Rising sea levels pose a threat to the UAE?

Dubai - In an interview with Khaleej Times, de Perthuis noted that low-lying coastal cities in the Gulf - such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi - will eventually face an existential threat if sea levels continue to rise due to increasingly warm waters.

Climate change could pose a catastrophic risk to the UAE and other countries in the Arabian Gulf, as rising sea levels may end up flooding coastal cities according to a French climate change expert.
Christian de Perthuis, economist and professor at Paris-Dauphine University and Head of the Climate Economics Chair, was in Dubai recently for a French-language conference to discuss the challenges posed by climate change ahead of COP21 - the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris that begins at the end of November.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, de Perthuis noted that low-lying coastal cities in the Gulf - such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi - will eventually face an existential threat if sea levels continue to rise due to increasingly warm waters. According to sea level data collected by NASA satellites, sea levels are currently rising at a rate of approximately 3.22 millimeters per year. A recent study from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested that by 2100, sea levels will have likely risen by about .76 metres and by about 1.82 metres by 2500. Other estimates are even higher.
"Climate change impacts are very important in this part of the world. Global warming has a huge impact in terms of water scarcity and rising sea levels. Those huge cities and huge buildings are very near the sea," he said. If sea levels continue to rise, "it will be very difficult to protect those cities."
A 2010 report from the Abu Dhabi Environmental Agency noted that approximately 85 per cent of the country's population and 90 per cent of the country's infrastructure are located within several meters of sea level, meaning that "the potential exposure of the UAE, Abu Dhabi in particular, to the impacts of sea level rise given its current socioeconomic conditions in coastal areas is quite significant."
In his remarks, de Perthuis also said that the upcoming Climate Change Conference in France will give the UAE and the other Gulf countries a first-of-its kind opportunity to work with partners on a global level to implement policies that will try reverse or slow the effects of climate change. "It's important to know what is at stake in Paris," he said. "The issue there will be how the governments of the world can cooperate, rather than have their own policies in their perspective parts of the globe."
"What's interesting in the case of the UAE and the region is that here we are dealing with countries where most of the wealth that has been created is based on the value of fossil energy," he added. "Those countries have so far not really been involved in international climate change negotiations."
De Perthuis also said that the conference will allow the UAE to explore ways to further explore its economy to be more resilient and less dependent on fossil fuels.
"This kind of economy is very difficult to maintain. The UAE and the region will need to diversify energy systems even more. It's important they accelerate this diversification," he said. "The reason these countries should participate in the conference is not only altruistic. It's also to make their economy more resilient in the future, and this is an important part of that."
"It's clear now that the UAE is no longer acting in the same way in terms of energy investment and strategy as they did 10 years ago. They've already started to move towards new energy sources, and have established a low-carbon city with Masdar," he added. "They've started to move. The question is whether they can move quicker, and whether the international negotiations could urge them to (do so)."
To combat climate change, de Perthuis said the international community should come together to put a price on carbon emissions. In such a scenario, high-emitting countries - such as the UAE - would pay a certain agreed upon figure per each ton of C02 emissions, which can then be transferred to less developed countries to fight the effects of climate change in them.
"This money could be transferred to poor countries emitting less than the world average of per capita emissions," he explained. "This would be good for those countries, because it would encourage them to report their emissions."
Whatever comes of the COP21 meeting, de Perthuis said one thing is clear: the world must act now. "There is no ambiguity, " he said.
"It's a question of time. We don't have much."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE