Dubai reduced carbon emissions by 22% in 2019

Dubai reduced more than 14 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2019, down 22 per cent, state news agency Wam reported on Tuesday.

The findings came after the emirate's Supreme Council of Energy reviewed progress on its integrated water resource management strategy and carbon abatement at a virtual meeting.

The group, headed by council chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said the carbon emissions have also reduced significantly over the last four years, thanks to its green growth strategy.

"Results achieved exceeded the targets set in the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2021," said Saeed Al Tayer, vice chairman of the council and managing director and chief executive of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.

Dubai's water strategy looks to ensure the sustainability of the resource, rationalising demand and using the latest technologies and innovation to reduce consumption by 30 per cent by 2030. The strategy is complimentary to the emirate’s clean energy strategy, which looks to meet 75 per cent of Dubai’s needs from clean sources by 2050.

Last year, Dubai reported achieving total savings of about Dh1.2 billion over the previous decade due to its efforts to conserve electricity and water, according to Dewa.

Cumulative savings of around 2 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and 7.4 billion gallons of water were achieved between 2008 and 2018.

Energy efficiency has become an integral part of clean energy strategies in the region, with the UAE one of the first countries to have targets in place to achieve electricity and water savings.