UAE to hold new Climate Tech forum ahead of Cop28 as part of net-zero push

The event will focus on the need to decarbonise while enabling socio-economic growth

Masdar stall at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023. UAE Climate Tech, to be held in May, will convene industry leaders and policymakers. Victor Besa / The National

Abu Dhabi will host a new forum, called UAE Climate Tech, next month to address the urgent need to decarbonise at-scale and deliver climate action while enabling socio-economic growth.

Organised by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in partnership with Adnoc and Abu Dhabi's clean energy company Masdar, the event comes as prelude to the UN Cop28 climate summit that will be held in the UAE from November 30 to December 12.

The forum will seek to accelerate efforts to reduce emissions by at least 43 per cent by 2030 in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the ministry said on Tuesday.

“The science behind climate change is crystal clear, as stated in the latest IPCC report,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Cop28 President-designate.

“The world is losing the race to keep temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. We have a small window of opportunity to make a massive course correction and shift gears, and we must act now by delivering across the four key pillars of climate finance, human capital, policy and technology.”

The forum will convene industry leaders and policymakers to “enable climate action that will transform, decarbonise and future-proof for a net-zero world”, he said.

The IPCC report released last month said “deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors” were needed to support efforts to cap temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as set out by the Paris Agreement in 2015.

The report said wholesale changes were needed in energy, agriculture, transport, industry, building and land-use to reduce carbon emissions.

Global investments in energy transition technology must quadruple to $35 trillion by 2030 to stay in line with commitments made under the Paris climate agreement, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Investments in renewable energy technology reached a record of $1.3 trillion last year but that figure must rise to about $5 trillion annually to meet the target of limiting temperature increases to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, the Abu Dhabi-based agency said.

“Meeting the world’s fast-growing energy needs, while dramatically reducing emissions is one of the most complex challenges that humanity has ever faced,” Dr Al Jaber said.

“With technological advances at a tipping point, we must act with urgency to develop and deploy these innovations to drive low-carbon solutions and catalyse economic opportunities.”

To be held on May 10-11 at the Abu Dhabi Energy Centre, the forum is expected to gather more than 1,000 global policymakers, chief executives, experts, academics, technology leaders, innovators and investors.

They will discuss “disruptive innovations and economic opportunities in accelerating decarbonisation across all sectors”, the ministry said.

The event will highlight new technology such as carbon capture, artificial intelligence, robotics, digitalisation, hydrogen, alternative fuels and new and low-carbon energy solutions for oil and gas and hard-to-abate sectors, from about 60 to 100 companies, many of which will be making their first foray into the UAE.

It will also through the UAE’s efforts in technology adoption and development to accelerate decarbonisation and create green industries of the future covering renewables, hydrogen and climate-smart agriculture.

The UAE is investing heavily in clean energy projects and has announced several initiatives as it seeks to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Arab world’s second-largest economy is developing the Barakah nuclear plant as well as new solar projects, including the world’s largest solar plant in Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, with a total capacity of two gigawatts, and the five-gigawatt Mohammed bin Rashid solar park in Dubai.

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  An aerial view of Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai in January 2022. Solar is essential to the UAE's new energy mix. All photos by Pawan Singh / The National

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  The fifth phase of a clean energy project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park will further help reduce carbon emissions.

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  An aerial view of the Solar Park in the Dubai desert.

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  Marco Garcia, chief commercial officer of Nextracker, a US company which has provided photovoltaic technology used in the project.

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  The Innovation Centre at the MBR Solar Park in Dubai, where machine learning is being utilised to track direct sunlight to maximise efficient energy capture, storage and transmission.

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  The solar powered panels follow the path of the sun to help the emirate reach its clean energy transition goals.

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  Omar Al Hassan, chief executive of Shuaa Energy 3, the company operating the scheme, says the vast project will ultimately create clean energy to power more than 250,000 houses in Dubai.

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  Robotic cleaning systems are installed on the solar panels.

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  More than 2.5 million photovoltaic modules have been fitted during phase 5 of the project.

Meanwhile, state energy company Adnoc has allocated $15 billion to low-carbon solutions, new energies and decarbonisation technologies and Masdar is targeting 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

The ministry is also currently “devising strategies that will encourage companies in the country to enhance production methods to incorporate decarbonisation and incentivise the creation of new businesses that prioritise decarbonisation”, it said.

The ministry has already launched initiatives such as the Technology Transformation Programme, Industrial Technology Transformation Index, green financing in partnership with Emirates Development Bank and the Industrial Sustainability Alliance.