The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the nation hosting the COP28 climate summit, has received a downgrade to the lowest category for its climate plan. The Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a consortium of climate analysts and thinktanks, has now rated the UAE’s climate plan as “critically insufficient”. CAT assesses countries’ plans, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), to determine if they are sufficient in limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Despite the UAE recently increasing its targets in its plan, CAT stated that the necessary policies to match these targets were missing. Dr. Niklas Hohne from New Climate Institute, involved in the research, expressed that a country like the UAE with high per capita emissions and GDP needs to reduce its emissions, which is not currently happening.
In October, the UAE’s national oil company, ADNOC, awarded contracts worth $17bn (£13bn) for the development of offshore gas fields, contradicting the discussions at the climate summit. The UAE’s COP28 team has not yet provided a comment on the downgrade.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s COP presidency team announced several energy-related agreements with governments and industries. Over 110 countries pledged to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, aiming to reduce the demand for fossil fuels. Additionally, over 20 nations committed to tripling nuclear power, and more than 50 oil and gas companies pledged to address emissions from their operations.
However, Tom Evans from thinktank E3G highlighted that despite the flashy announcements made at COP28, the UAE needs to take further action to reduce its emissions.
The downgrade of the UAE’s climate plan by CAT was partly due to missing data on greenhouse gas emissions from air conditioning, which is relied upon in Dubai. The downgrade was also influenced by updated scientific findings on the measures needed to limit global warming to 1.5C.
Dr. Hohne expressed disappointment in the case of the UAE, as it holds a leadership role as the COP28 president and should be prioritizing appropriate climate action. However, he acknowledged the UAE’s progress in renewable energy investment domestically and abroad, though it is overshadowed by its investment in oil and gas.
Other countries rated as “critically insufficient” by CAT include Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Singapore, and Thailand.