Abu Dhabi to monitor greenhouse gas emissions

Abu Dhabi will begin specifically measuring its own greenhouse gas emissions as part of a move to reduce its impact on global climate change.

ABU DHABI // The emirate is to create a detailed inventory of the greenhouse gases it emits.

The UAE as a country already reports its emissions as part of a global treaty under the United Nations, but the new project, from the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, will take a more detailed approach.

Ruqaya Mohamed, the assistant manager - climate change at the agency, said the project would produce more robust data specifically from the country's largest emirate.

"We hope to have the first report ready in 2012," she said this week, adding that the figures would be updated every two years.

The reports will take into account 10 gases, including carbon dioxide, thought to have a significant, negative effect on the global climate.

The country's reporting to the UN takes into account only seven gases.

However, the Abu Dhabi study will include a further three gases - perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride - which could result in more accurate data. HFCs are used in air conditioning and refrigeration, while PFCs are released in the production of aluminium, an industry that Abu Dhabi is developing.