UAE Committed To Clean Energy Efforts; No Scaling Back Of Masdar Plans
The UAE continues to play an increasingly prominent role in the clean energy sphere, deliver on its commitments and support to international climate negotiations and environmental protection, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar and UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change, said Tuesday.
The UAE , he added, is the first GCC country to associate with the Copenhagen Accord, and as a major global energy player, the UAE is taking a leading role in the development of sustainable energy solutions through initiatives such as Masdar, taking a holistic approach toward developing a knowledge-based clean energy sector in the UAE.
Al-Jaber further said that Masdar is not scaling back nor scaling back its plans. Al-Jaber made his remarks at a joint press briefing in Abu Dhabi with David Sandalow Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the conclusion of the 2-day Preparatory Meeting for the world’s first Clean Energy Ministerial, in Abu Dhabi.
He said the UAE is proud to co-host the meeting which serves as a solid foundation for the Clean Energy Ministerial, which will be held in Washington, D.C., on 19-20 July, and is set to bring together more than 20 countries to collaborate on policies and programmes that accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy technologies.
The UAE already is a major player in the global oil market and is committed to plans to play a similarly major role in the clean energy market to help meet future energy demands, he explained.
Participating governments in the upcoming meeting include the 17 countries of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States) as well as Belgium (as EU President), Denmark, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
The UAE will be the only participant country from the Middle East and OPEC, and its presence in the preparatory meeting is a testament to the foresight of country’s leadership and their unwavering dedication to advancing clean technologies.
Al-Jaber stressed that the Preparatory Meeting discussed the concrete clean energy initiatives expected to be launched at the Ministerial on a range of key technologies.
These initiatives will create jobs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, improve local air quality, enhance energy security and fight energy poverty around the world, according to Al-Jaber.
The UAE, home to the Masdar Initiative and the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), will also participate at the Ministerial meeting due to its ongoing commitment and leadership in advancing low-carbon and climate-friendly technologies, he noted.
Barrier to clean energy efforts are "complex", he said, and the participants in the preparatory meeting in Abu Dhabi sought to overcome them through coordinated action and information sharing.
For his part, Sandalow said the Preparatory Meeting which brought together senior officials from participating governments saw productive discussions of the concrete clean energy initiatives expected to be launched at the Ministerial on a range of key technologies.
Sandalow added that these initiatives are aimed at creating jobs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, improve local air quality, enhance energy security and fight energy poverty around the world.
He further said he is "hopeful" about international Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) initiatives and efforts which are receiving "support from governments." Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming, based on capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants, and storing it away from the atmosphere by different means. It can also be used to describe the scrubbing of CO2 from ambient air as a geo-engineering technique.
The Washington meeting, will provide an opportunity for groups of governments and other participants to announce actions to accelerate deployment of clean energy technologies.
The agenda of the Clean Energy Ministerial will focus on concrete steps forward to promoting clean energy, according to Sandalow.
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