UAE to unveil national climate plan under Paris pact before COP29

The United Arab Emirates aims to release its new national climate plan under the Paris climate agreement, outlining how it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions from 2025 to 2035, before the COP29 climate summit in November.

That would make it one of the first major emitters to take that step ahead of the February 2025 deadline.

Sultan Al Jaber, president of last year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai, said the oil-producing nation will submit its new “nationally determined contribution (NDC)” to the UN in order to encourage other countries to come forward with their plans.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

NDCs are the foundation of the Paris Agreement and are supposed to encourage countries to adopt new emissions-reduction targets and measures that keep them on track to meet the Paris goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and preventing global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5C.

The Paris Agreement requires nations to put forward new and stronger NDCs every five years.

“We should view NDCs not as a burden but as platforms for new streams of growth, green jobs and a clean future,” Jaber said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at a meeting convened by the presidents of Dubai’s COP28, upcoming COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and next year’s COP in Belem, Brazil.

The new round of NDCs are the first test of the commitment made in last year’s COP 28 agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. The last round of country plans by major oil, gas and coal producers did not mention these sectors or mention phasing down output, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Advocacy group Oil Change International said on Thursday the past, current and future COP hosts are set to increase their combined oil and gas production by 33% by 2035.