GENEVA, 27th June, 2019 (WAM) — Prof. Dr. Petri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, said that the UAE economy depends less than 20% on fossil fuels, which represents a very good model in the Gulf region and elsewhere, pointing out that this trend is towards reducing dependence. Energy extracted from fossil fuels is very vital when talking about success in mitigating the effects of climate change, as countries should follow the example of the UAE and start replacing fossil fuel energy sources with climate-friendly sources.
He added – in statements to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, on the occasion of the country’s hosting of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) at the end of the year – that the World Economic Forum confirmed that climate change represents a major economic problem and could pose great risks to the global economy. Over the next ten years, if we fail to mitigate climate change or adaptive measures.
Professor Talas explained that on the part of the World Meteorological Organization, it is the one that hosts the International Panel on Climate Change and provides an annual report on the state of the climate, which confirms so far that the indicators are negative, as the percentage of greenhouse gases (gases that cause global warming such as carbon dioxide) has reached to a record level, as the organization recorded a significant increase in the rates of warming in the oceans, in addition to an acceleration in the melting of snow, and the rise in sea levels doubled during the last twenty years, and the world also began to witness a significant increase in climate disasters and climatic events such as heat waves in Europe, Asia and the United States, and floods that drown Pakistan and tropical cyclones in areas where we haven’t seen that before like Southeast Africa.
Professor Talas pointed out that, in addition to that, the organization monitors greater challenges in terms of water availability, drought, as well as forest fires, and all this has a very negative impact on human life, and he said that in the end, there are already clear effects of climate change, but the good news is that a clear vision is emerging How can this problem be dealt with, such as electric cars, low prices for their batteries, and other means.
He stated that the world has already started moving to find a solution, but it is not fast enough so far, with regard to limiting global warming, maintaining an average of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to 2 or 2.3 degrees, and achieving the goal of the Paris climate agreement .. warning that the world will face more problems and challenges if He was in no hurry to achieve this goal.
Regarding his vision for the UAE to host the Summit of the States Parties concerned with climate change at the end of this year and as a Gulf state and a leading country in the world in the field of clean energy, the Secretary-General of the international organization said that he was pleased to visit Abu Dhabi twice this year, as well as to meet with His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology President-designate of COP28 with whom he had very productive meetings.
Professor Talas confirmed that he found a common and already great understanding of the goal that the organization aspires to at the summit. He pointed out that there will be other meetings and working groups in Abu Dhabi to prepare for the conference at the end of September in order to attract more attention to issues such as climate adaptation, early warning services and monitoring. Better rates of greenhouse gases in order to paint a picture of what could happen in the future with climate phenomena.
He stressed that the organization is very happy for the steps taken by the United Arab Emirates, which is to inject more investments in areas such as clean energy and other projects that support the organization’s approach to dealing with climate change issues, as well as to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which is an organization very important in this field.
The Secretary-General of the international organization expressed his hope to see more countries heading towards investing in the fields of clean and renewable energy, as the UAE does.
In response to a question about what the UAE can contribute by hosting the upcoming climate summit, in bringing the views of the participants closer together in order to reach the desired goal. The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said that he has great confidence that the climate problem is understood by the UAE. And neighboring countries and others well, which means following the example of the UAE with regard to dealing with activities that use fossil fuels so that they are part of the solution to the problem by converting energy systems into systems that use climate-friendly energy .. stressing that this also represents an opportunity for good projects, investment opportunities and orientation that can help The UAE and other countries.
Regarding the step that he deems necessary to take at the summit, which could represent a breakthrough towards finding a solution to the problem of climate change, Professor Petrie Talas said that at the level of the bigger picture, what is required is a big step towards accelerating the transition to climate-friendly solutions, in many areas, whether in the field of energy or energy. transportation, industry or food supply.
He stressed that there are great opportunities in these fields, adding that what the organization hopes to achieve is the speedy transformation of energy systems into renewable energy, which the UAE can help promote and encourage countries to do in the conference, especially as it has become one of the first countries in this field.
Professor Talas pointed out that the greatest ambition is to succeed in achieving what the Group of Seven and the European Union committed to two years ago in Glasgow to keep the temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius, especially as this will be of great importance to achieving the goal of the well-being of the planet’s population, the global economy and the atmosphere.
He said that regarding the fact that the UAE is a leading country now with regard to efforts to preserve the environment and how this can help in the success of the conference, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said that the UAE has succeeded in transforming the economic structure to be dependent in a small part on fossil fuels, and this makes the UAE an example Very well and a model that other similar countries can follow and emulate, especially since the UAE uses its resources to encourage the use of renewable energy, which is highly welcomed by the organization.
With regard to what the summit could come out of, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said that the organization hopes to see reaching a more ambitious agreement to mitigate the effects of climate change at the summit hosted by the UAE.
He added that, on the part of the organization, it strongly encourages achieving early warning systems that would minimize the significant damage caused by climate events.
Professor Talas said that the third initiative that the organization puts on the table is the new ways to monitor greenhouse gases, through ground stations and satellites, in addition to biosphere monitoring systems, which is considered very important.
2023-06-27 16:54:35
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