Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary-General of the Executive Council of Dubai, and Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee of the C40 Cities Network for South and West Asia, confirmed that the Emirate of Dubai has made significant progress within the areas of sustainable development, clean energy, and green economy, in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council, to create a brighter, happier and a more sustainable future.
He stressed the emirate’s commitment to its leadership’s solid vision and efforts to promote sustainability, stimulate environmental work, achieve global sustainable development goals and ensure continued economic growth.
Al Basti affirmed Dubai’s keenness on strengthening partnerships between public and private entities, to improve performance, achieve the strategic goals set by the Emirate, and support the country’s environmental sustainability directives.
This was stated by Al Basti during the virtual conference launching the global COUNTDOWN initiative, which was organised by TED Conferences LLC, and with the participation of more than 1,000 global leading, political and influential figures. This initiative falls within a series of initiatives held by the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP26", scheduled in October 2021 in Scotland – during which the Emirate of Dubai will participate as a representative of the Supreme Committee of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
The conference covered the most prominent issues impacting the world on a global level under the environment and climate change umbrellas. The challenges produced by climate change were categorised under five main themes. The themes included sustainable resourcing and recycling; the 100 percent clean energy goal initiatives; the reduction of carbon footprint and the promotion of sustainable and healthy food consumption habits; the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity; and the promotion of green, sustainable and carbon-free transport means.
Dubai initiated serious steps to diminish the impact of climate change and reduce its effects by limiting CO2 emissions, waste, and pollution, reassuring that the sustainable environment topic is among the top priorities in the Dubai Plan 2021.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, and MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority said, "Thanks to the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to enhance the transformation towards a sustainable green economy, Dubai has made significant achievements in reducing carbon emissions. More than 14 million tonnes of emissions were reduced in 2019, a 22 percent reduction compared to business as usual. Results achieved exceeded the targets set in the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 16% by 2021."
The Demand Side Management programmes in Dubai contributed to reducing per capita annual consumption of water by 19.5 percent by the end of 2019 compared to 2010. Per capita annual consumption of electricity decreased by 19 percent in 2019 compared to 2010.
Al Tayer explained that Dubai is developing pioneering renewable and clean energy projects to transform the Emirate into a global hub for clean energy and green economy. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75 percent of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050 and make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. One of DEWA’s key projects to achieve this is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar project in the world. Current operational capacity at the solar park is 1,013MW from photovoltaic solar panels. DEWA has 1,850MW under construction from photovoltaic and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), with future phases to reach 5,000MW by 2030.
In 2015, Dubai became a member of C40, which is the 40 Leading Cities Network in the field of global climate change.