The UAE Council for Climate Change and Environment today held its fourth meeting for 2020 to evaluate the achievements of the year in areas within its mandate. His Excellency Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, presided over the gathering.
In his speech, he highlighted the importance of the Council’s meetings in facilitating public-private sector dialogue with the aim of identifying innovative solutions to environmental challenges, and devising integrated plans that scale up the country’s climate and environmental action.
Council members received a briefing on the UAE’s second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which outlines the country’s climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts for the next decade.
They were also briefed on the UAE Environmental Policy, launched in early December, that seeks to enhance quality of life, support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promote economic diversity and prosperity, and preserve ecosystems and their ecological goods and services. The document provides an umbrella platform and a toolkit for determining the UAE’s future direction in the fields of climate action, environmental protection, and food security.
His Excellency Dr Al Nuaimi noted that the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) developed the policy in cooperation with its strategic partners following a detailed study of the current environmental situation in the country and the challenges expected in the future in line with the UAE Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071.