Position paper for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Delegation from the United Arab Emirates 
Position paper for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

The topics before the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate are; The Role of Youth in Achieving the Paris Agreement; Capacity-Building for Combating Climate Change in Developing Countries and Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

1.The Role of Youth in Achieving the Paris Agreement

The Federal constitutional monarchy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) condemns the inaction towards climate and is currently working to limit global warming to 2°C by 2050. The United Arab Emirates recognizes that pollution is a major factor of global warming and it has decided to strongly contribute to end it. The UAE’s involvement on climate change in an international level has been demonstrated by its commitment to a multitude of international conventions and protocols such as the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1969, The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1989, by ratifying the Doha Amendment under the Kyoto Protocol in 1992, and also by being the 155th party who has submitted its climate action plan to the United Nation for the Conference of the Parties (COP21). “We have to strike a balance of responsibility between our duty to update other sources of energy, protecting our environment and ensuring a proper legacy for the next generation” because the “future of the country is contingent on our ability to manage our national resources with wisdom and keenness on the interests of the future.”, has said Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Furthermore, the UAE have a 15 years Green Agenda which is periodically updated that which promotes green growth and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2 and 5. The UAE is in a location where the environment is water-scarce and hyper-arid, therefore the implication involvement of the UAE is very important in the fight against climate change and large decisive actions should be made right now. Climate change is not only a threat of to the UAE but also for all the countries in the world. 

The UAE already have a large-scale deployment of solar energy technologies and itwhich is an example of its implications involvement in the addressing the global sustainable development agenda and its leadership with in actions against climate change. The youth is the population that will have to live with the consequences of the way we live now. Job prospects become more and more accessible in the environmental area for young people. 

United Arab EmiratesThe UAE proposes scholarships for domains fields like energy fields, environmental science and engineering science. It push hisThe UAE heavily encourages its young population to work in these fields because without it, their world will be much more different than the world inof 2018. Late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan has said: “Future generations will be living in a world that is very different from that to which we are accustomed. It is essential that we prepare ourselves and our children for that new world.” As he said, it is important to give a liveable planet to our children, but also to prepared them to face new challenges.

2. Capacity-Building for Combating Climate Change in Developing Countries

Climate change could already have multiple bad effects on the world and for the UAE, mostly in coastal zones, where marine habitat could suffer of raising water, raising water temperatures and from changing salinity. Another major risk is that the raising rise of the temperature would weakened food security by causing droughtwill cause droughts which will greatly weaken food security. Developing countries need to grow their economy as green as possible. To achieve this goal, all the developed countries will have to work together.

The UAE as already made many steps to contribute to the capacity building for climate change in developing countries. In facts, the climate change  it has been a priority of the country since for a long time. The UAE aims to become the best-prepared country to tackle all challenges that come along with climate change, has said Al Hammadi, the minister of education. He also said that the UAE has been a pioneer in protecting the environment by starting to use green energy and solar power to by protecting the marine environment. Recycling waste and promote public transport is also in the climate change plan of the UAE for 2050 to protect our planet. For example, UAE develops the Masdar Initiative which is a solution to bring all around the world green and clean energy such as desalination of the water, wind farms and solar farms. These projects also bring new jobs in developing countries. 

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