The United Arab Emirates government creation of an Energy & Climate Change Directorate (ECC) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) was selected as the best solution to build the required capacity for managing UAE’s climate change and renewable energy agenda. The establishment of the Directorate was an idea incepted by the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs; His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan – who believes that the dialogue on Global Climate Change is one that the UAE can be heavily involved in – highlighting the UAE’s efforts to mitigating the effects of climate change. The mandate for this new directorate includes both an international and domestic role. The international role entails ensuring international representation and negotiation while the domestic role entails coordination with national stakeholders.
The international role encompasses:
Climate change negotiations and international positioning (including carbon finance and the Clean Development Mechanism)
Monitoring, analysis and reporting on international climate change energy and developments, especially with regards to alternative energy.
Commercial advocacy in key strategic locations
The interface with relevant international agencies and bodies namely UNFCCC, IRENA, G20, G77,MEF and relevant NGOs. The strategic intentions of the Directorate in the International arena includes:
Representation of the UAE in international forums and negotiations on alternative energy and climate change matters such as:
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
UNFCCC Conference of Parties meetings (UNFCCC)
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD)
World Energy Council (WEC)
Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All)
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Open Working Group of the Sustainable Development Goal (OWG-SDG)
The domestic role will cover:
Coordinating the development of domestic clean energy and climate change strategy and policies
Engaging the UAE government federal and local stakeholders in policy development process
Recommending domestic initiatives and follow-up on implementation impacts
The strategic intention of the Directorate in the domestic arena include:
Being the focal point for the development of a UAE clean energy and climate change policy, and coordinate its implementation with the relevant federal and local stakeholders in the UAE, to become a role model for effective policy development and program execution in the region.