UAE, France to form bilateral partnership to focus on decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries

 

A meeting between His Excellency Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and His Excellency Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-Designate for COP28, and Chairman of Masdar, took place yesterday as part of the French Minister's visit to the United Arab Emirates.

In light of the COP28 climate conference, the UAE and France have decided to begin a bilateral programme that combines French and Emirati expertise to develop commercial and investable opportunities to accelerate the development of clean energy, particularly in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate (HTA) industries, such as clean hydrogen solutions for mobility.

The programme builds on the collaborative accomplishments between French and Emirati businesses in the field of clean and renewable energy. Over 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of clean and renewable energy programmes have been developed, funded, and operated with the help of industry leaders from both nations. Two of the largest single-site solar projects in the world are located in the UAE and have attracted over US$6 billion in investment while removing about 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

The 28th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place in Dubai in November of this year, will serve as the official inauguration of the program's operations. The programme intends to expand on the two nations' shared commitment to speed up project selection and finance and promote businesses developing new clean energy technologies that have the potential to lower the carbon footprint of various economic sectors.

Utilizing the development, industrial know-how, and funding capabilities of public and private entities from both countries, the programme will seek to implement projects with a primary focus on the decarbonization of HTA industries and to support businesses that have created new clean energy solutions in green hydrogen and sustainable fuel.

When necessary, the governments of the two nations will look into using public finance instruments to support qualified climate-friendly projects. The initiative's efforts will be concentrated primarily in the two countries, with an emphasis on the production of low-carbon hydrogen, sustainable fuels, and their respective value chains.

The UAE and France aim to maximise the impact of their climate-related projects on biodiversity through this bilateral programme and to provide real, beneficial outcomes in the areas of adaptation and mitigation to climate change.

The jointly developed investable prospects will attempt to fully comply with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Masdar will lead on the UAE side of the cooperation and each opportunity will be evaluated using the pertinent and globally recognised methodology.

HE Says Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber "In order to capitalise on realistic, commercial opportunities for low carbon growth that will hasten the energy transition and promote climate action and sustainable economic development in both of our nations and around the world, this initiative builds on the long-standing partnership between the UAE and France. We will further up our efforts to promote renewable and zero-carbon energies in order to decarbonize economies, especially in difficult-to-abate sectors, by leveraging our combined technological and energy knowledge. We are committed to making COP28 a COP of Action and a COP for all as the UAE gets ready to host it. We're extending a sincere invitation to everyone in the world to join us ineffective initiatives to boost ambition."

Bruno Le Maire, France's minister for the economy, finance, and industrial and digital sovereignty, said, "By utilising synergies between the public and private sectors in both countries, this focused programme will hasten the implementation of significant clean energy development projects for transportation. This latest example of the France-UAE strategic alliance and our shared goal of raising ambitions for COP28 make me very glad ".