Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Local weather Change and the Atmosphere, affirmed that the UAE is dedicated to boosting collaboration between international locations of the Center East and North Africa (MENA) to boost its local weather ambitions to cut back carbon emissions, enhance their local weather adaptation, and re-allocate local weather financing and investments to assist this objective and drive sustainable improvement.
She made this assertion throughout her participation, as a part of a delegation from the Ministry of Local weather Change and the Atmosphere, within the Center East and North Africa Local weather Week (MENACW 2023), held from eighth to twelfth October in Riyadh.
The occasion is hosted by the Authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and organised by the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC).
Because the week kicked off, Almheiri took half in a high-level GCC Ministerial Assembly, that includes HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Vitality; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Business and Superior Expertise and COP28 President-Designate; Jassem Al Budaiwi, Secretary-Common of the GCC; Salim Al Aufi, Oman’s Minister of Vitality and Minerals; Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Minister of Overseas Affairs and COP27 President-Designate.
Throughout her speech, Almheiri stated that the MENA Local weather Week comes at a crucial time, with solely 53 days remaining till COP28 begins within the UAE, and goals to share visions and options paving the best way for additional deliberations throughout the convention, which is able to function the primary International Stocktake.
“MENA international locations share lots of the risks entailed by the local weather change fallout, which requires promptly discovering options which might be simpler to spice up their capability to face such shifts and adapt to them. The UAE’s view is that we should take swift motion to steer a simply and equitable vitality transition for international locations within the area by changing conventional vitality programs with clear and renewable options, whereas additionally guaranteeing vitality safety sooner or later,” she defined.
Almheiri added, “By the COP28 Meals Techniques and Agriculture Agenda, we see in these programs a secure haven for lots of the international locations in our area and the world, as they’re among the many most significant local weather resilience and adaptation options that additionally assist scale back international CO2 emissions. We’ve got fast-tracked our efforts on this space by launching the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Meals Techniques, Sustainable Agriculture, and Local weather Motion final July. And final month, we submitted an preliminary draft of the declaration to agriculture ministers internationally to listen to their suggestions, with the finalised declaration to be submitted for world leaders to signal.”
The UAE Minister of Local weather Change and Atmosphere referred to as on all GCC agriculture ministers to assist the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Meals Techniques, Sustainable Agriculture, and Local weather Motion by ratifying it, and invited them to affix the ‘Agriculture Innovation for Local weather’ initiative, launched in collaboration with the US, and the ‘Mangrove Alliance for Local weather’, launched in collaboration with Indonesia, to develop options to fight local weather change and enhance local weather adaptation.
Almheiri additionally participated in a Ministerial Panel titled “In direction of a International Aim on Adaptation that Adapts to a 1.5-degree world”, which noticed the attendance of Dr. Rola Dashti, Below-Secretary-Common and Government Secretary of Financial and Social Fee for Western Asia (ESCWA); Adel bin Ahmad Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Overseas Affairs and Local weather Envoy; Yasmine Fouad, Egypt’s Minister of Atmosphere; Aminath Shauna, Minister of the Atmosphere, Local weather Change, and Expertise of the Maldives; and Leila Chikhaoui, Minister of the Atmosphere of Tunisia.
Throughout the panel, she defined that the implications of local weather change are unfair and unjust, disproportionately impacting some communities greater than others. This solely emphasises the necessity for inclusivity in our collective response to the local weather disaster. She famous that the UAE decided to make sure nobody is left behind, and each voice is heard.
“Throughout COP28, we plan to make use of this platform to generate additional dialogue about worldwide cooperation, capacity-building and what additional steps are wanted to assist creating international locations and essentially the most weak amongst us,” Almheiri went on to say.
She indicated that know-how and financing are the cornerstone in reaching that objective by sharing tech options and guaranteeing their wide-scale deployment, whereas additionally creating versatile and streamlined finance programs to which creating international locations have easy accessibility.
Almheiri affirmed that supporting international locations most affected by local weather change is crucial to bolstering their collective adaptation capabilities, contemplating the scenario in every nation. She additionally referred to as on all these concerned to have interaction in dialogue and true cooperation to make sure that local weather motion and environmental conservation objectives are achieved.
The MENA Local weather Week additionally noticed Dr. Nawal Al Hosany, Performing Assistant Undersecretary for the Inexperienced Improvement and Local weather Change sector on the Ministry of Local weather Change and Atmosphere, take part in a panel organised by Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Administration Firm) on regional efforts in the direction of decrabonisation of the waste administration trade.
Al Hosany highlighted ‘Waste to Zero’, a world initiative launched by the Ministry of Local weather Change and Atmosphere in partnership with Tadweer, to mobilise and advance waste decarbonisation efforts and to determine a round financial system platform.
She underscored the significance of decarbonising this sector, which is answerable for an estimated 3-5% of worldwide greenhouse fuel emissions, including that the initiative will assist restrict air pollution, as round 50% of strong waste on the planet is being disposed off illegally or in ways in which waste its recyclability worth.
“The principle goal of the Waste to Zero initiative is uniting strategic companions, waste administration firms, waste producers, non-governmental organisations and lecturers to activate possible options to decarbonise the waste administration worth chain. This aligns with our drive to cut back emissions throughout the sector, consistent with the Paris Settlement and efforts to determine a round financial system,” she defined.
Tomorrow, Mohammad Saeed Al Nuaimi, Performing Undersecretary of the Ministry of Local weather Change and the Atmosphere, is posed to take part within the Arab League Ministerial Assembly, the place he’ll showcase key local weather challenges dealing with the area and COP28’s function in reaching sensible options to those challenges by guaranteeing an organised, simply and accountable vitality transition.
Al Nuaimi will even spotlight the significance of reaching an settlement throughout COP28 on adopting a complete and simply framework to attain the worldwide objective of adaptation and improve the power of communities to fight local weather change and restrict its impression.
The Center East and North Africa Local weather Week (MENACW 2023) is one in every of 4 Regional Local weather Weeks organised this 12 months by the UNFCCC in collaboration with international companions UN Improvement Programme, UN Atmosphere Programme, and the World Financial institution Group.
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