The United Arab Emirates is set to host the climate change summit, COP 28, from November 30 to December 12, 2023, crowning a long journey in environmental protection, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and investing in green energy. The world is looking forward with a lot of optimism to achieving tangible progress regarding global climate action during this summit and making many decisions and taking actions, particularly in the face of the escalating energy crisis due to some countries' reliance on coal for energy production and the record concentrations of greenhouse gases, in addition to the recurrence of severe climate phenomena.

Observers anticipate a qualitative addition to what was achieved in COP 27, hosted by Egypt in Sharm El-Sheikh last year, which decided to establish a loss and damage fund to support poor countries affected by climate change. There are high hopes that this fund will be activated and climate action financing will be boosted during the upcoming summit. But before that, the holding of the summit at Expo Dubai itself is an opportunity for the world to witness firsthand the strong contributions of the UAE in this field, which I have closely monitored and documented in several books and researches published by me, including my book "The Experience of the United Arab Emirates in Protecting the Environment". This was originally a peer-reviewed study released by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, which was decided to be added to the social studies curriculum during the secondary stage in the country's schools. The UAE is considered a unique model in conserving and protecting the environment in both the Arab and Islamic worlds, having adopted a national environmental strategy decades ago to enhance the country's commitment to environmental protection, placing the principle of sustainable development as one of its top priorities, to ensure a balance between economic and social development and environmental protection.

Its efforts in preserving the environment have received global recognition and appreciation. The founder of the state, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was among the first world leaders to receive the Golden Panda certificate from the World Wide Fund for Nature (in 1997). During the construction and establishment phase, environmental protection was one of the main goals of the UAE's development policies, aimed at greening the desert, developing water resources, improving the marine environment and protecting it from pollution, conserving fish and animal wealth, and protecting biodiversity.

In this context, the UAE has enacted a series of laws to preserve the environment and ensure environmental sustainability. It has issued numerous legislations to combat environmental pollution, prevent tree cutting, and stop poaching, culminating in the issuance of Federal Law No. 24 of 1999 concerning environmental protection and development, which included deterrent penalties against violators of its provisions, up to the death penalty and a fine of ten million dirhams, with the aim of protecting the environment, combating pollution in its various forms, and avoiding any damages or immediate or long-term effects, as a result of economic, agricultural, urban development plans or programs, or others.

The UAE has ratified numerous relevant international agreements, including the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and the Kyoto Protocol. In 2021, it hosted the regional dialogue on climate change and participated in the Leader's Climate Summit. The UAE has also given significant attention to protecting biological diversity through various means, including the establishment of natural reserves, the number of which reached 49 by the year 2020. In collaboration with 39 other countries, it launched the Climate Agricultural Innovation Initiative, recognizing that food systems are responsible for a quarter of the world's carbon emissions.

The UAE is a global leader in the field of green energy. In 2015, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) opened a carbon-free urban project that adopts innovative solutions in the fields of energy and water efficiency, transportation, and waste reduction. The UAE hosts three of the largest solar power plants in the world and plans to invest 50 billion dollars in renewable energy globally. UAE investors are injecting a similar amount in developing clean energy projects in 70 countries. Therefore, there are strong expectations that COP 28 will be one of the most successful climate conferences, not only in securing financing for the Loss and Damage fund but also in exchanging experiences and advanced technologies to reduce carbon emissions and address the repercussions of climate change.