UAE- CEO of DEWA receives US Special Envoy for Climate Change

DUBAI, 2nd September, 2016 (WAM) – Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), received Dr. Jonathan Pershing, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, to discuss ways of enhancing the co-operation between DEWA and the United States (US), to tackle climate change, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.

Al Tayer said that the UAE was one of the first countries in the international community to tackle the growing issue of climate change. The UAE is also one of the first nations to have endorsed the extension of the Kyoto protocol in 2005, to limit greenhouse gases in industrial countries, in addition to being the first country in the region to sign the Copenhagen Accord to limit emissions, at COP15. DEWA was part of the UAE delegation participating in COP21 in Paris, in 2015.

"DEWA is committed to achieving the directives of the wise leadership, while supporting global efforts to limit pollution and find sustainable solutions to the increasing effects of global warming and climate change. We also work to achieve the Dubai Plan 2021, and the long-term national Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE a pioneer in environmental awareness. We are pleased to receive the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change.

''This reflects our ongoing efforts to co-operate with the international community in efforts to face climate change, highlighting our role to adopt and implement the best standards of sustainability, and launch new renewable energy projects. It also highlights our active role to achieve sustainable development, based on knowledge, innovation, and sustainable green growth," Al Tayer said.

"DEWA works to reduce carbon emissions, as part of its efforts to contribute to the Carbon Abatement Strategy launched by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), to reduce carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2020. DEWA also works to achieve the energy Demand Side Management strategy, which features nine programmes that contribute to the sustainable development of Dubai. These include the rules and regulations for green buildings, the rehabilitation of existing buildings, district cooling, regulations and standards for energy efficiency, reuse of wastewater for use in irrigation and technology to raise the efficiency of street lighting, and the Shams Dubai Initiative to transform Dubai into the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. One of the most important projects in this field, is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is the largest single-site solar energy project in the world, based on the independent power producer model. The solar park will produce 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. It will help achieve a reduction of approximately 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually," Al Tayer added.

Pershing commended the UAE, and Dubai's efforts to tackle climate change, and hailed DEWA's efforts to co-operate with the international community to reduce carbon emissions, while increasing dependence on sustainable and clean energy resources, to achieve a brighter future for generations to come.