UAE: Shift Towards Green Economy

The UAE has taken a long-term commitment to energy security and climate change, with renewable energies predicted to provide half of the country’s electricity by 2050. In the UAE energy mix, Solar will become the leading provider with a 44 percent share that will slash CO2 emissions by 70 percent and generate savings of $190bn over natural gas. The UAE is now the first country in the Middle East to build nuclear power, with the first of four nuclear reactors currently operational at Barakah. When all four reactors are fully commissioned, nuclear would supply 24 per cent of the country ‘s electricity. Addressing climate change has become much more critical in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic because environmental conditions lead to increased health and the UAE targets healthier cities with respect to CO2 emissions. Improving demand side control with new building codes and smart city technology would improve energy production, with the process playing a key role in fourth industrial revolution developments. The Conference on Sustainable Production and Industrialisation is a joint project of the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations Organisation for Industrial Development (UNIDO). Under the slogan — Glocalisation: Towards Competitive and Equitable National Value Chains, the third edition of the Global Summit on Manufacturing and Industrialization (# GMIS2020) gathered a cross-section of strong links to major public and private sector leaders in the world to participate in over 20 interactive sessions to explore how to accelerate the role of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) innovations in creating more sustainable global supply chains and fostering stability in a post-pandemic climate.