UAE, France to jointly focus on decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries

The UAE and France have agreed to launch a bilateral programme that combines French and Emirati expertise to develop commercial and investable opportunities to accelerate clean energy development, mainly in the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate (HTA) industries, including exploring clean hydrogen solutions for mobility.

Industrial leaders from both countries have partnered in the development, investment and operation of over 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of clean and renewable energy programmes across the globe – including two of the largest single-site solar projects in the world, located in the UAE. They have mobilised over $6bn in investment, displacing some 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

The programme’s operations will be officially launched during COP28, the 28th session of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be held in Dubai in November this year.

Joint commitment to programmes

The programme will build on the joint commitment of both countries to accelerate the identification and financing of projects, and support companies contributing to the development of new clean energy solutions with the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of economic sectors.

It will implement projects focusing primarily on the decarbonisation of HTA industries and to support companies that have developed new clean energy solutions in green hydrogen and sustainable fuel, leveraging the origination, industrial expertise, and financing capabilities of public and private entities from both countries.

Where appropriate, the governments of both countries will explore leveraging public financing tools to facilitate eligible climate-friendly projects.

The initiative will focus on low-carbon hydrogen and sustainable fuel production and their respective value chains.

The countries will aim to deliver tangible, positive impacts in the dimensions of climate change mitigation and adaptation and optimise the impact of their climate-oriented projects on biodiversity.

Following a meeting between HE #DrSultanAlJaber, Minister @MoIATUAE, President-Designate for #COP28, and Chairman of #Masdar, and HE @BrunoLeMaire, Minister @Economie_Gouv, ?? & ?? will launch a program focused on accelerating #CleanEnergy development. pic.twitter.com/cyEgvK4n6M

— Masdar (@Masdar) January 31, 2023

Tapping opportunities

The investable opportunities will be developed jointly, with Masdar leading on the UAE side of the partnership, and aim to fully align with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, with each opportunity being assessed based on the relevant and internationally accepted methodology.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-Designate for COP28, and chairman of Masdar, said: “This initiative builds on the long-standing partnership between the UAE and France to take advantage of practical, commercial opportunities for low carbon growth that will accelerate the energy transition and promote climate action and sustainable economic development in both our countries and across the globe. Leveraging our combined technological and energy expertise, we will intensify our efforts to promote renewable and zero carbon energies to decarbonise economies and in particular hard-to-abate sectors.

“As the UAE prepares to host COP28, we are intent on making it a COP of Action and a COP for all. We are extending an open invitation to the world to join us in constructive efforts to raise ambition, move from deliberation to delivery and achieve the central goal of the Paris Agreement to keep 1.5 alive.”

French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire said: “This targeted programme will leverage synergies between public and private sectors from both countries to accelerate the implementation of impactful projects of clean energy development for transportation. I am very happy of this new illustration of France-UAE strategic partnership and our common objective to raise ambitions towards COP28.”

In recent news, the consortium of Masdar, TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy and Marubeni announced that the Masdar-led initiative focused on green hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is actively working with licensors to certify a new production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from methanol.

Read: Masdar-led consortium to certify pathway to make SAF from methanol