| MOCCAE Discusses Intersection of Food Security and Climate Change |
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| On Tuesday 21 February, the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted a meeting in Dubai with His Excellency Essa Alhashmi, the Assistant Undersecretary of Sustainable Communities and Acting Assistant Undersecretary of the Climate Change and Green Development Sector at the U.A.E. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment(MOCCAE). The discussion took place in the leadup to the AIM for Climate Summit this May in Washington, D.C. and as the U.A.E. prepares to host COP28 in November. H.E. Alhashmi gave an overview of the U.A.E.’s food and water security strategy, which he oversees at MOCCAE. He outlined the evolution of this strategy as a result of lessons learned from Covid-19, and with the adoption of new technologies and their utilization in the agri-business sector. He discussed the numerous ways that the private sector can play a role in this strategy. H.E. described the Ministry’s involvement with AIM for Climate, which seeks to address climate change and global hunger by uniting participants to significantly increase investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. He spoke about the upcoming AIM for Climate Summit on May 8th in Washington, D.C., and about MOCCAE’s goals and objectives for the Summit. He also mentioned how businesses can become involved in the effort. H.E. Alhashmi talked about the Ministry’s mandate to ensure the U.A.E. reaches net zero by 2050, including by reducing agricultural emissions. MOCCAE is tasked with leading and coordinating efforts to execute the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative and ensure collaboration at the national level to fulfil this objective. The U.A.E. was the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to announce its intent to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Finally, H.E. Alhashmi discussed the role of MOCCAE in ensuring a successful COP28, as Her Excellency Mariam Al Mheiri Minister of Climate Change and Environment is a member of the COP28 Higher Committee. He noted ways in which the private sector can participate in COP28, including the potential for regulating carbon credits, and having a compliance market by 2025 that would create opportunities for the financial sector in particular. For more information on the Business Council’s COP28-related programming, please contract Graham Reitman at greitman@usuaebusiness.org. |
