On the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 73), His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, participated in a high-level event organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF) under the theme ‘Heating Up: Climate Change and Geopolitics’.
In his keynote speech at the session, His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi stressed the importance of accelerating collective climate action. In addition, he called for engaging the private sector and youth as well as sub-national actors, and stepping up cooperation at the international level.
His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi said: “In the light of the recent extreme weather events, the urgency of climate action is more evident than ever, and I firmly believe that international partnership is critical to enhancing our ability to address climate change. Platforms such as the Global Climate Action Summit in September 2018 and the upcoming UN 2019 Climate Summit are crucial to keep up the momentum worldwide and translate political ambitions into practical action.”
His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi met with Jerry Brown, Governor of California at the WEF event to discuss areas of collaboration between the UAE and California in tackling climate change and meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
During UNGA 73, the Minister also met with Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a US-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group, and explored potential synergies between the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and EDF in implementing innovative environmental conservation and sustainable development solutions. His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi also met Sanjayan Muttulingam, CEO of global environmental organization Conservation International, and discussed the topical issues of ocean sustainability and marine life conservation.
On the sidelines of the gathering, His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi participated in the Future Food Cook-Off at Google’s offices in New York that coincided with the SDG Global Day of Action on September 25. Organized by Food Forever, an awareness campaign run by the Crop Trust and the Netherlands Government, the event convened some of the world’s top chefs to give guests a glimpse of what food could look and taste like in the future using less-known and rediscovered ingredients.
In a bid to promote dates as a high-value crop, MOCCAE also gifted dates from the UAE to the chefs to use in making sweets.