11 CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY IN THE ARAB REGION
307
Institutional Framework
The institutional landscape for climate change policy in the UAE is relatively well-developed, even if some gaps exist. At the federal level, climate
change was explicitly added to the mandate of the Ministry of Environment and Water in 2016, and the ministry, originally established in 2006,
was renamed Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE)
when a Directorate of Energy and Climate Change (est. 2010) was transferred over from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to consolidate
both domestic and international climate change policy under one government entity. The MoCCAE is tasked with leading on the UAE’s federal
climate change policy, and it coordinates with various stakeholder entities at both federal and emirate levels on related matters. Even the UAE’s
UNFCCC delegation is composed of delegates from a large number of
government stakeholder organisations.
Reporting and policy work on energy-related emissions, which form
87% of the UAE’s GHG emissions, 22 however, is under the mandate
of the Ministry of Energy and Industry. In Abu Dhabi, the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi (EAD) has undertaken pioneering work on
climate change research, data and policy and in Dubai, the municipality has been working on a climate change adaptation strategy. In
the five smaller emirates, municipalities (and an environmental authority
in Sharjah) govern environmental protection, but there are no records
of ongoing emirate-level climate change policy work, and representatives from these five entities do not generally attend UN climate change
negotiations.
The UAE has only one non-governmental (NGO) organisation,
Emirates Nature (the local chapter of the environmental NGO WWF),
that actively engages in policy-oriented work on climate change. Unlike
local WWF chapters elsewhere, however, Emirates Nature’s board is
composed of UAE government officials. It mainly focuses on working
with the government and informing policymaking, and does not play an
environmental watchdog role. Neither does the local chapter work on
issues related to the UAE’s UNFCCC policies.
307
Institutional Framework
The institutional landscape for climate change policy in the UAE is relatively well-developed, even if some gaps exist. At the federal level, climate
change was explicitly added to the mandate of the Ministry of Environment and Water in 2016, and the ministry, originally established in 2006,
was renamed Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE)
when a Directorate of Energy and Climate Change (est. 2010) was transferred over from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to consolidate
both domestic and international climate change policy under one government entity. The MoCCAE is tasked with leading on the UAE’s federal
climate change policy, and it coordinates with various stakeholder entities at both federal and emirate levels on related matters. Even the UAE’s
UNFCCC delegation is composed of delegates from a large number of
government stakeholder organisations.
Reporting and policy work on energy-related emissions, which form
87% of the UAE’s GHG emissions, 22 however, is under the mandate
of the Ministry of Energy and Industry. In Abu Dhabi, the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi (EAD) has undertaken pioneering work on
climate change research, data and policy and in Dubai, the municipality has been working on a climate change adaptation strategy. In
the five smaller emirates, municipalities (and an environmental authority
in Sharjah) govern environmental protection, but there are no records
of ongoing emirate-level climate change policy work, and representatives from these five entities do not generally attend UN climate change
negotiations.
The UAE has only one non-governmental (NGO) organisation,
Emirates Nature (the local chapter of the environmental NGO WWF),
that actively engages in policy-oriented work on climate change. Unlike
local WWF chapters elsewhere, however, Emirates Nature’s board is
composed of UAE government officials. It mainly focuses on working
with the government and informing policymaking, and does not play an
environmental watchdog role. Neither does the local chapter work on
issues related to the UAE’s UNFCCC policies.