energy and clean technology globally and plans to invest another $50 billion in the years ahead."

Dr. Al Jaber commented, "Let’s create a paradigm shift for tangible progress." And let’s remember that reaching net-zero emissions will deliver the biggest market transformation with the greatest economic and human promise since the first Industrial Revolution.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, President-elect of the Cop28, says the UAE will lead with a "great sense of urgency."Dr. Al Jaber, who is also Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, was speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum on Saturday, where he urged countries and energy stakeholders to "hold back emissions, not progress," according to the report.

The world is "on its way to being home to 9.7 billion people, and we'll have to produce 30 percent more energy than what is available today,"  Dr. Al Jaber said.

"As long as the world still uses hydrocarbons, we must ensure they are the least intensive possible." "We're working with the energy industry on accelerating decarbonization, reducing methane, and expanding hydrogen," he added.

His remarks come days after he was named president-designate of the UN Cop28 climate change summit, which will be held in the UAE this year.

Dr. Al Jaber, who is the UAE special envoy for climate change, will take on the leading role for the crucial 13-day talks in November.

"We will use our experience, our ambition, and [our] deep and rich network of partnerships to inform our approach to Cop28," Dr. Al Jaber said.

"We don’t need to wait for the global stocktake to know what it will say." We are way off track. The world is playing catch up when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees. "And the hard reality is that in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall by 43 percent by 2030."

The energy forum is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which will take place from January 14 to January 19, and will bring together heads of state, policymakers, and industry leaders for a series of dialogues on the transition to a zero-emission future.

This year's ADSW comes against the backdrop of a global energy crisis that has left countries in Europe and elsewhere scrambling for alternative energy sources.

"With China reopening, hopefully, we will see a pickup in the [crude] demand, and when we meet, we will analyse that as usual," Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

At its last meeting in October, the Opec+ group of oil-producing countries decided to slash its collective output by 2 million barrels per day until the end of 2023, citing concerns about a global economic slowdown. The group's next meeting is on June 4.

According to the report, China’s crude imports are set to increase by 1.1 million bpd in 2023, compared with last year, with the country reopening and issuing new product export and crude import quotas, Energy Aspects said in a report earlier this week.

Gulf energy ministers urged countries to invest in more natural gas infrastructure as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens energy security in many parts of the world.

"I don't agree that gas is a transition fuel... "I think it's the destination fuel until we have a realistic solution," Saad Al Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister, said.

Europe, faced with dwindling Russian gas exports, is scrambling for alternative gas sources. Following a record high in August of last year, European gas benchmark prices recently fell to a one-year low as demand eased due to warm weather, according to the report.

"The issue is what’s going to happen if they want to replenish their [natural gas] storage this year and the next year," said Mr. Al Kaabi.

"There isn’t much gas coming onto the market until 2025 to 2027, so I think it’s going to be a volatile situation for some time."

According to Mr. Al Mazrouei, while oil and gas will continue to play an important role, they will not be enough to meet an expected increase in global demand.

Report concludes with three things to keep an eye out for during the Cop28 in the UAE, which include,For the first time, the week-long ADSW event will feature a Green Hydrogen Summit, which will highlight the fuel’s potential to decarbonize key industries while helping countries achieve their net-zero objectives.

Hydrogen, which can be made from both renewable energy and natural gas, is expected to play a key role in the coming years as economies and industries move toward a low-carbon world to help stop climate change.

And the UAE, Opec’s third-largest producer, is investing Dh600 billion ($163.5 billion) in clean and renewable energy projects over the next three decades as it aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

 By Sumita Pawar