UAE minister delivers keynote address at Artic Circle Assembly

Ahead of COP28 in a month, Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, delivered the keynote speech to a global gathering of climate-concerned officials at the tenth anniversary meeting of The Artic Circle Assembly in Iceland recently.

The Arctic Circle is the first region in the world to test and study the impact of climate change, making it a vital region for the Minister, ahead of the imminent COP28, to talk about the UAE-hosted climate talks and its role in steering climate action conversations.

This year's Arctic Circle Assembly, the largest international gathering on the Arctic, comprises more than 2,000 participants from over 60 countries, including governments, experts, civil society, scientists, students, academics, and indigenous communities.

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The growing international community of the Arctic highlights the importance of global warming and its potential devastating impacts on our planet.

Almheiri said: "The Arctic region is of critical importance to the global climate. It plays a vital role in regulating global temperatures and sea levels. Science shows us that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else on earth. Sea ice is declining by more than 10 per cent every 10 years. Already, 95 per cent of the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has melted, raising sea levels, thawing permafrost and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."

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In light of these stark facts, the minister called on the gathered influential audience to take urgent action to address the climate crisis and protect the earth's poles. "This requires international cooperation and a shared commitment to sustainable development, a model that the UAE advocates," she said.

"We believe the best way to protect the poles is to transition to a global clean energy economy. This will require a massive investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, keeping a just energy transition in mind, while ensuring energy security for all," the minister added.

As part of mobilising national leadership, and in her role as COP28 Food Systems Lead, Almheiri took the opportunity to call for a global call to action, inviting all nations presented at the Summit to ratify the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action, and commit to aligning their national food systems and agricultural strategies with their Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans and National Biodiversity Strategies.