Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) reiterated its commitment to support the UAE’s efforts in reducing the carbon footprint and global warming worldwide.
The RTA’s corporate practices in this regard are aligned with the Dubai Government’s drive to reduce carbon emissions across all operational and infrastructure projects, which contribute to environmental sustainability in alignment with global practices.
In practice, the RTA adheres to quality standards of fuel used in vehicles and encourages the shift to electric, hydrogen and autonomous vehicles. It made further efforts to provide an infrastructure for recharging electric vehicles, besides encouraging the use of public transport services such as buses and railways.
"The RTA fully supports the long-term national initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in 2012 fostering a green economy in the UAE under the theme "Green Economy for Sustainable Development". The RTA is among major government entities that share the responsibility for environmental sustainability in Dubai in particular, and the UAE, in general, through constant updating of its strategic plans in this field," Nasir Bu Shehab, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector, RTA.
"RTA has made significant achievements in reducing its carbon footprint. It has developed a specialist green economy strategy aligned with the relevant local and global policies. It has also charted a roadmap for trials of powering public buses with alternative fuels from 2015 to 2026. It mapped out plans for converting 50 percent of taxis to hybrid vehicles by 2021, and 90 percent of the limousine fleet to electric and hybrid vehicles by 2026. It embarked on sourcing electric vehicles and abras run on alternative fuel. The RTA has set a roadmap for installing energy-saving smart streetlights until 2033, besides installing solar photovoltaic systems on the RTA’s premises. The RTA is supportive of the Dubai Paperless Strategy 2021 by developing smart applications for processing customer transactions and undertaking pilot projects for self-driving transport and green buildings.
"RTA made considerable energy savings and emission reduction between 2014 and 2020 by saving 205-gigawatt hours of electricity consumption, 187 million gallons of water, and 49 million litres of fuel in addition to cutting emissions by 212,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The RTA is also actively engaged in monitoring its greenhouse gas emissions through a strategic indicator and key indicators at sectors and agencies," Bu Shehab added.