UAE highlights best practices in ‘State of Energy Report’

The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, or DCCE, and the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP.

Abu Dhabi — The UAE has issued the “State of Energy Report in the UAE 2015”, highlighting the best practices and success stories of national activities in the process of developing the energy sector.

The report also focuses on renewable energy contributions in the UAE’s energy diversification policy and energy efficiency criteria as well as the consolidation of efforts to achieve clean, safe and sustainable energy as the main basis of promoting economic and social growth and development.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, or DCCE, and the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP.

The UAE is currently undertaking fast-paced efforts towards diversifying energy sources and seeks to achieve a proportion of clean energy of up to 24 per cent of the overall energy in the UAE, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Dr Mattar Hamed Al Neyadi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, presented a copy of the report to Helen Clark, United Nations under-secretary-general and administrator of the UNDP at a meeting here in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Al Neyadi said that it is first of its kind report in the region, saying: “We are very proud of this achievement and also proud of the valuable cooperation of the UNDP in the preparation of the report.”

Clark, who is also the former prime minister of New Zealand, said: “We really are very impressed that the UAE is making such significant efforts to look at the renewables. We know that UAE has a lot of firsts in the field, a lot of wins. A significant oil producer like the UAE has taken this very important initiative.” Clark was also presented with a copy of the Dubai Green Economy report, which, according to the UAE Ministry of Energy, is also the first one in the region.

Dr Al Neyadi said that the UAE, at both government and student levels, is cautious about energy and climate change.

A group of students from the Western Region, Dubai, Sharjah, New York University and the Higher Colleges of Technology, who had contributed to the preparation of the report through the Carbon Ambassador Programme, or CAP, also met Clark and shared their thoughts and contributions.

The CAP, launched by the DCCE, aims to stimulate the participation of a select group of university students in the areas of sustainable development, carbon emissions reduction and the green economy in particular. The programme, which includes participatory workshops and activities in social awareness, will give the opportunity for the young to interact with personal, local and international perspectives.

The energy report also focuses on the importance of steps taken by the UAE in the context of its efforts aimed at defining the features of renewable energy and reducing the effects of climate change as part of international sustainability efforts. Within the framework of efforts to create a future based on sustainability, the energy report seeks to become a printed reference source of best practices and success stories in the field of sustainable energy in the UAE.