ABU DHABI, 7th September, 2022 (WAM) — Developed world should take urgent action to cooperate and help countries that observe the repercussions of climate change overcome all difficulties, the chief of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said.
In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA, said that fighting climate change won’t give the result tomorrow, it will take 10, even 20 years.
“Look at what happened in Pakistan. Events like these will be more and more frequent if we don’t take actions,” La Camera said, stressing that developed world should find an answer, and cooperation is very important in this context.
He highlighted that some 135 countries are committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, but the question here is how to translate this commitment into reality, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia where the Paris Agreement is at stake.
La Camera, who just returned from a four-day trip to Bali, where IRENA organised its first Investment Forum that was co-hosted by Indonesia on the margin of its G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting, emphasised that the forum touched upon this point too.
“The Bali COMPACT”, the document that contains basic principles to accelerate energy transitions and which is set to be endorsed at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2022 in Bali, stressed that international cooperation has to be different from the past to provide support for the countries not only on mitigation and adaptation but also through the creation of a green industry in the developing world, La Camera said.
The Director-General of IRENA, an intergovernmental organisation which operates globally out of the UAE since 2015 from Masdar City, described the location of the UAE as crossroad between East and West which allows his organisation to work equally, with developed and undeveloped world.
“The spirit of solidarity that has been a cultural heritage of the founder of the country [the UAE] is reflecting in our works. So, we are really trying to make it possible to reduce inequality throughout a new energy system,” he explained.
La Carmera also highlighted that the UAE is leading the region towards a next energy system, thanks to its massive investment in renewable energies around the world, its biggest solar plant, projects in green hydrogen, and the fact that the country is a first mover on ammonia export around the world.
“The UAE is at the forefront of energy transition. And this is why I am so hopeful about the COP28, which I think will be a very significant one,” he said.
Regarding the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) in the UAE, La Camera said that this is the cheapest and the cleanest technology today. “You see the commitment in the global market. In some Nordic countries, up to two thirds of all cars in the market are electric. In Europe, you likely won’t have any fossil fuel engine car after 2035, as well as in California. The market is going there and I think we’ll be there soon. And this will affect the UAE too.”
