NDCs must serve as national development blueprints: UAE

Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Foreign Minister for Energy and Sustainability, led the United Arab Emirates (UAE) delegation to the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, alongside ministers and climate leaders from around the world, to advance COP28’s outputs and set the course towards COP30.

Held from May 7-8, the meeting represents an important milestone, marking 10 years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement and the halfway point through the critical decade to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.

Balalaa represented the COP28 Presidency in the Troika High-Level Dialogue on Long-Term Development Planning, co-chaired by the COP28, COP29, and COP30 Presidencies.

The session explored how Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) can serve as strategic instruments for sustainable development, investment mobilisation, and institutional resilience.

“As the initiators of the Troika Roadmap to Mission 1.5, the UAE firmly believes that NDCs must move beyond pledges. They must serve as national development blueprints – integrating investment, inclusion, and resilience,” said Balalaa during his intervention.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Balalaa held several bilateral meetings with key partners, including the Minister of Climate Change of kingdom of Norway, Deputy Danish Minister of Energy, Climate, and Utilities; Denmark’s Minister of Environment and Gender Equality.

He also held several meetings with CEOs of private sector water & renewable energy companies such as Vestas the pioneer company in wind turbines, Copenhagen infrastructure partners (CIP), and AVK, one of the largest holding company in water solutions.

In these engagements, Balalaa reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to leading the implementation of the Baku Climate Unity Pact, which includes initializing the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) and advancing the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

Furthermore, the UAE emphasized its role as a climate finance pioneer, referencing its USD 100 million contributions to both the FRLD and the Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Fund, as well as the launch of the $30 billion ALTÉRRA platform to unlock transformational finance and catalyse private sector engagement.

In addition, Balalaa highlighted the UAE’s commitment to sustainable development through its co-hosting of the United Nations Water Conference 2026 (UNWC) alongside Senegal. This pivotal event will link water security, climate resilience, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The UAE views water action as inseparable from climate action and remains committed to driving global cooperation for a resilient and sustainable future for generations to come.

This participation reflects the UAE’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to build international support for global climate action, following the signing of the historic “UAE Consensus,” reached at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), held in Expo City in Dubai in 2023.

These endeavors aim to accelerate progress across adaptation, energy transition, and resilience in the lead-up to COP30, which will be held in Belém, Brazil the coming November.

Recently, Balalaa led the UAE delegation at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, where he participated at the annual meeting’s high-level sessions, alongside the Federal Chancellor of Germany and several ministers.

He also held a series of ministerial meetings in Berlin, reaffirming the UAE’s commitment to international cooperation across climate action, energy transition, water resource management and sustainable development.

During his visit, Balalaa met several prominent German and international officials, including Stefan Wenzel, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action; Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; Eva Kracht, Director-General for International Affairs at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; and Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

WAM