His Majesty Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will represent the UAE at the peak point at US President Joe Biden's virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate on Friday (April 23). Sheikh Mohammed will present the UAE's roadmap for greater climate ambition to world leaders at a two-day virtual conference on April 22-23, 2021.

Sheikh Mohammed is one of 40 world leaders welcomed by US President Joe Biden because they are key participant in the international community in the climate challenge, which will transform threats into opportunities for the upcoming generation.

By charting ambitious paths toward a lower-carbon nation, the UAE has shown good climate leadership. When it sent its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat in December, the UAE became the first country in the region to contribute to an economy-wide reduction in emissions (UNFCCC). The article describes the country's revised carbon goal of reducing carbon emissions by 23.5 % by 2030 relative to everyday business. This equates to a decrease in total emissions by about 70 million tonnes.

Efforts to minimize pollution in the UAE include increasing dependency on renewable energies, improving energy conservation, increasing capacity for carbon trap, use, and storage (CCUS), conserving blue carbon habitats, encouraging organic agriculture, and introducing environmentally friendly waste reduction.

The UAE has been a regional pioneer in implementing important policies, such as its economic diversification policy focusing on the green economy, energy-source diversification policy focusing on wind and clean energy, and encouraging energy conservation, sustainable transport policy, and sustainable city planning.

After the Paris Agreement, it has led the region in climate change politics, initially pledging to produce 24% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2021 and then raising that target to 50% by 2050. The UAE is seen as a significant collaborator to solve the climate crisis, including carbon mitigation, funding, creativity and job growth, and sustainability and adaptation, as the US continues to develop engagement to explore areas for collaboration on resolving the climate change problem.

Earlier this month, the UAE showed its international leadership on climate action by convening the UAE regional climate dialogue, which included high-level involvement from ten MENA economies, and the US Special Envoy for Climate Change, John Kerry, and COP26 President Alok Sharma, to create traction and boost climate goals ahead of Glasgow in what is a critical year for climate reform.

The Leaders’ Summit is a watershed moment on the way to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this November, and it aims to enhance the odds of positive results on global action on climate change at COP26.