Question

Explain the UAE Role in formulating the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Answer 1

It shall be noted that the UAE was a strong advocate for the formulation of Agenda 2030. The ideas of sustainable development permeate UAE’s national development plan - Vision 2021 - and the plans of its seven Emirates.

1) UAE made the institutional arrangements for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

UAE formed the National Committee on SDGs in 2017, which is chaired by the Minister of State for International Cooperation.

Since 2017, the National Committee has:

(i) Mapped SDG targets to UAE’s National Agenda and prioritized targets to pursue on an annual basis

(ii) Determined the criteria for incorporating SDG targets into the national development agenda and aligned monitoring and reporting cycles with the work program of the national statistics system

(iii) Assessed the scope of SDG implementation given resource capacities and constraints in a particular year.

2) To implement UAE’s National Agenda, policy initiatives are incorporated in the government’s performance management framework and linked to five-year strategic and operational plans of federal ministries. This framework is flexible enough to incorporate the SDGs.

3) With the appointment of a Minister of State for Youth Affairs in 2016, the government signaled its ambitions to involve its youth to determine the future direction of the country. Subsequently, the Emirates Youth Council and seven emirate-wide Local Youth Councils were launched.

4) In 2016, the UAE was recognized as the world’s largest donor, surpassing the UN target of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) as official development assistance (ODA) by reaching 1.12 percent ODA/GNI. The UN target of 0.15-0.20 percent ODA/GNI to LDCs was also achieved with disbursements reaching 0.36 percent.

5) UAE is striving to diversify its income resources by moving away from oil. In January 2012, Sheikh Mohammed launched the Green Economy initiative under the slogan: A green economy for sustainable development.

6) Sheikh Mohammed aims to build an economy that protects the environment as well as an environment that supports the growth of the economy. The Green Economy initiative includes six major fields covering a wide range of legislation, policies, programs, and projects related to renewable energy, green technology, environmental preservation, bio-diversity and ecological balance. In October 2014, H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai launched a National Innovation Strategy. The strategy will stimulate innovation in seven sectors where innovation is key to excellence. Two of the sectors are renewable energy and transportation.