Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) has partnered with Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE) to develop a strategy to reduce the emirate’s carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.

The initiative is an integral part of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, including the plans to build a 1,000 MW solar power park in the emirate announced last month, said Saeed Al Tayer, vice chairman of DSCE after signing a deal with DCCE chairman Waleed Salman on Sunday.

'Dubai will develop a strategy to cut carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as recommendations for ultimately monetising them through a groundbreaking carbon trading scheme,' he stated.

The duo will also verify preliminary studies on carbon dioxide emissions, he added.

Emirate-wide research on greenhouse gas emissions will be carried out and frameworks developed with relevant industries aimed at introducing a comprehensive carbon dioxide abatement programme.

Al Tayer said the partnership was a further stage in the successful deployment of the 'Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030' and an opportunity to encourage low-carbon industries and attract foreign investment.

'Our commitment towards a green economy starts today, with the creation of a platform to monitor and benchmark our carbon performance. Any policy or activity cannot be properly assessed unless it is measurable and quantifiable,' he noted.

'The launch of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project in January and our partnership with the DCCE demonstrates the strength of the commitment to Dubai’s vision for a green economy as the basis for sustainable development,' he added.

Salman pointed out that the DCCE was created to encourage and complement a business-led drive towards de-carbonising the UAE economy.

'Together with the public sector and wider society in Dubai, we aim to achieve greater environmental efficiency and improved economic performance on carbon reductions,' he said.

'The carbon abatement strategy will be a key step in translating these objectives into concrete action, generating additional momentum behind the Integrated Energy Strategy 2030.'

'DCCE expertise will help the Council develop emissions reduction frameworks aligned with global standards, and harness the many economic opportunities of emissions reduction,' Salman added.

Further to a carbon dioxide baseline study by the DSCE in the fourth quarter of 2011, the DCCE will complete a detailed inventory of Dubai’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with the requirements of the International Panel on Climate Change, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It will also develop a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) framework, in order to harmonise and streamline data collection from the Council’s members, which include the main energy, manufacturing and utilities companies in Dubai.

Nejib Zaafrani, the CEO and secretary general of DSCE, said: 'Creating an incentive-based mechanism to cut carbon emissions will establish a regional benchmark for sustainable development and help finance new investment in clean energy infrastructure, further supporting the growth of Dubai.'

'The outcome of the Dubai carbon abatement strategy will provide the basis for a policy framework to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service