Making ‘green’ projects profitable is key to UAE’s ambitions

Yvo de Boer believes green ambitions can be a nation’s path to prosperity if that nation chooses. Irene Garcia Leon / The National

ABU DHABI // Many countries struggle to balance their fight against climate change with keeping economic growth going, the director general of the Global Green Growth Institute says.

“How can you be green, have policies that are environmentally friendly, socially inclusive, while at the same time realise healthy economic growth?” Yvo de Boer said.

Last week, the institute went to work with 12 donor countries, including the UAE, to set the green agenda for the next two years.

Contributors included Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, South Korea and the UK.

The UAE contributes US$2.5 million (Dh9.1m) to the institute each year, $1.1m of which is reinvested at home.

“We worked with the Government to develop a green growth strategy in the Emirates,” said Mr de Boer, who has led the institute for two years. “It was adopted at the end of last year and the next step is to implement it, which would entail stronger focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings and green cities.

“We’re going to meet all of the countries that invested in this organisation to talk about what our priorities for the longer term need to be.”

The UAE is investing $400,000 in Morocco to develop a strategy there and $600,000 on building cooperation across the region.

Mr de Boer, who led the UN’s climate change agency from 2006 to early 2010, said: “A first and most obvious practice, but often ignored, is to be more efficient. There are huge gains that can be made just by being more efficient, not just environmentally but economically.”

Mr de Boer last week met Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate and Environment, Saeed Al Tayer, managing director of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and Adnan Amin, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency. “In Dubai, there is really an emphasis on making people pay the true price of energy, because that’s when they realise its value and become more interested in savings and efficiency.”

The institute is planning a week-long climate change conference in Korea in September, in which the UAE will take part.

“There are huge opportunities to innovate the nature of the economy, like investing a lot more in sectors where you can realise healthy growth while having a low environmental impact at the same time.”

Dr Al Zeyoudi said last week that he was proud to see the UAE ready to capitalise on international opportunities.

“Renewables is my area,” he said. “In the past six years we committed more than $840m to renewable energy in more than 30 countries.”

Waleed Salman, chairman of Dubai Carbon, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced the green economy initiative in 2012.

“There are many things today on the ground in the UAE and we share them with our friends around the world,” he said.